Vakoilumuseo: Experience a life of espionage in Finland

By Molly McPharlin | Photos: Vakoilumuseo

If you explore Finland beyond its capital Helsinki, take a train a couple of hours north and visit Tampere. Here, you can experience the unusual and exciting exhibitions at Vakoilumuseo, the world’s first spy museum, which opened in 1998.

Tucked inside an old industrial complex called Finlayson, Vakoilumuseo was founded by enthusiasts and collectors of spy material. Today, historians run the museum and look after its collections. These include everything from secret listening equipment and hidden cameras to weapons such as a poison pen.

Vakoilumuseo: Experience a life of espionage in Finland

A weapon hidden in an ordinary walking stick.

Why might a spy museum exist in Finland? Pirkka Turja, Vakoilumuseo’s exhibition manager, explains that the country is an ideal place to delve into exhibitions like this. “Finland has been a gateway between east and west historically and played a massive role in the global espionage scene. Double agents have been smuggled through Finland in car boots. The spy behind the plot to assassinate Lenin travelled through Finland. The museum has material that is international but that is also linked to Finland.”

An eavesdropping case used in clandestine listening activities.

Vakoilumuseo includes exhibitions that visitors will not see anywhere else. “We have a camera hidden inside a cigarette pack, a walking cane shotgun, an ashtray with built-in microphones. We also have equipment that visitors can test themselves, such as invisible ink, code-breaking, and lock picking,” says Turja. Two of the museum’s most popular activities are a lie detector test and an agent test, with eight tasks to measure a person’s talent for spying. “At the end of the test, we recommend an intelligence organisation that would best be suited for their abilities.”

A poison ring was used by spies to take down enemies.

The museum’s newest project is building its computer network, which includes presentations focusing on malware and how modern espionage works. Much of the exhibition’s text will be on screens and accessible using audio. Visitors can manipulate virtual cipher machines and have the opportunity to try software that changes their voice.

Vakoilumuseo is accessible to different types of visitors. The Finlayson building, a popular destination in the city centre, is filled with cafes and restaurants and offers a good network of elevators, making it easy for people with disabilities. And the museum’s exhibitions are available in ten different languages. “A typical museum visitor could be anyone,” adds Turja. “We have families, business groups, school children, military personnel, and ordinary tourists coming to visit. All kinds of people have an interest in spies.”