Former students of the Girls' Normal High School visited the renovated building of the Helsinki Adult Education Center
The red brick castle at Runeberginkatu 22-24 housed a school with a history dating back to the time of Tsar Alexander II. The Helsinki Finnish Girls' School was founded in 1869 to offer higher female education in Finnish, as the school's founders wrote to the Tsar. The Godenhjelm and His Lady's School for Girls, as it was called, initially operated in several wooden houses until it moved to its own building on the corner of Bulevardi and Yrjönkatu from 1884 to 1923. At the beginning of the 1900th century, equality between girls and boys was emphasized in the reports of the School Board, and the girls' school was transformed into a girls' high school, which also enabled girls to pursue further studies at university.
The many stages of the school building over the years
Maine Wartiovaara recalled at her class’s jubilee party in 1971 how the girls’ schoolchildren were able to move to their new school on Runeberginkatu in 1924. “We from Kaivopuisto walked there or took the yellow tram to the Museokatu stop. Our school building stood alone in the middle of vast potato and burdock fields. From the deserted and uninhabited Töölö, the view was straight out to the sea.” On September 15, a large group of women who had been students at the girls’ normal high school in the 1940s and 60s had gathered in the stately, pilaster-decorated ballroom of the school building, which is now hosted by the Helsinki Adult Education Center.
Artist Hilkka Toivola’s triptych (pictured) still depicts the human life cycle from youth to middle age and old age. The motto written on the wall, which declared that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, has long since been erased. In May 1969, the last rites of the hundred-year-old girls’ normal school were celebrated in the same hall. “Thank you, old schoolhouse, even though you are cramped and uncomfortable, even though your walls are scarred and your corridors are dilapidated, we thank you for the feeling of security that you have given us over the years,” said principal Inkeri Simola. The house had become too small for over 900 students and the school moved via Etelä-Haaga to Latokaski, where it still operates as the Viikki Normal School of the University of Helsinki. The school building was taken over by business scholars. The Helsinki School of Economics named the house Chydenia and extensive, merciless renovations were carried out there, in keeping with the spirit of the times.
Ritva Saksi, who graduated from Tyttönorssi in the spring of 1958, recalls: “In connection with the school’s 110th anniversary celebrations in 1979, I was able to visit the house for the next time. It was a great shock when the interior of the magnificent school building had been destroyed. The ceilings had been lowered and the large classrooms were converted into small work spaces with walls resembling cardboard,” she described. The Chydenia era ended and the house, designed by Onni Tarjanne, returned to its original purpose as the home of the Helsinki Adult Education Centre in 2020, when the building’s major renovation was completed. The house has now been completely renovated, respecting the old architecture, into a modern community college, where hundreds of students attend every day.
Opening ceremonies and class photos
Let's return to the ballroom of the Girls' Normal Lyceum. Yrjö Koskinen's powerful words, which he uttered at the school's founding ceremony in 1869, have carried far into the future. "From shared experiences arise friendship and a civilizing joy of life," Koskinen said 152 years ago. You can imagine his voice echoing in the ballroom, where the school's former students have gathered for their annual meeting. For them, the ballroom evokes nostalgic memories. Every morning at the opening of the day, they would stand and sing spiritual songs and hymns for nine years. In the old days, there were benches for the weak on both sides of the pulpit in the ballroom, and those sitting there were looked at strangely.
“We were striving for the academy, and only the best were chosen,” writes Laura Kolbe, student number 7395 of the school, describing how principal Inkeri Simola read out the names of those who had entered with dignity in front of the sturdy door. “My name on Simola’s lips guaranteed entry to the school heaven,” Kolbe says in the book Girls on the Stairs, published by the Helsinki First Girls’ School Association, or Hesteo. The association turns 74 in December.
Former students gather for a photoshoot in the very same spot where their class photo was taken. The women pose in an astonishing
with lightning-fast efficiency into a perfect formation. “Each of us knew exactly what to do and how to position ourselves. And then a look towards the camera and a smile,” says Anneli Nordlund.
He describes the school's renovated interiors as beautiful, clean, and stylish.
"It was a pleasure to see with my own eyes the changes that have been made with such reverence. Classrooms and special spaces such as gyms have been furnished to be attractive. The tall windows are like in our time, more than 50 years ago, 1940-69," says Nordlund.
The school building's grand staircase, which ends under the vaulted ceiling on the top floor, became familiar to the girls as they trotted up and down the stairs during break times. "The columns and arched vaults of the main staircase are like those from ancient times. As the older classes got older, they moved up to the upper floors. Climbing was a really useful form of daily exercise in addition to gym and outdoor games. It kept us fresh and fit," Nordlund emphasizes. According to Nordlund, the most exciting and special of the stairs was the stone spiral staircase on the outer wall, which led from the locker rooms to the lower and upper gymnasiums.
"In winter they were freezing cold, and we climbed them really quickly. After a sweaty gymnastics class, the coolness of the stairs was surprisingly soothing to our overheated skin," Nordlund recalls.
“The staircase, where Aaro Hellaakoski tried to speed us up by gently tapping the book, was not as sturdy as I remembered,” notes Marja Tiitinen.
“After the annual meeting in the ballroom, I met a young woman from Africa in the hallway, dressed in formal wear, who said she was afraid of the Swedish exams that were about to start. The school is continuing its mission again,” Marja Tiitinen rejoices. In addition to its community college activities, the Helsinki Adult Education Centre also provides basic education for adult immigrants.
"It's great that our beloved old school is still an educational institution and serves a variety of educational purposes. The staircase, which I love, was the same as before. It was wonderful to run up the stairs during my school days, and I always volunteered to run the diary when the class was divided into different floors. Some of our secret hiding places, such as in the gym, have disappeared, but they are always in our memories," says Kristina Kahlas-Capodistrias, a student from 1955-64.
Lena Krochin, who graduated from high school in 1957, is grateful for the wonderful visit to her former school building. “It was great to see that the stone fence in the yard had been opened up to make it easier to walk through. Inside the school was a world of its own, where I spent nine years of school under the strict supervision of an authoritarian teaching staff. Now the building is full of new technology, but the basic appearance has been carefully preserved. It’s great that the magnificent building has now been preserved as a school open to everyone, in keeping with the spirit of the times,” says Lena Krochin.
Successful reform
“When we look around the premises of the Helsinki Adult Education Centre, we can see that the renovation has rediscovered a lot of the old, lost atmosphere in the colours and especially in the staircase. We can easily imagine ourselves climbing the same stairs as 60 years ago. Although the premises have been respectfully modified, the place is recognizable as it was before. My mind was flooded with memories of morning devotions in the hall, spring and Christmas parties, concerts by the school’s own choir, the purple of the benches and temperance club parties. In the lower hall, under the wall clock, the janitor would rush the last students to run in the mornings so that they could make it to class before the bell rang,” Ritva Saksi recalls.
“I remember well when the school cleaners came after school, opened the windows and started toiling. What a joy it was to come to a clean-smelling school in the morning. We were at the mercy of the teachers in many ways, but we learned a lot and grew into strong women who learned to trust our own strength. The school also fostered our team spirit, and my class also meets for lunch three times a year. Despite the corona, 10 of us over 80 met in August to exchange news,” says Ritva Saksi.
Former students vividly remember the smells of the gyms and the aroma of the home economics class. Exercise is still strongly present in the course offerings of the Helsinki Adult Education Center today. Circuit training and Gyrokinesis, among others, represent modern forms of exercise.
“I always feel great affection for school when I hear the song playing. 'I often dream of the street, the school road. Come to the smiling morning, come to the scent of lilacs'. These lovely tunes sung at the spring festival always echo in my mind,” Marja Tiitinen says.
Töölöläinen magazine 7.11.2021
Text and photos: Sakari Soininen