Reitz Collections

Opening hours:
Wed 3 pm – 6 pm and Sun 2 pm–5 pm.
Also open to groups by arrangement.

Admission: free

Address: Apollonkatu 23 B, 6th floor, 00100 Helsinki

www.reitz.fi

The collections of the Reitz Foundation are displayed in the former home of property magnate and art collector Lauri Reitz (1893–1959) in Töölö, central Helsinki. The museum is located on the top floor of an apartment block developed by Reitz in the late 1930’s.

Atte Laitila, Lauri Reitz, 1944.

Table Clock, 1640, Augsburg.

Lauri Reitz was a successful real estate developer, active particularly in the district of Töölö between the 1920s and 1950s. He created together with architect Jalmari Peltonen some cutting-edge architectural and housing visions of the time, known also as Töölö Functionalism. Maria Reitz (1891–1971), Lauri Reitz’s widow decided in her will to move the family fortune into a foundation. The Reitz home opened to the public as a museum in 1971.

As a collector, Reitz had an unusually broad interest in art and antiques. The museum displays his valuable and diverse collection, comprising paintings, antique furniture, musical instruments, silver, weaponry and timepieces dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

The Reitz Foundation continues to add to the collection by acquiring significant works by artists such as Albert Edelfelt, Helene Schjerfbeck and Akseli Gallen-Kallela, as well as diverse rare European artefacts. The various categories included in the collection form an impressive and unique ensemble.

Photos:

View of Hall. Photo: Katja Hagelstam
View of Arms Room. Photo: Katja Hagelstam
Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946), Self-portrait in Black Dress, 1934. Photo: Katja Hagelstam
Albert Edelfelt (1854–1905), The Boys’ Workhouse, Helsinki, 1885. Photo: Katja Hagelstam
Table Clock, 1640, Augsburg. Photo: Katja Hagelstam
Atte Laitila (1893–1972), Lauri Reitz, 1944. Photo: Matias Uusikylä

Helene Schjerfbeck, Self-portrait in Black Dress,1934.

Albert Edelfelt, The Boys’ Workhouse, Helsinki, 1885.