The Sinebrychoff Art Museum houses the Old European Art Collection of the Finnish National Gallery, including probably the only Rembrandt in Finland.
The core of the museum is the family townhouse that was left to the Government by the last Sinebrychoffs with over 900 pieces of art in 1921.
The Sinebrychoffs came from Gavrilov Posad, northeast of Moscow in the 18th century and in 1817 they got a licence to distill booze in Helsinki. The townhouse was completed in 1842 as their brewery office with the family living upstairs. The “Koff” beer remains still today among the most popular beer brands in Finland!
The most enjoyable service to the tired tourist will be the fantastic Reinos, the famous Finnish old men’s slippers that the museum will lend to you if you come in shoes that could damage the fancy floors of the home museum.
The museum accepts the EU Disability Card. There is a parking area with a separate entrance for persons with disabilities in the courtyard. Ring the bell and they will let you in. You can also borrow a wheelchair, walking frame or pram at the ticket office. You can easily move between the exhibition stores by a lift. The accessible loo and storage lockers are on the ground floor at the street level. Take a friend with you - the assistants of disabled persons get a free ticket!
The museum shop in the first floor is surprisingly interesting. In addition to the compulsory gifts to neighbours and distant relatives, you might actually find there a thing or two that you might want to keep yourself, too!
For once, the loos are all five stars - a good reason to visit this museum! One of the walls in the ladies' is an original brick wall that goes just brilliantly with the other black walls.
Unfortunately, there is no museum café but you can go for your pint of Koff beer to the 115-year-old Hietalahti Market Hall that houses several cafés and restaurants opposite of the museum, on the other side of the Hietalahti Market Square.
Sinebrychoffin taidemuseo
Bulevardi 40, 00120 Helsinki, Finland
Photos by Tommi Turunen