Yes, the Finnish Meteorological Institute is 79 years older than Finland...
On 28 March 1838 Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia, signed the declaration that founded the precursor of today's Finnish Meteorological Institute, the "Magnetic Observatory", at the University of Helsinki (known then as the Imperial Alexander University in Finland).
The Observatory changed its name a couple of times until 1968 when the Meteorological Institute's law entered into force and the institute took its current name. Also the Institute moved from its original location in Kaisaniemi (first in a wooden building and then in the Säätalo - the "weather house" - from 1966) to its current location in the Dynamicum building of the Kumpula campus in 2005. Other locations in Helsinki and Finnish cities host or hosted additional FMI offices as well.
To celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Institute, a summer party was organized on 9 June. About 270 employees embarked at 2pm on a boat to Isosaari, one of furthest islands of the Helsinki Archipelago, which used to be used for military purposes and opened in 2017 to civilians for recreation. There everyone was divided into groups for various activities that people signed up for in advance (walk, bird watching, golf, outdoor games, and sauna). Later, everyone enjoyed the dinner served outdoors and the evening closed with a band playing, allowing some of us to dance, before boarding the boat again and getting back on the mainland around 11pm.
The Observatory changed its name a couple of times until 1968 when the Meteorological Institute's law entered into force and the institute took its current name. Also the Institute moved from its original location in Kaisaniemi (first in a wooden building and then in the Säätalo - the "weather house" - from 1966) to its current location in the Dynamicum building of the Kumpula campus in 2005. Other locations in Helsinki and Finnish cities host or hosted additional FMI offices as well.
To celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Institute, a summer party was organized on 9 June. About 270 employees embarked at 2pm on a boat to Isosaari, one of furthest islands of the Helsinki Archipelago, which used to be used for military purposes and opened in 2017 to civilians for recreation. There everyone was divided into groups for various activities that people signed up for in advance (walk, bird watching, golf, outdoor games, and sauna). Later, everyone enjoyed the dinner served outdoors and the evening closed with a band playing, allowing some of us to dance, before boarding the boat again and getting back on the mainland around 11pm.
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| Figure 1. From left to right: View from Isosaari towards Helsinki, dinner location for the summer party, and beach on Isosaari. (Pictures: Arnaud Praplan, CC BY 4.0). |
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