Theatre & culture
Former Viipuri Music Institute and Otso House
- Hours
- No visitor hours were found; the building is a residential house with shops.
- How to visit
- The building can be viewed from the street. Sources describe it as a residential building with shops; no visitor access to the interior is listed.
- Hours
- About 15 min
Why it is worth the detour
Behind this commercial facade, Boris Sirpo's music school grew into one of Finland's most important conservatories and made 1920s–1930s Viipuri a serious rival to Helsinki's concert life. During the Winter War, caretaker Hulda Puustell helped pack more than 10,000 scores into crates; the rescued library eventually followed the evacuated institute to Lahti.
Once a thriving music school under Boris Sirpo, this venue played a key role in making Viipuri a cultural rival to Helsinki. During the Winter War, its valuable music library was saved and relocated to Lahti.
The people behind this address
Documented connections, not celebrity trivia.
Allan Schulman
He designed the commercial and residential building completed in 1903.
Boris Sirpo
The violinist founded the music school that developed here into the Viipuri Music Institute.
Heimo Haitto
The celebrated Finnish child violinist was brought to Viipuri to study under Boris Sirpo.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
100 m
Vyborg Telephone Station
Ullberg's 1922 telephone exchange on Mira Street. The lost wing is part of this building's story.
100 m
Sculpture garden in Vyborg
A hidden gem featuring unique granite sculptures in a garden setting.
300 m
Vyborg Library
A pioneering masterpiece of 20th-century functionalist architecture by Alvar Aalto.
400 m
Pietinen Palace
Furniture magnate Matti Pietinen greeted rail passengers with this lavish 1907–1908 apartment and commercial palace, complete with elevators, hot water and a sculpted entrance guarded by stone lions. Its design united work by Bertel Jung, Oscar Bomanson and Armas Lindgren, turning a speculative building opposite the station into a manifesto of Finnish national romanticism.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.