A bronze

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Gustaf Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander, aristocrat, and statesman. He served as the military leader of the White Guard (Finland), Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as List of ...

stands in the centre of

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It was made by

Aimo Tukiainen Aimo Johan Kustaa Tukiainen (October 6, 1917 – June 3, 1996) was a sculptor from Finland. His best-known work is the Equestrian statue of Marshal Mannerheim in Helsinki. Tukiainen's wide and versatile production mainly consists of a large amoun ...

and erected in 1960. The bronze statue is tall. It is raised on a granite plinth, tall, 6.3 m long and m wide. As a general, Mannerheim had been a symbolic figure in Finland since the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

in 1918, and his position grew stronger during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a field marshal. The first plans and fundraising for an equestrian statue started in 1937. After his death in 1951, the plans were relaunched by initiative of the

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Tsar Al ...

Students' Union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizat ...

. During the fundraising campaign 737,503 members of the public donated over 78 million marks in 1952. The funds were sufficient not only for the statue but also for purchasing the Louhisaari mansion in

Askainen Askainen (; ) is a former municipality of Finland. Together with Lemu, it was consolidated with Masku on January 1, 2009. It is located in southwestern part of the country in the Varsinais-Suomi region. The municipality had a population of 9 ...

, Mannerheim's place of birth, which was turned into a museum. The statue was commissioned from Aimo Tukiainen after a competition. Tukiainen made a realistic and detailed statue of the horse-riding Mannerheim. At its unveiling in 1960, the art world considered it outdated. In his contemporary works Tukiainen himself had already moved on from realism. The features of the horse, its gait and which of the marshal's horses it actually represents have been discussed a lot. During his life Mannerheim owned several horses. Tukiainen studied Mannerheim's last horse Käthy when working on the statue, but it is not a portrait of her as such. The construction of the

Kiasma Kiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name ''kiasma'', Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery, an ...

museum of contemporary art next to the statue was debated during the time of construction of the museum.

References

{{Helsinki Cityscape

Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military commander, aristocrat, and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War (1918), as Regent of Finland (1918–191 ...

Bronze sculptures in Finland Outdoor sculptures in Helsinki Statues of heads of government Statues of military officers Cultural depictions of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim