Hietaniemi Cemetery


The Hietaniemi cemetery is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state funeral services.
The cemetery includes a large military cemetery section for soldiers from the capital fallen in the wars against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany: in the Winter War, the Continuation War and the Lapland War. In the centre of the military cemetery are the tombs of the unknown soldier and Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. Other notable sections of the cemetery are the cemetery of the Finnish Guard, the Artist's Hill and the Statesmen's Grove. There are two Lutheran funerary chapels and a crematorium at the area.
Hietaniemi means "sand cape" and is a headland located centrally in Helsinki.

Description

The cemetery is partly located at a promontory, and partly directly adjacent to the Hietaniemi Beach.
The cemetery is a popular tourist attraction, especially amongst Finns visiting the graves of relatives fallen in wars or the graves of the many famous Finns buried there since the 1820s.
Four other cemeteries are also located at the greater cemetery district of Hietaniemi: the Helsinki Jewish cemetery, the Helsinki Islamic cemetery, the Helsinki Orthodox cemetery and the cemetery of the St. Nicholas Orthodox Parish.

Notable interments