Museum A-Ö » Fyrry - The Tinsmith Museum

Visit the Tinsmith Museum Fyrry and experience the old craftsmanship tradition in the cultural area of Vähäkyrö’s Kirkonmäki (church hill). Enjoy an authentic atmosphere in a museum created with care. The museum was designed by Partanen & Lamusuo Oy, whose previous projects have received awards, including the title of Museum of the Year. Under their direction, the 30-year-old museum, originally located in Tervajoki and moved to the center of Vähäkyrö, has been brought into the 2020s. The renewed museum celebrates the unique tinsmith culture in an experiential way.

The tinsmith tradition in Vähäkyrö goes far back in history and is widely known throughout Ostrobothnia. At the museum, old craft traditions come to life. Visitors can see how tin items are made and what tools are used. If you're lucky, you might even witness a real tinsmith at work.

Vähäkyrö has a long tinsmithing tradition dating back to the 1700s. The craft arrived in Finland from Germany in the early 18th century, soon after large tin deposits were discovered in England. In the 1890s, there were 35 tinsmiths in Vähäkyrö parish, and just a few decades later, the number had risen to 100. Most were crofters or farmhands who had grown tired of agricultural work. Even in the 1950s, at least one fully loaded train car of tinsmith products left Tervajoki station each week.
The sheet metal (called “pläkki” in Finnish) was imported. During and after World War II, there was a shortage, so tinsmiths made use of materials such as tin roofs from outbuildings and metal parts from discarded gas masks.
Tinsmithing skills were typically passed down from father to son over generations. A signature product of Vähäkyrö is the “fyrry,” a toy with a spinning wheel that turns when blown through a pipe. It comes in five different sizes. Among the museum’s nearly 200 items are traditional tin products like mugs, lanterns, flasks, and pitchers, as well as new decorative and utility items, such as custom-made cookie cutters.

The museum houses over a hundred-year-old tools and machines used for working metal. Shaping round mugs and vessels requires, for example, a unique tin-bending machine. Live work demonstrations are available upon request.
(Photos: Jaakko J. Salo, Suvi Aho, and Helena Alanen)