A Mental Asylum Cemetery (1902 - 1964) a Photo Essay

Pitkäniemi (built in the late 1900’s) is a mental asylum situated in Nokia. Near the hospital is an old cemetery for the patients. It was in use 1902 - 1964 and 426 patients were buried there during those years. The hospital area is quite large and beautiful but somewhat secluded - the cemetery seems almost hidden.

The treatment (and classification) of mental issues has since developed and many could consider the old practices crude and against human dignity. For instance, some mental handicaps were considered severe enough for the patients to be locked away in these asylums. According to Wikipedia, during 1935 - 1970 a lot of forced sterilizations were issued for the patients as the procedure was legal and because ‘the mentally insane were considered sub-par individuals to benefit human race’. The practice has since been prohibited and is considered a severe crime against humanity.

Also during the war years between 1939 - 1945 Finland, among so many other countries, was struck by famine and epidemic diseases like tuberculosis. As food was being rationed, a regular patient would have merely one third the amount of food to a ‘normal citizen’. There are stories of patients eating grass off the ground in order to survive. Similar has been reported to happen in the prison camps during this era.

Currently the cemetery is quite well kept: it seems clean, the grass is cut regularly and apparently the premises are visited by a security company. There is a path leading to the gates and it’s locked from traffic with a bar.

The area itself isn’t that big: it rises uphill to a ridge on the other side, on the other side is a small bit of woods in front of a highway. There are only a few regular gravestones, the rest are just rocks roughly cut into a rectangle shape.

In 1992 the asylum patients raised a memorial monument for those buried there. There’s a passage from the bible saying “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” from the book of John.

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