Niinisalo

Main ("lamello") barracks of the Niinisalo Garrison

Niinisalo is a village in the municipality of Kankaanpää in the region of Satakunta in Finland. It is known of the Niinisalo Garrison which is the base of Finnish Army unit Artillery Brigade.^[1] Population of Niinisalo is 996 (2009).^[2]

The Kankaanpää Museum is located in Niinisalo.^[3] From 1977 to 1997 Niinisalo was the home of the Artillery Museum of Finland.^[4] Niinisalo railway station was designed by architect Thure Hellström in 1933 but the Pori–Haapamäki railway was closed in the 1980s.^[5]

Niinisalo Garrison

The Niinisalo Garrison was established in 1935. Since 1947 it has been the home of a field artillery unit, known from 1992 as Artillery Regiment, later Artillery Brigade. In the beginning of 2015 the brigade is merged with the Pori Brigade. The United Nations Training Centre was organized in Niinisalo in 1969.^[6] It was a unit for training Finnish peacekeepers as well as international courses for United Nations military observers. Since 2001 the UN Training Centre is known as the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre FINCENT. It was transferred to Hyrylä in 2008, while the international training was transferred to Pori Brigade in Säkylä.^[7]

The functionalism style main barracks were designed by architect Kalle Lehtovuori and completed 1935. The officer's housing area is mainly composed of buildings originally drawn by the Norwegian architect Olav Selvaag in the post-World War II years. The garrison and its residential areas are declared as Cultural environments of national significance by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities.^[8]

Especially the lamello barrack is highly valued in architecture.

Military units in the Niinisal Garrison

• Reserve Officer School 1939–1945
• Field Artillery Regiment 1 1947–1952 / Field Artillery Regiment 2 1952–1956 / Satakunta Artillery Regiment 1957–1992 / Artillery Brigade 1992–2014
• Satakunta Military Band 1951–2013
• Veterinary School 1955–1994
• Artillery School 1969–
• Test Firing Centre 1969–2012 / Explosives Centre 2013–
• United Nations Training Centre 1969–2001 / Finnish Defence Forces International Centre FINCENT 2001–2008
• Pori Brigade 2015–

References

1. Niinisalo Garrison Kankaanpää Municipality Official Homepage. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
2. Population by Postal Code Areas, 31 December 2009. p. 17. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
3. Kankaanpää Museum Museot.fi. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
4. Tykistömuseo Museo Militaria (Finnish). Retrieved 13 October 2014.
5. Rautatieasema elää Kankaanpää Municipality Official Homepage (Finnish). Retrieved 13 October 2014.
6. Tykistöprikaatin historia The Finnish Defense Forces (Finnish). Retrieved 13 October 2014.
7. Finnish Defence Forces International Centre FINCENT The Finnish Defence Forces. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
8. Niinisalon kasarmialue Finnish National Board of Antiquities (Finnish). Retrieved 13 October 2014.

External links

Media related to Niinisalo at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 61°50′21″N 22°28′02″E / 61.83912°N 22.467277°E