The Institute of Maritime History at Åbo Akademi University arranges seminars, publishes works in its field, and maintains an extensive archive and library specialised in maritime history and ethnology.

A youthful organisation with a long memory

The task of the Institute of Maritime History is to promote documentation, research, teaching and information in maritime history and ethnology by: 1) collecting archival materials focussing on the history of seafaring, fishing, and maritime culture; 2) maintaining a special library; 3) processing the collected materials and making them available to researchers; 4) arranging seminars; and 5) communicating and publishing studies in the field.

Spanning 1,500 physical metres and six centuries, the archive and library collections are the result of collecting efforts carried out over almost a hundred years. The collections are open to the public.

Recurring events include research seminars and publications in the series Meddelanden från Sjöhistoriska institutet vid Åbo Akademi. A Nordic dimension has always been central to the seminars and publications.

The institute’s history reaches back to 1936, when the Maritime Museum at Åbo Akademi University was established as the first maritime museum in Finland. In the autumn of 1999 the museum was reorganised into an institute and since the spring of 2000 it has been located at the Forum Marinum Maritime Centre, which administers the institute’s objects collection.

The Institute of Maritime History together with Åbo Akademi University Library form an independent institution within the university, working in close cooperation with the Forum Marinum Foundation in the Turku harbour area.

Visiting address
(Forum Marinum’s main building)
Linnankatu 72
20100 TURKU

Phone
+358 (0)2 215 3460

E-mail
sjohistoriska@abo.fi

Postal address
Åbo Akademi University
Institute of Maritime History
Tuomiokirkontori 3
FI-20500 TURKU