Korteniemi Heritage Farm is an old forest ranger's estate
The grounds, including the buildings, gardens and crops of the former forest ranger estate, have remained almost unchanged for over a hundred years. During summer, life on the estate is very much like it was in the 1910s.
During summer the farm is home to indigenous Finnish farm animals: horse, cows, sheep and chickens and a rooster. Old traditionally Finnish crops are farmed in both the estates gardens and fields by traditional methods. The beautiful Maiden Pink has benefited from animals grazing in the area and people cutting down meadows and its habitat has grown little by little. Old traditionally Finnish crops are farmed in both the estates gardens and fields by traditional methods. Rye is cut with scythes, dried on racks and threshed with flails in the drying barn.
Today, Korteniemi is the only forest ranger estate maintained by Metsähallitus in Southern Finland, where the buildings and grounds have remained an intact entirety. Metsähallitus commissioned reports on both the history of the estate and the ways land was used in olden times, and on the basis of these reports a care and management plan was drafted in 1997 for the heritage farm. The purpose of this heritage farm is to preserve the cultural landscape, old buildings and species reliant on cultural heritage, as well as, to preserve folklore.
Opening hours and location
Opening Hours in 2025
- May 6.-31.5. Tue-Fri 9 am-3 pm
- June Thu-Sun 11 am-5 pm
- July Wed-Sun 11 am-5 pm
- Audust Thu-Sun 11 am-5 pm
- September Fri-Sun 11am-5 pm
Free entry.
Location
Korteniemi Heritage Farm is in the Liesjärvi National Park
Address: Korteniementie 270, 31350 Liesjärvi.
Services
- There is a campfire site near the heritage farm.
- There is an accessible dry toilet at the parking area.
- We recommend that those with wheelchairs have an assistant with them. Wheelchair users can also drive very near the yard of Korteniemi.
- Korteniemi is a starting point for many hiking trails.
Guided tours and events
Guided tours for groups
Group guided tours of the Heritage Farm are intended for daycare centres, schools and educational institutions. Guided tours are free of charge. In addition to opening hours, guided tours are carried out in August-September from Wednesday to Friday from 9 am to 3 pm. Guided tours can be booked by email: korteniemi(at)metsa.fi.
Groups of companies can book group guided tours from our partner entrepreneurs.
Events
Visitors are welcome to partake in the farm's daily chores, as well as work days during which the whole community helps out at the farm or take part in work demonstrations. Information about the upcoming events
History
Construction of the forest ranger estate at the secluded location in Korteniemi began during the 1880's, when the Finnish government bought the lands and built an additional room to the main house, where district forest surveyors could lodge during their inspection trips.
Metsähallitus took part in construction expenses of forest ranger estates and monitored the quality of craftsmanship and the amount of timber used in the building process. There was no one blueprint in use for forest ranger estates, rather each represented local building styles.
In addition to the main house other protected buildings at Korteniemi dating from the change of the century 1800 - 1900 are the shed, the livestock barn, the equipment room, the stable, the smoke sauna, the woodshed and the drying barn. Metsähallitus has restored these buildings under the supervision of the National Board of Antiquities and the forest ranger estate is now a wonderful destination for experiencing what life was like one hundred years ago: The forest ranger's family lived in the main room; the adjacent guest quarters still have the same rose wallpaper they did when forest surveyors stayed there during their inspection trips. The grounds also include protected buildings which were constructed later on.
A Forest Ranger's Tasks
The duties of the forest ranger included observation and monitoring of crown-owned forests in order to prevent forest fires, illegal logging and poaching, as well as, assisting foresters and termination of predators, meaning, when needed, he had to arrange large carnivore hunts. In order to be appointed a forest ranger one had to know how to count, read and write, and he was provided a gun with which to protect himself.
At first, being a forest ranger was a part time job in addition to farming the estates small fields and caring for the livestock, but from the beginning of the 1900s being a forest ranger was seen as full time employment and his duties expanded to include all forest management and care. The men from the Lönngren family held the forest ranger's position at Korteniemi for over a hundred years.
A Childhood at Korteniemi
For the forest ranger's children life at Korteniemi at the beginning of the 1900s was much the same as it was for children on other small farms: as the family themselves farmed the estates small fields and took care of the few cows, chickens and sheep, the family's children were needed as helpers even before they reached school-age. Attending school was itself a chore as the school was many kilometres away and the road did not reach the farm, rather children had to row a boat across the lake or during winter ski across its ice and then continue by foot.
There was however time to play and fun even then and occasionally visitors, with curious objects in their baggage, would stop by at the farm. The fanciest toys the forest ranger's daughters had were cardboard cigarette cases used by forest workers, the tops of which were decorated with elegant pictures. Girls collected feathers, pretty stones and other beautiful objects in these cases and stored them in the attic.
