Strategy
The Parola Armour Museum's collections are unique. For example, there is no such comprehensive collection of Soviet tanks outside of Russia. Special rarities are the BT-42 assault gun, the only one of its kind, the T-50 light tank, of which there are only down to two in the world, and the BA-10 armoured car, known to be the only one in the world.
The rarities attract visitors to the Parola Armour Museum from all over the world. The museum administrated by the Parola Armour Museum Foundation is a specialized military historical museum whose main task is to collect, store, preserve and research armoured equipment and to present the history, development and operation of Finnish armoured and anti-tank troops in the independent Finnish Defense Forces.
The Parola Armour Museum was founded in 1961 and is visited by more than 30,000 visitors every year. The museum's collections include approximately 70 armoured vehicles, 40 anti-tank weapons and an armoured train. The number of small exhibits and archive material is huge. It includes a lot of material handed down by tank veterans for future generations to see. The armoured vehicles outside on the hillside are not roadworthy, but they are sheltered from the weather.
The Parola Armour Museum is open all year round, seven days a week. Most of the exhibits are indoors. The illuminated shelters for the vehicles outdoors enable year-round operation.
In 2020, the Ministry of Education and Culture subsidized Covid/Corona support for activities of the Parola Armour Museum.
THE MISSION OF THE PAROLA ARMOUR MUSEUM
- Collecting, storing, researching and restoring the history and set of articles of the Finnish tank and anti-tank troops
- Collecting, storing, researching and restoring the history and equipment of our wartime adversaries
- Exhibition and publishing activities and
- Cooperation with other Finnish specialized military historical museums and other international tank museums in a beneficial way