426 candles honour patients buried at Pitkäniemi cemetery

Some 300 people gathered on All Saints’ Day evening at the old cemetery of Pitkäniemi Hospital in Nokia, where 426 candles were lit, one for each person buried there. The candles will burn throughout the weekend, Yle reports.

The event was organised by a group of mental health organisations in the Pirkanmaa region. Visitors can also bring their own memorial candles.

“By honouring the memory of the deceased, the event makes visible that mental health challenges are not only individual experiences but part of our shared history,” said Ari Tiensuu, interim executive director of the Pirkanmaa Mental Health Association. He said the event also reflects a desire to build a society that respects human rights, cares for people and ensures everyone receives support and is seen.

The cemetery served Pitkäniemi Hospital, which operated for 123 years by Lake Pyhäjärvi in Nokia. It was in use from the early 1900s until the 1960s. Many patients buried there had severe mental health problems and were left without relatives or close contacts.

“Pitkäniemi was built as a state mental hospital and a criminal hospital. There were people sent here by court, but also civilian patients,” said Tuomo Nenonen, a social counsellor who worked at the hospital for nearly 40 years.

Patients came from across Finland, including from Lapland and Karelia. Nenonen said that, given the transport available at the time, relatives at home were rarely in contact with them. Most patients were eventually buried in their home areas, while those without relatives or a home municipality were laid to rest near the hospital. The cemetery is now a protected ancient monument, and only some of its original gravestones remain.