The National Police Museum was nominated for the European Museum of the Year 2011 Award. The winner was announced this past weekend in Germany, with the Gallo-Roman Museum in Belgium taking the win. Other awards were presented to museums in Croatia and the Netherlands.
A total of four museums from Finland were nominated, and of these the Museum Centre Vapriikki's Tampere 1918 exhibition received a special commendation.
- All the museums nominated for the award were of the highest excellence, and the judging panel emphasised that any one of these could have been presented with the award, says Aimo Aitasalo, the superintendent of the National Police Museum when describing the museum world's Oscar Gala.
Judging panel: "A friendly atmosphere at the National Police Museum"
The National Police Museum received praise from the judging panel for its innovative approach and family friendly environment:
"The collection of the Police Museum in Tampere only dates back to 2005, but its origins go back to the Crime Museum that was founded in the 1930s. As the museum comes under the Research and Development Division of the Police College, one of its key aims is the educational aspect of their work.
There is only a small number of young staff, who are enthusiastic and have many plans and ideas for the future development of the museum. The atmosphere of the museum is friendly and a lot of attention is given to children and families."
Museums in the Pirkanmaa area were especially well represented among the nominees: In addition to the National Police Museum and Museum Centre Vapriikki, the National Automobile and Road Museum Mobilia located in Kangasala and the Maritime Centre in Kotka were nominated.
The judging panel's statement concluded that Finland's four nominees were all excellent museums that were very different from one another.
The European Museum of the Year Award is handed out annually by the European Museum Forum. European Museum of the Year 2011 results can be found at the Museum Forum's website .
