Vanajanlinna

The period of Vanajanlinna began in 1918, when Doctor Carl Wilhelm Rosenlew bought the estate in Äiläälä and transformed it into a hunting Manor. Construction of the Main Building, designed by the architect Sigurd Frosterus, began in 1919 and the Manor was finished, in all its glory, five years later.
Rosenlew remained the owner of the Manor until the year 1941. There were two candidates to take up ownership: President Risto Ryti and the extremely wealthy German weapons manufacturer Willy Daugs. Permission for purchase went to Daugs and the Manor didn’t become the President’s summer home as planned. However, following Germany’s loss in WWII, the German property was transferred to Soviet possession in compensation. The Manor was overseen by the board for Soviet property, and during this time the Main Building was left empty and fell into disrepair.
Yrjö Sirola rented the house in 1947, and it began to house the Sirola College. In 1956 the Sirola Foundation bought the buidings and the land. More than half of the land was given to veterans to use as small farms and land for houses, leaving the other half to what was Vanaja municipality at the time. Sirola College was finally shut down in 1994.
Two years later, Hämeenlinna City Council bought the estate, and it was leased by Vanajanlinna Oy, partly owned by the Sirola Foundation. In 1998, Mika Walkamo and Pekka Vihma became owners of Vanajanlinna Oy, and began running a Conference Hotel on the estate.

Today Vanajanlinna is a full-service hotel and award-winning conference, event and banquet venue. There is a total of some 200 beds at Hotel Vanajanlinna and in the various other lodgings found on the grounds. Vanajanlinna is also the site of one of the top golf courses in Finland – Linna Golf, which is the only European Tour Destinations in Finland.