Viljo Nissinen’s Mineral Collection

The mineral collection was born as a result of Viljo Nissinen’s (1914-2000) hobby. As a young sailor he became interested in minerals, for their perfection and beauty fascinated him. The distinctive collection includes over 1400 specimens.

Two examples of minerals at their most beautiful, Rose Barite from Oklahoma in the USA and the “Thunderstorm” agate from Queensland in Australia can be seen.

The collection also includes a piece of the famous Bjurböle meteorite, which fell through the ice to the south of the Porvoo in 1899. A bright fireball and the accompanying thunder was observed up to Stockholm. It was at that time the largest known stone meteorite in the world. Divers recovered 328 kg of stone. The collection also includes iron meteorite that struck Namibia, in Africa.