Wanted - Armfelt. An Officer in the Service of a King and an Emperor.

Armfelt was also one of the best-known Finns of his time, whose achievements were noted in the newspapers of Stockholm and Paris alike. He had an exceptional role as the guest of royalty and princely hosts in Europe.


During his lifetime, he met or was personally acquainted with a stunning number of heads of state and other leading personages of the period.

Wanted - Armfelt exhibition features over a 100 items personally owned by G. M. Armfelt, providing a glimpse of his world, whether in Stockholm, in exile in Italy, banished to Kaluga in Russia, as a minister to the court in Vienna, or at his home, Joensuu Manor, in Halikko, SW Finland.

The exhibits include numerous decorations, the large and small costumes of Sweden's Royal Order of the Seraphim and a warrant issued in 1794 for the arrest of Armfelt. His wedding ring and miniature portraits of his wife Hedvig and children Augusta and Gustav Magnus tell of his family.

On display are trunks, cutlery, a dinner service with motifs of the Danish Royal Order of the Elephant made by Josiah Wedgwood's pottery works, a breakfast service of the Vienna Porcelain Factory, furniture, and portraits, including Josef Grassi's paintings of G. M. Armfelt and Vilhelmina, Duchess of Sagan.

The so-called Armfelt Collection of the National Museum of Finland consists of a bequest from the estate of Count Carl Alexander Armfelt (1850-1925) that was received in 1925.

The objects of the Armfelt family and the Joensuu Manor tell of the history of the family over several generations. Additions to the collection have been acquired for the National Museum.

An audio guide to the exhibition "Wanted - Armfelt" can be downloaded from the National Museum's webpages.


"Where is the Princess of Couronia?" is a game for visitors in the museum's central hall that gives an idea of the exciting life of G. M. Armfelt.

A complementary feature of the exhibition is the richly illustrated book :
"Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt's legacy. The objects formerly belonging to G. M. Armfelt in the National Museum of Finland" by Curator Jouni Kuurne on the Armfelt Collection (with an English summary 39 pages).