Perttulan oppilaitos ja Miemalan Alikylä

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The Perttula Special Vocational School and Alikylä form an exceptionally well-preserved complex that represents layers of time and diverse settlement and building history, on a flat promontory on the western shore of Vanajavesi, in Miemala village. The Perttula Special Vocational School and its predecessors have operated at Perttula since the 1890s. The original architectural appearance of the area has been well preserved.

To the southwest, the landscape is bounded by a ridge extending south from Hattelmalanharju. The built environment of the area consists of two units: Miemala Alikylä, located in the middle of an open cultivated plain, and the Perttula Special Vocational School, built on the slope of the esker.

The village site of Miemala lies on a hillock in the middle of the promontory, reached by two long wooden avenues crossing the wide cultivated plain. The two parent farms, Juppala and Tiirikkala, still form a compact group of buildings. The present building stock of the farm centres dates from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The brick outbuildings typical of the village were built in the first half of the 20th century.

The Perttula Special Vocational School is situated on the Hattelmalanharju esker, on the land of the former Perttula ratsutila. The building group includes, in addition to the villa of Governor Rehbinder designed by C.A. Edelfelt and its associated outbuildings, buildings of the former institution for the education and training of feeble-minded children. The main building of the manor, built as a villa in the 1860s, is surrounded by a park of the same age.

The majority of Perttula's wooden building stock dates from the 1890s and 1910s. The residential building Pakarila and the grain granary are from Rehbinder's time, while the service and residential building Kuusistola and Metsätalo date from the 1890s. The school and student dormitory Taimela were completed in 1911.

History

Miemala is known for several Iron Age ancient monuments: two hillforts, an Iron Age settlement site and numerous cup-marked stones. The exceptionally large number of cup-marked stones suggests special cultic use in the Iron Age. A hillfort was also located at the nearby Hakovuori.

In written sources, Miemala village is first mentioned in 1383. At the turn of the Middle Ages and the early modern period the village had seven farms. The isojako was carried out in the 1780s.

The Perttula farm was originally a crown ratsutila. In the isojako the parent farm Perttula was divided into the farms Hieta-Perttula and Kylä-Perttula. Hieta-Perttula was bought in 1857 by Otto Karl Rehbinder, Baron and Governor of Häme Province. In 1860 Rehbinder had the plastered main building, resembling a villa, built to the drawings of the architect C.A. Edelfelt.

By permission granted by the Imperial Senate, Master of Arts Edwin Hedman founded in 1890 an institution for the education and training of feeble-minded children, which was the first Finnish-language institution for the intellectually disabled. The institution initially operated in the Hernberg villa in Kallio, Helsinki. The Hedmans bought Perttula from Rehbinder in 1891, and the institution was moved there.

Initially the institution operated in the old villa building. As the number of pupils grew, the institution was extended in 1896 with two new buildings (Metsätalo and Kuusistola), whose plans were drawn up by the Board of Public Buildings. The Finnish state redeemed the estate from the Hedmans in 1909. Afterwards the main building was raised, the plaster was removed and the house was clad with horizontal boarding. In addition, the actual school and the student dormitory Taimela were built.

During the war Perttula served as a military hospital. In 1947 the name was changed to Perttulan koulukoti. After the new vajaamielislaki (Mental Deficiency Act), the name became Perttulan keskuslaitos in 1958. At Perttula, cattle keeping and farming, among other activities, were practised, and various handicrafts were made, such as shoemaking and weaving. School-age children received school instruction. Vocational courses began in the 1960s, and in 1976 the institution's name became Perttulan ammatillinen koulutuskeskus. The name Perttulan erityisammattikoulu was adopted in 1986. The Perttulan erityisammattikoulu and Kiipulan ammattiopisto merged in 2009.