The Raate Frontier Guard Museum locates at the eastern end of the Raate Road.
Border guarding at the eastern border in Raate began in 1918. The Finnish Defence Forces were responsible for guarding the border until the Finnish Border Guard was founded on 21 March 1919. The first border guards came to Raate in 1921. In accordance with the Treaty of Tartu, the border was drawn and confirmed in 1920, which officially closed the border.
The frontier guard building of the Raate field post was put into service on 1 July 1923. Before this, the field post had been operating in rented premises at Raatevaara. In the 1920s and 1930s, refugees and defectors tried to cross the Finnish border and the situation at the border was restless. Before the Winter War, in 1938 to 1939, the guard building was renovated, but was severely damaged during the battles of the Winter War. During the Interim Peace, the building was repaired and the field post returned to the building. During the Continuation War, the military police used the Raate guard building as its base.
After the war, in 1958, a new guard building was completed in Raate, while the old building served as housing until the 1970s. In 1988, the old Raate guard building was turned into the Raate Frontier Guard Museum and opened to the public, telling the story of life at the border guard station before the wars. The Suomussalmi division of the Border Guard Guild of Kainuu had an active role in the establishment of the Frontier Guard Museum, proposing its foundation. The building has been restored to its 1939 appearance. It is the only frontier guard building built before the war that has been preserved to our time. Today, the Frontier Guard Museum is open to the public in the summer and on request, with about 6,000 visitors a year. The Frontier Guard Museum is maintained by the Kainuu Border Guard District, the Suomussalmi division of the Border Guard Guild of Kainuu and the municipality of Suomussalmi.
In 2023, the history of the 100-year-old frontier guard building and the 35 active years of the Frontier Guard Museum will be celebrated on the tradition day of the Finnish Border Guard.
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Address: Raatteentie 183, 89800 Suomussalmi kk (VisitSuomussalmi.fi)
