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Lotta-Svärd

The Lotta-Svärd organisation was the most important voluntary organisation for women in Finnish history. The organisation was very popular right from the start and was at its peak the world’s largest unarmed women’s national defence organisation. Their work was noted also outside Finland, and the organisation served as a model for other similar organisations in other countries. At first the Lottas’ main purpose was to assist the Civil guard with e.g. medical services and logistics but later during the wars they also helped the Army with various tasks, thereby allowing more of the men to be at the front and fight the Soviets. Apart from assisting the Army and Civil guard, the Lottas also helped civilians through charity work and by caring for evacuees. Only lately has the importance of Lotta-Svärd been publically acknowledged. In these pages you will find info on the Lotta-Svärd organisation and their work in pictures and texts.

Lotta-Svärd items

This gallery presents different items and documents related to the organisation. Equipment, clothing, memorabilia, and other authentic material

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Lotta-Svärd printed material

Here you can find different official Lotta-magazines, books and booklets. Some are numbered which helps the collector’s work.

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Lotta-Svärd photographs

This gallery contains a variety of photographs showing Lottas at work, in peacetime as well as wartime, at the front and closer to home. We have also tried to get as many pictures as possible showing the canteens, cafeterias, restaurants and hotels the different Lotta-Svärd districts had, as well as material showing the Pikku-Lottas (Small or Girl-Lottas). All help is welcome to preserve the valuable photographic history of this unique organisation.

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Small or Girl-Lottas

This gallery shows material related to the Small-Lottas, later known as Girl-Lottas, like books, clothing etc. Since very little material has survived, the gallery is quite small at this stage.

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Christmas-Lotta magazines

A selection of the most longlived Lotta publications, the Christmas-Lotta magazine. At first only published only in Swedish under the name Jul-Lottan to support the activities in western Uusimaa, it later became so popular that also finnish versions were published and distributed all over the country.

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