Carl Robert Ehrström’s (14 September 1803–19 May 1881) career as a doctor began in the mid-1830s as a temporary assistant at the Helsinki maternity hospital. During his time there, an epidemic of childbed fever broke out at the hospital. With the medicine and methods available at the time, there was no way to fight the disease. Ehrström, however, was perplexed by the condition. When he observed the actions of nurses and other staff, he noticed that the disease seemed to spread through physical contact. The epidemic of childbed fever that had swept over the maternity hospital could be controlled with cleanliness: doctor Ehrström urged everyone to wash their hands when going to patients and after treating them.

In his doctoral dissertation published in 1840, Ehrström supposed that the disease was spread through an “invisible factor”. At that time, nothing was known of bacteria; these invisible factors were given their name only later on. In other words, Ehrström was a pioneer of bacteriology!  Unfortunately, the dissertation published in 1840 did not immediately gain wider recognition. Otherwise, Ehrström’s name could have gone down in medical history as a global pioneer of pathology and bacteriology. The honour of discovering the infection mechanism of childbed fever was granted to the Hungarian Ignaz Philpp Semmelweiss based on his study published in 1861.

District Physician in Raahe

Ehrström took up the post of District Physician in Raahe in 1855, during the Crimean War. Ehrström’s tenure coincided with Raahe’s period of prosperity, when the mental energy of the townspeople was at its best.

The establishment of the museum was not an incidental project for Ehrström; it was part of his almost lifelong activity for the benefit of Finnish culture and the Finns. Some of Ehrström’s goals were to improve the educational level of the nation and enable access to all kinds of information especially for the lower classes. After getting acquainted with Raahe dwellers and exploring the treasures in their homes, Ehrström started a project to establish the museum. In the pamphlet “Museuumit”, signed on 21 October 1862 and published in the newspaper Oulun Wiikkosanomat on 8 November 1862, Ehrström discusses the usefulness and necessity of museums. The declaration is considered the founding document of the Raahe Museum and its date of signature the birthday of our museum. Of course, Ehrström had been active with his project even earlier. A list of contributions had been launched in April, with the aim of collecting funds for the acquisition of cabinets and other equipment.

Considered the first local museum in Finland, the Raahe Museum assembled articles collected extensively across the entire globe in accordance with Ehrström’s declaration. At the time of its establishment, the museum’s activity strongly supported the local identity, which was closely associated with seafaring. The museum highlighted the residents’ contacts with faraway countries. The Raahe Museum differs from today’s local museums with its universal collections.

The museum’s initial site of operation was Ehrström’s own home, and it was later moved to the primary school and the top floor of the Town Hall.

After the museum project, another achievement of Carl Robert Ehrström was the establishment of a reading room at the Raahe Library. The Raahe Library was founded for the working population with privately donated funds in 1847. Ehrström took the initiative of setting up a reading hall in 1873. Back in 1861, Ehrström had been involved in establishing the public library of Nivala (Pidisjärvi at the time).