Stories

Dreams Do Come True

We all have dreams… and dreams can come true if you really want them to and believe in them.

I realized my dreams years ago in the village of Rehakka, Janakkala – out of respect and gratitude for past generations and with the hope of giving joy to future generations.

I will be eternally grateful to my grandfather Karl Hjalmar Göös, my grandmother Edit Göös, my mother Kaarina Göös and my aunt Hellevi Göös. Without them the Klemola Manor would never have been built.

Pioneers of their time – Irjala and Klemola

The Klemola Manor has its roots in the Irjala Manor. Irjala’s first owner was Gottlieb John, known as the energetic mayor of Hämeenlinna from 1766 until 1800. His son was Hans Henrik John and his son was Gottlieb Johannes John. His wife was Therese Cygnaeus from Janakkala’s Leppäkoski. She was the sister of Uno Cygnaeus, the father of the Finnish public school system. The couple had a daughter called Fanny.

Fanny was a pioneer and a trailblazer. Her uncle Uno Gygnaeus sent her to Switzerland to study. As an enterprising and respected woman she established the Jyväskylä seminary and served as the headmistress from 1863 until 1867. In Jyväskylä she met Karl Gustaf Göös who was a gym teacher at the Jyväskylä seminary. The couple had four children – Arvid, Elsa, Theresa and Karl Hjalmar.

Fanny valued education in all its forms. She believed that it was important for people to be educated and she promoted the establishment of schools in Janakkala. She even donated a piece of land for the Hyvikkälä school.

The old Klemola Manor that was destroyed by fire in 1942.
The cowshed and the workers’ cottage of the old Manor in 1925.

Karl Gustaf Göös was a man of action – bold and always looking for something new. In 1872, he established the printing house Weilin+Göös with Alexander Weilin.

Karl Gustaf Göös died in 1917, the year when Finland gained independence. Fanny Göös died in 1918.

The ownership of Irjala was transferred to their daughter Elsa (née Göös) and Oskar Möller in 1923. Erik Möller took over Irjala in 1962. Later, Pia Möller as well as Erik Möller’s daughter Maria owned Irjala, but since then the manor has gotten a new owner.

Irjala is split – Klemola manor is born

Karl Hjalmar Göös inherited a piece of land and established the Klemola Manor in 1923. He designed all buildings himself, including the main building. However, the main building burned down in 1942.

Klemola was a functioning farm and the family’s interest in education was also visible in the spirit of the manor. There was a library that was available for everyone to use.

After Karl Hjalmar Göös died in 1939, the manor was first taken over by his wife Edit Göös and then their daughter Kaarina Göös. Klemola has been the family’s summer place since 1954. Kaarina Göös died in 1999 and the property is now owned by her daughter Elisa Göös.

Klemola is reborn

Ever since I was a young girl, I had a dream that one day Klemola would be a place where all kinds of people of all ages could enjoy nature and the Klemola spirit. It would be a place where people could find peace and quiet, become stronger and empowered.

My dream came true in the early 2000s. Today there is a new main building, Guesthouse Willa Göös, as well as a chapel built in an old grain drying barn.

Some children of the Manor in 1924 with the sauna building in the background.
Evening at Willa Göös photographed from the guesthouse stairs.

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