The Helsinki normal lyceum was initially conceived in the autumn of 1867, when Finnish-speaking classes were added to the
Swedish normal lyceum of Helsinki. Because of linguistic political reasons, the Finnish classes were ordered to be discontinued in 1871, but the Finnish schooling continued directly in a privately owned Helsinki Finnish Primary School. In the autumn of 1878, the Primary School moved to a newly built school building at Ratakatu 2 in
Punavuori, Helsinki. The new school building was designed by the architect
Frans Anatolius Sjöström. In 1887, the Primary School became state-owned and was named the Helsinki Finnish Normal Lyceum. At the same time, the
Hämeenlinna Normal-Lycée founded in 1873 was changed to a regular lyceum. The school operated at Ratakatu 2 from 1887 to 1905 until it moved to a new building at Ratakatu 4 (nowadays Ratakatu 6) designed by the architect
Jacob Ahrenberg. The building was inaugurated on 28 October 1905. The school went through several name changes until finally becoming the Helsinki Normal Lyceum on January 1, 1995. After repairs in the building had been completed in spring 2006, the premises on Ratakatu 6a returned to the use of the Normal Lyceum of Helsinki for the first time in a hundred years, when the training of new teachers moved to the
City Centre Campus in
Kruununhaka. At the same time repairs were made to the building at Ratakatu 6b, which are now already complete. During the repairs, the old intermediary part connecting the two buildings was dismantled and replaced with a new intermediary part designed by Cedercreutz Architects. The new intermediary part hosts the gymnastics hall, the computer class and a two-floor lobby. The lobby is the only common part of the building to face south towards the
St. John's Church. The large window, spiral staircase and railing on the landing form an architectonically interesting space. The long history of the Normal Lyceum of Helsinki has given birth to many aspects of Finnish school tradition. For example the senior prom dance held by the second-year students at the secondary school, called "vanhojen tanssi" in Finnish, is believed to originate from the Normal Lyceum of Helsinki. ==Notable alumni==