Miss Sofia’s Chamber

Sofia was born in a merchant family in 1816 and stayed unmarried till the age of 26 – not that she didn’t have any suitors, quite the opposite. Sofia’s problem was the inheritance left by her mother, over 3,000 silver rubles. During those times, it was the husband who always made decisions on his wife’s wealth, so as long as Sofia remained unmarried, she could decide what to do with her money.

Sofia was an exceptional bourgeois girl. She was worried about the dangers poor girls in Raahe were under. What would happen to the uneducated girls? What does it mean for the whole society and its future if women don’t have an education?

She lost her mother at the age of 10. On her mother’s grave, Sofia promised to found a school for the poor girls in Raahe. Her inheritance would be changed into a trust, and the interest would be used to found the school and pay for the teachers. Sofia planned to be a teacher in the school herself too. The determined daughter developed this idea and decided to remain unmarried till she would meet a suitor who would accept her school plan.

In a certain party, Sofia met baron Georg Henrik Lybecker and fell irreversibly in love with him at first sight. The only thing that was dampening this happiness what the fear if she could ever say “no” to this handsome and elegant baron if he was against the school project. To Sofia’s luck, the bridegroom was happy to accept Sofia’s plan and thus, they signed the founding documents of the Lybecker school on their wedding day on the 14th of February 1843. The school is still running in Raahe.

The romantic Miss Sofia’s Chamber is decorated in the style from the time when Sofia slept in it her last maiden night and got married to her great love in the church next door on the following day.