The four-storey house at Helminkatu 8, built in 1960, was designed by Else Aropaltio.The 41-apartment building has one and two-bedroom apartments.
The buildings designed by Aropaltio (1914-2008) were characterised by a strong sense of aesthetics. Aropaltio's golden age was the 1950s. (HS 10.11.2020)
The house belongs to block 657, which was featured in Helsingin Sanomat on 12 June 1989 in a series of articles by Kaija Hackzell and Kirsti Toppar on city blocks. Books were also published on the basis of this series of articles, and Hermann's blocks can be found in Oihonnankatuulta Kumpulantielle (1991). The article Pylväät kertítják yhä kaupunginportista is available to HS digital subscribers and can be found in From the HS time machine search ”Hermanni block 657”.
In 2000, a man of about 30 years of age, wearing a bulletproof vest and covering his head with a hood, fired a series of shots with a submachine gun at Helminkatu 8 shortly before 5 o'clock in the morning. The man fired at least 30 shots with an illegal 9 mm submachine gun. In the park at the junction of Helminkatu and Vellamon boulevard. Six police patrols were sent to the scene, who caught the shooter fairly quickly near the intersection of Vellamon and Helminkatu. The bullets mainly hit the concrete wall of Helminkatu 8. The building opposite on Vellamon street was the residence of the former president of the motorcycle gang Bandidos. The shooter is also known to have had connections with the Bandidos. No one was injured in the shooting. The Helsinki District Court sentenced the man to one year's unconditional imprisonment. (HS 4.10.2001, HS 10.10.2000, IS 10.10.2000)
Updated 10.8.2022