A Slice of History
Ekberg's story began in 1852, when Fredrik Edvard Ekberg opened his bakery and started a new chapter in Helsinki's history. It is a tale that survived empires and wars, always choosing timeless quality over short-lived fashions.
Stepping through the doors on the leafy Bulevardi, you enter the original bakery and café of Helsinki — where Ekberg's master bakers, pâtissiers and chefs still rise early to whip up beloved classics and fresh innovations alike. As Finland's oldest bakery and café, Ekberg has welcomed everyone from Tsars to local families, from celebrities to curious travelers. It remains one of Helsinki's most loved living rooms, where the scent of cardamom and coffee connects with more than 170 years of heritage and the tastes of today.
This is not just a story about flour, sugar, and yeast — but about a family that turned a simple bakery into an enduring cultural landmark. If Ekberg's walls could talk, they'd have many sweet and savory stories to tell. One of them could be yours.
A young man chooses the oven
At eighteen, Fredrik Edvard Ekberg leaves the watchmaker's bench in Porvoo and trains as a baker. He travels through Hamina, Viipuri, Riga and St. Petersburg (the “Paris of the North”) and learns the art of baking.
Ekberg opens its first bakery
On 3 February 1852, Fredrik opens its bakery at the corner of Rauhankatu and Mariankatu in Helsinki-Kruununhaka. Helsinki Cathedral is inaugurated twelve days later. He bakes from midnight to 9 a.m., sells until 9 p.m., sleeps three hours, then starts all over again.
A move to the heart of the city (2nd location)
The bakery outgrows Kruununhaka and moves to Aleksanterinkatu 15, placing Ekberg at the centre of Helsinki's commercial life.
“The Pit” opens, Helsinki's first true café hub
After a six-year battle for the right to serve coffee, Fredrik opens Kahvikamari Kuoppa (“The Coffee Chamber Pit”). Civil servants, students and thinkers gather around a cup of coffee – Helsinki's café culture begins here.
A purpose-built home (3rd location)
Fredrik buys a plot at Aleksanterinkatu 52 (where Stockmann and Keskuskatu are today) and completes a three-storey stone building with its own patisserie.
The famine years and the distillery
The Finnish Famine devastates the country. Fredrik loses his wife Eleonora; the bakery faces ruin. To keep the ovens warm and the staff paid, he opens a distillery — the viinatehdas – until grain returns to the fields.
The Tsar, and the stolen silver
Ekberg was chosen to cater the imperial banquet for Tsar Alexander II during his visit to Helsinki. The silver borrowed for the event gets stolen. The resulting scandal and the loss initiate a financial decline for the company.
The second generation & Hilma's vision: Bulevardi 9 (4th location)
Fridolf Ekberg takes over the family business, steadying it through the turn of the century. In 1915, Fridolf and his wife Hilma move the business to Bulevardi 9. It is Ekberg's fourth address in Helsinki – and the last, until now. Brass fittings, elegant counters: the interior as one knows, starts here.
The café moves downstairs
The café moves from the second floor to street level, offering its services to passers-by.
The Lars Ekberg era
Lars brings a distinctive artistic and aesthetic sensibility to the brand. His legendary marzipan figures and meticulously composed window displays become local sensations.
Olympic-year renovation
Major renovations take place for the Helsinki Olympics, creating the current iconic interior.
Otto and Maj-Len take over
The fourth generation, Otto Ekberg, takes the helm during a difficult financial period. While most companies in Helsinki rip out wood and brass for neon and chrome during the 1980s, Otto refuses. The 1952 interior is preserved almost intact. His wife Maj-Len joins the leadership in 1986.
Ekberg Extra opens
A dedicated event space at Bulevardi 9, for business and private gatherings — the Ekberg experience in a new context.
The fifth generation – A strategic renewal
By the mid-2010s, the family decides to gradually transfer responsibilities from the fourth generation to the fifth. Ekberg Café and Ekberg Shop are renovated to meet the demands of today. In 2019, Nina, Mark and Martin officially take the helm. Strategy is rewritten while traditions are preserved. Five generations, one family.
Tokyo — Ekberg's first location outside Finland
After 174 years and four Helsinki addresses, the first permanent Ekberg location outside Finland opens in Japan.