When twilight descends on Turku, ghosts begin to appear in the attic window of an old brick house on the banks of the Aura River. A light shining from the middle of the darkness draws out from the round window the silhouette of a bat, which is familiar from the Batman movies.
The bat pattern on the attic window has been puzzling the people of Turku and other riverside passers-by for years. After that, people regularly ask questions on social media and at the same time wonder who might be living in the bat room.
Some people familiar with the story have jokingly asked if the fictional city of Gotham shown in the Batman story is actually Turku. Or who in Turku calls Batman for help? In the story, a searchlight projects a bat pattern into the sky, prompting Batman to rush into battle against criminals.
But who is the person who sends a bat signal to the bank of Aurajoki from his Turku attic window?
In the west The brick house located on Rantakatu, right next to the city ferry För, is an old brewery called Panimolinna.
The Aura brewery was founded in 1885. Around that time, a Swedish brewery architect was completed on the riverside Alwin Jacobin designed brewery building.
Panimolinna is located on Läntinen Rantakatu. Its small and round attic window is like a crown for the whole building.
The building's history has seen many phases, but it is still used as offices, not as a residential apartment building.
Therefore, the theories presented by some people of Turku that there is a real Batman fan living behind the attic window, who curls up in the corner of the sofa in the evenings watching old Batman movies, cannot be true. The building is not intended for living.
After a few inquiry calls, Netum's personnel manager finally answers the phone Kristiina Sälve. And yes, he knows exactly where the bat silhouette is located.
May I come and have a look? And could we chat and photograph you or someone else at the same time?
In the story, a bat pattern is projected into the sky when Batman is called for help. Now the pattern can be seen as close to the sky as it is possible in this house, in the round attic window.
Salve to welcome you further.
The bat has been tuned to the attic window years ago, when an IT company from Turku called Cerion Solutions was still operating in the premises. A couple of years ago, the company was transferred to Netum oy, which has Sälvekin on its payroll.
“The bat has been in the window since 2007. At some point along the way, it frayed and fell off. That's when my husband came to the rescue. He stood up on the table and installed a new bat in the window.”
Now Sälve shows what is in the space behind the round bat window. A grain warehouse once operated on the premises in the past. Now a modern open office space is located under the rafters.
In addition to workstations, the attic floor has Netum's conference room. It is called the Batcave. Inside is a white conference table with chairs. At the end of the table is a large screen attached to the wall. At a glance, it seems like the most ordinary conference room possible.
Except for that juju.
The wall of the meeting room is decorated with a full-length Batman-themed wallpaper.
There is a large Batman-themed wallpaper on the wall of the conference room.
Round attic window photographed from the inside. Kristiina Sälve says that when the sun is shining, the bat figure in the window creates beautiful light patterns on the wallpaper wall opposite.
A Batman-themed mouse pad awaits the user on the conference room table.
For Sälve wondering about the Batman logo visible on the river bank of the round attic window is familiar.
He says that from time to time he comes across an update on social media where someone wonders about it. Then he writes an answer to the questioner and tells that it is Netum's neukkar, which bears the name Batcave.
“And every once in a while, when we get new people to work for us and they come here to the Batcave, they update that it can't be true! That they've seen that outside any number of times, and now they're here on the inside. Then we'll put pictures on social media that we're here.”
Sälve says that it is emphasized to new employees that Batman symbolizes heroism and humor.
“The role of humor in working life is important, you can't do without it. Humor helps to cope with the rush and strictly scheduled work. It also binds people together. Once you've laughed at something together, it's fun to laugh about it again.”
In the Turku office, at least the Batman humor has bitten. There are mouse pads referring to Batman on the table and a miniature statue of Batman crouching in the corner.
“One of our naughty boys brought it from his travels,” Sälve says and bursts out laughing.
The crouching and pooping Batman statue is delicately depicted from the front.
#Comics #Batman #silhouette #surprising #banks #Aurajoki #years #office #humor
