The wooden barracks in the old garrison were built for the use of the “old guard”, troops who had been conscripted into the Finnish army, in 1881. A couple of decades later, the old guard was shut down and replaced by the “Finlanders” brigade of snipers belonging to the Russian imperial army. The garrison expanded by adding brick-built barracks.
When Finland gained independence, the garrison was filled with Finnish conscripts. During the war, several divisions from Headquarters operated there – the weather office, the inspector of artillery, and the artillery division, as well as the offices of the command and supply divisions – as well as the German Nord headquarters.
The Savo Brigade was given new barracks in the 1960s in Karkialampi and the old barracks emptied out. The barracks of the 6th sniper battalion of Mikkeli are a nationally significant built environment. In addition to the Infantry Museum, the area houses the Vanha Kassu museum cafe, the Mikkelin Upseerikerho catering business, the Marja apartment hotel, and Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences in the brick-built barracks.
