Wikipedia
says it much better than I could…here is how Helsinki came about:
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| Internet Photo - King Gustav I |
From
Wikipedia,
Helsinki was founded
by Swedish King Gustav I in 1550
as the town of Helsingfors. Gustav intended for the town to serve the
purpose of consolidating trade in the southern part of Finland and providing a
competitor to Reval (today: Tallinn), a nearby Hanseatic League city which dominated local trade
at the time. In order to ensure the economic viability of the city, the King
ordered the citizens of several other towns to relocate to Helsinki, but the
order does not seem to have achieved its intended effect. The Swedish
acquisition of northeastern Estonia, including Reval, at
the conclusion of the Livonian War, caused
the Swedish crown to lose interest in building up a competitor to Reval, and
Helsingfors languished as a forgotten village for decades thereafter.
And here is another version
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| King Gustav I Vasa |
The city of
Helsinki was founded by a Royal Decree issued on 12 June 1550 by King Gustavus
I Vasa of the developing superpower Sweden. He ordered merchants of the towns
of Porvoo, Tammisaari, Rauma and Ulvila to move to the mouth of the river
Vantaa in the parish of Helsinge (Swedish Helsingfors, meaning the 'Helsinge
rapids'). The thriving trading centre of Tallinn on the south coast of the Gulf
of Finland had long been an eyesore to Sweden, and the King desired to capture
much of its trade to Helsinki, which was not only equally conveniently located
halfway through the Gulf, but also provided an outlet from the rich hinterlands
of Finland. Although this founding motive was effectively lost in 1561 when
Sweden conquered Tallinn and Estonia, Helsinki nevertheless developed into a
smug, moderately successful trading port.
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| Internet photo of Helsinki |
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| Helsinki, in the far corner of the Baltic Sea |
King Gustav was by all accounts I could find a ruthless and
hot tempered ruler. He lived around the same time as Henry VIII, and has
similar achievements to his name as the English King, such as converting his
country from Catholic to Protestant credo. He also had his quota of murderous ‘cleansing’
of anyone who could get into his way.
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| Mannerheim's Equestrian Statue in Helsinki |
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| Internet Map showing the 'Mannerheim Line' during WWI |
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| Desolate winter battlefield on the Mannerheim Line - Internet Photo |
Much later,
during the early 20th century, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim became
the symbol of the Finnish struggle against Soviet Russia during the Winter War
of 1939-1940. He was hailed as a champion of liberty throughout the western
world during those 105 days of stubborn resistance against a vastly superior enemy
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| Lutheran Cathedral of Helsinki |
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| Lutheran Cathedral on Senate Square - designed by Engel |
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| Boats and boats and boats - the Vikings were here! |
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| Helsinki's Icon - the Cathedral |
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| Internet Photo of Helsinki from the Air |
Helsinki
today is a very modern city; many buildings including the Lutheran Cathedral in
the city centre have been designed by Carl Ludwig Engel around 1814 after the
city had been destroyed by fire in 1808. It is said, that the oldest building
in Helsinki dates back to 1757, long after the city’s founder had died.
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| Upenski Cathedral - Orthodox |
Russia
occupied Finland and Helsinki until 1917, when Finland declared independence.
Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki, the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe is
one of the reminders of that time.
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| Tove Jansson, Finnish Artist |
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| Tove Jansson in person - Internet photo |
Helsinki is
often called the design capital of Europe, and with good reason. Architecture,
fashion, furniture, public art, is designed with form and function in mind.
Above all, form and function do not seem to override a powerful sense of beauty
in design.
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| 'Functional' surveyance camera?? |
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| Internet photo - example of Finnish design |
A lively
central market is located at the junction of Esplanade Park, the most exclusive
of shopping streets as well as a venue for open air performances, and South
Harbour, one of the cruise terminals and starting point for tour boats and
fishing boats. Apart from local artisan goods such as carvings, knitwear and
furs, there are tents which house local restaurants offering typical Finnish
fare, which of course includes their beloved Reindeer ingredients. Rudolf had
not a chance…
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| South Harbour and market |
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| Surroundings of Helsinki - just like Georgian Bay in Ontario |
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| Public Art |
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| Arctic Fox is still trapped in Finland and sold on open air markets |
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| Knit wear for cold Finnish winters |
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| Tourists buy them as souvenirs, Finns eat the Real Thing, Santa Claus drives them South... |
