ISSN: 1871-417X

EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE REVIEW

SPRING 2017

#Heritage4Europe #Europe4Heritage

EUROPA NOSTRA
welcomes and supports the
EUROPEAN YEAR OF
CULTURAL HERITAGE 2018
EUROPA NOSTRA represents a rapidly growing citizens’ movement for the
safeguarding of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. Our pan-European
network is composed of 240 member organisations (heritage associations
and foundations with a combined membership of more than 5 million people),
140 associated organisations (governmental bodies, local authorities and
corporations) and also 1100 individual members who directly support our
mission.

TOGETHER,
• we form an important lobby for cultural heritage in Europe;
FINLAND SPECIAL
• we celebrate excellence through the European Heritage Awards organised
by Europa Nostra in partnership with the European Union; and
• we campaign to save Europe’s endangered historic monuments, sites and
cultural landscapes.

We are the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe

CASTLES, HERITAGE HOTELS AND A BURIAL CHAPEL

TURKU AND THE ARCHIPELAGO
THE STORIES OF SAUNA, SANTA CLAUS AND NOKIA
EUROPEAN LEADERS ON THE 2018 YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
100 YEARS OF FINNISH INDEPENDENCE
The New Bertelsmann:
Higher Growth ⋅ More Digital ⋅ More International ⋅ More Diversified
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about
50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book
publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music
company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the
Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network
of funds. The company has 116,000 employees and generated revenues of €17.0 billion
in the 2016 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This
combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that
inspire customers around the world.
The 2017 European Heritage Congress and
the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra
Awards Ceremony are under the patronage of
Sauli Niinistö, the President of the Republic of Finland.

It is a great pleasure for me to introduce this Finland Special
of the Europa Nostra magazine Heritage in Action. At the very
moment that Finland is celebrating one hundred years of its
independence, I am delighted we can share some exceptional
Finnish heritage sites and stories with you.
Finland’s history, of course, goes much further than the century
of its independence. From the Ice Age to the Atomic Age, Finland
has always had to find a delicate balance between man and
nature, between the East and the West, between the bright light
of summer and the darkness of winter. The Finnish people have
managed to incorporate these contrasts into a unique culture,
which is reflected in their languages, their food, music and
architecture, and even in their political life. Finland’s heritage
is indeed very much alive; it forms part of the every-day life
and environment of Finnish people and it inspires their local
community spirit and engagement. Finland’s communities and
citizens are all very proud of their heritage and are keen to share
it with the rest of Europe.
We are especially grateful to the City of Turku for kindly
hosting our large European family of heritage professionals
and volunteers during the annual Europa Nostra Congress and
European Heritage Awards Ceremony on 11-15 May 2017. Turku is
a perfect example of a city where heritage and modernity, nature
and history seamlessly and harmoniously work together for the
benefit of its inhabitants. Our Heritage in Action magazine also
explores other Finnish heritage treasures: from mysterious pre-
historic sites to the stunning beauty of the Turku Archipelago
with its thousands of islands; from a 19th century paper mill to
the 20th architecture of Alvar Aalto; from the far north to the
fertile south. However, when a country has over 180,000 lakes
and almost as many islands, it is impossible to do justice to all
those beautiful vistas and panoramas which Finland has to
offer. Therefore, our magazine contains only a representative
sample of Finland’s exceptional - and often surprising - heritage
achievements, many of which have received one of our European
heritage awards.
From Finland’s history, we can learn that although times can
be difficult and seemingly without hope, we can always find
new solutions and create new opportunities. With hard work
and perseverance, often with a dedicated community effort,
many of the Finland’s (industrial) heritage buildings have been
transformed into innovative and profitable cultural heritage
treasures. These examples confirm that cultural heritage can
Welcome
03
By Plácido Domingo,
President of Europa Nostra
indeed be perceived as a perpetual engine, a perpetual melody
for our future: an energizing and inspiring perpetuum mobile for
Europe!
Let this serve as an inspiration for all of us as we are invited to
get more actively engaged in shaping the future of Our Europe,
this at a time when Europe is challenged by so many political,
social and economic divisions and inequalities, but also at a time
when EU leaders seem to be determined to revive the European
project and to reduce a dangerous gap with EU citizens. This was
confirmed in the Rome Declaration signed on 25 March 2017,
on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome,
a Declaration which - among others - stresses the EU leaders’
commitment to a “Union which preserves our cultural heritage
and promotes cultural diversity”. Europa Nostra applauds this
recent positive development and stands ready to work with EU
Member States and Institutions to further enhance the vital
cultural dimension of the entire European project.
With the European Year of Cultural Heritage just around the
corner, I remain strongly convinced, as President of Europa
Nostra and as an artist, that cultural heritage is a precious -
though still underused - resource for Europe’s sustainable,
prosperous and peaceful future. I am pretty sure that many
of our members and partners share this conviction. I am also
encouraged by similar thoughts and commitment by leaders
of EU Institutions who kindly accepted to give their exclusive
interviews for our Magazine: Antonio Tajani, President of the
European Parliament who comes from Italy; Tibor Navracsics,
EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport
who comes from Hungary; Markku Markkula, President of the
European Committee of the Regions who comes from Finland,
and with Owen Bonnici, Minister for Justice, Culture and Local
Government, who comes from Malta, a country that holds the
Presidency of the European Union in the first semester of 2017.
This publication would not have been possible without the
dedication of our dear colleagues and friends from Europa Nostra
Finland, as well as the key Finnish supporters of our Congress
2017 in Turku - the Finland 100 organisation and the City of
Turku. We also wish to acknowledge the vital on-going support
of the EU’s Creative Europe Programme and our corporate
partners Banque Pictet and Bertelsmann SE & Co. KgaA.
Their support has enabled Europa Nostra to develop its activities
on many fronts, including this Magazine.
Tervetuloa Suomi ! Welcome in Finland !
Plácido Domingo, President Europa Nostra
CONTENTS
06 AFinland’s
Painter’s Paradise

COUNTRY
DREAMS
modern artist Kaj Stenvall made
a 19th century villa on Ruissalo island his
family home

14 Leap of Faith

TREASURE
21 century art in a
st

16th century church

26 The Legacy of

HERITAGE
LIVING
the Flying Finn

30 European Leaders on the 2018 Year

FEATURE
of Cultural Heritage
Interviews with Antonio Tajani,
Tibor Navracsics, Owen Bonnici and
Markku Markkula

46 Build to Last

TREASURE
The Medieval Castles of Finland

FEATURE

54 100 Years of Finland

64 Alvar Aalto
FEATURE

The Human Touch

70 Where the Sea

COUNTRY
DREAMS

Meets the Sky

The magical touch of the
Turku archipelago
 80

HERITAGE
Hot Habits

LIVING
The sauna heritage of Finland
is much more that a cultural
tradition, it is a way of life.

96

COUNTRY
Dreaming in Style

DREAMS
Finnish heritage hotels

TREASURE
106 Jean Sibelius
Music for a Nation

114 Rest in Peace

COUNTRY
DREAMS
The Grotenfelt burial
chapel

122 Adopt a Monument

HERITAGE
LIVING

148 Malmi Airport IN DANGER

HERITAGE

7 Most Endangered

Articles on community projects are marked with

Keeping It Simple The Timeless
Fashion of Marimekko / 10
Nokia – Reconnected / 18
Back to the Stone Age / 22
Knock on Wood The miraculous
survival of the UNESCO World
Heritage site of Old Rauma / 60
Then & Now / 86 A Place to Come Home To / 130
Panorama / 102 Rural Restorations / 132
Santa’s Home / 110 Deep Sea Diving on Land / 136
Pulp Faction The Verla A Towering Success / 138
Groundwood and Board Mill
is a red brick miracle of World Europa Nostra Finland / 142
Heritage / 118 Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 / 146

It’s a Moomin’s World / 76 The Simple Life / 126

 A Painter’s Paradise
06
country dreams

Finland’s famous modern artist Kaj Stenvall (1951) made a

19th century villa on Ruissalo island his family home.

Ruissalo
But the sun will rise again,
spring will turn to flower again,
She led me down a little path,
through the fields of wood anemones.

Villa Roma Written by poet Viherluoto

(alias Harry Etelä)
Historical picture of
the villa
It was Tsar Nicholas who
decided that the quiet rye
fields and white beaches of
Ruissalo would be the ideal
place to wile away the endless
Finnish summer evenings.
Soon, well-to-do residences
were built along the coastline
of this island paradise, a safe
distance away from the hustle
and bustle of Turku’s harbour
and factories. Today, the island
is within easy reach by car but
it has not changed much since
the 19th century, with its quiet
atmosphere and its historic
summer villas hidden in the
deep green forests on either
side of a winding road. It is a
tranquil place of inspiration,
perfectly suitable for an artist’s
home. Although...along the
way, massive trucks are busy,
moving heavy machinery and
material around on a large field;
the preparations for Finland’s
oldest and by far loudest rock
festival ‘Ruisrock’, a favourite
07
gig for some the world’s biggest
acts. For a few days, the earth
trembles and shakes with
roaring decibels and head-
banging crowds from across the
globe, but afterwards, normal
life takes it course once again.
Villa Roma was built in 1851 as
the summer home of Turku’s
cultural icon Nils Henrik
Pinello. Pinello was a writer
and journalist with Italian roots flowers and strawberries.
and one of the founding fathers The owner was the father of Design drawing
of the Åbo Svenska Teater in another artist, Otto Mäkilä of the original
watchtower
Turku, the oldest theatre of (1904-1955), who grew up in the
The watchtower
Finland, founded in 1839. house. The artistic credentials
today
In the 20th century the villa was of Villa Roma are therefore well-
famous for its produce of corn, established.
The restored
storage building
The storage
building in the
20th century
08
country dreams

Above, one of the Kaj Stenvall bought the large,

storage sheds
two hectare estate in 2003.
A frequent visitor The collection of charming
to the estate
wooden buildings fit well within
its natural surroundings.
“It is sort of in the middle of the
island, not too close to the road
and not on the beach,” Stenvall
Kaj Stenvall in
front of the main explains while walking through
building the spring garden towards an
octagonal building, nestled
between the oaks and pines. use. Its attic is a perfect place to bedrooms, the modernised
“This is a new structure, our store his paintings. kitchen and the pleasant
wedding hall. We decided it winter-garden, all with wooden
would be a good idea to facilitate The main building of the estate floors and panelling, it make
weddings and for many people has undergone some important the house an ideal family home.
it is a very attractive location.” changes, mostly as the result The distinctive wooden motifs
The paradise-like property of bombing during the war, in on and around the windows and
with its small creeks, little which the romantic watchtower doors can already be seen on old
bridges and garden houses are was destroyed. Stenvall shows photographs.
a haven for animals and wild me the staircase to the tower,
flowers. In one of the buildings which now leads nowhere and Living in a mid-century summer
he is planning to open a café or ends abruptly at a ceiling. villa can be challenging at times.
lunchroom. The old wooden The spacious living quarters The harsh Finnish climate can
structure is now completely are divided over two floors. be hard on maintenance and
restored and ready for summer Combined with the homely keeping warm in winter is not
always easy, Stenvall explains. 09
This is no longer just a summer
residence, the Stenvalls live here
permanently, all year round.

Kay Stenvall paints in his atelier

on the third floor overlooking
the lush gardens. The room is
stacked with paintings, which
are often strongly anchored
in actuality. From the floor
Angela Merkel looks at us with
sad eyes, on the other side of
the room we see Hollywood
celebrities sharing a canvas and
even Donald Trump – a recent
Stenvall fascination – shows
up, ordering his poor fellow
Donald (Duck) to take a picture.
Stenvall’s paintings stand in the
tradition of Finnish surrealism
but he is mostly known for his
paintings of ducks. Ducks?
Yes, ducks. He discovered more
than 25 years ago that Donald
Duck and ducks in general live
on the edge between the comical
and the dramatic. If you place
a duck in a serious role, the
painting immediately takes
on new meaning. It challenges
traditional authority and
pomposity, and pokes fun at
the powerful. Stenvall is very
interested in American popular
culture and gives its familiar
themes depth by mixing them quickly became an international the Finnish multinational of “The Visitor”
with classic art traditions. sensation, and he has since the illustrious Erkko family
His narrative canvasses, hosted more than a hundred solo with an annual turnover of
often with clever titles, use exhibitions across the globe. over 2.5 billion Euros, holds the
the ducks to enter your brain Donald Duck’s relationship European publishing rights for
easily, but then they start to with Finland was already very Disney. So in Finland it makes
ask unexpected questions and strong. Aku Ankka’s magazine, perfect sense to find inspiration
raise philosophical issues. as the duck is called in Finland, in ducks to express your inner
His work takes trusted and has been a success since the feelings and communicate your
familiar imagery and shows 1950s and most Fins, including ideas. The lush gardens and
how thin the layer of reality Stenvall, grew up with the idyllic historic setting of Villa
can be. His paintings of adventurous stories of Donald Roma on Ruissalo island are
melancholy, thoughtful ducks Duck and the inhabitants of a perfectly natural place for
in what could be interpreted Duckburg. Many Finns learn to the ducks to still inspire one of
as a typical Finnish landscape read with Donald Duck. Sanoma, Finland’s most beloved artists.
10 The photograph is from the
lıvıng herıtage

cover of the Sports Illustrated

issue of 26 December 1960, a
few weeks before J.F.K. would
officially take office. He was
promoting healthy living, and
the fashion perfectly fitted the
new and young power-couple, a
far cry from the old-fashioned
look of their predecessors,
Mamie and Dwight Eisenhower.

Marimekko became instant

vintage in the 1960s and it is
Finnish fashion heritage pur
sang. But like all products
successfully encapsulating the
elusive spirit of the time, it is not
always easy to keep a good thing
going. How do you stay relevant
and avoid losing yourself in a
21st century markets with such
different rules, celebrities and
styles?

Marimekko started innocently

enough as a small clothing
company, officially founded
in Helsinki in 1951. It was
supposed to be a textile factory,
but founding designer Armi
Ratia (1912 – 1979) had higher
hopes and wanted to create a
brand based on idealism and
passion. She increasingly viewed

Keeping It Simple
The Timeless Fashion of Marimekko
It is a holiday photograph of one of the most famous
couples of the 20th century. They are on a yacht. He is
wearing a traditional blue polo, but she is wearing a
John and light red summer outfit. It is a posed, sophisticated,
Jacqueline
Kennedy on the natural look. The woman is Jacqueline Kennedy, the
cover of Sports
Illustrated brand is Marimekko.

Marimekko as something
more than fashion. In her eyes
Marimekko was a way of life, a
sort of Utopian, unisex dream,
a cultural force which would
encompass all aspects of daily
living. The striking patterns
and vivid colours of her and her
artists’ fashion designs should
be suitable for young and old,
big or small, man or woman,
for clothes and dining tables,
for couches and wallpaper.
She even dreamed of her own
village in which all these ideas
would come to fruition.
Her vision was a perfect match
for the ideals of modern living
and the social revolution of the
1960s. Armi Ratia was initially
not keen on flower motives,
Quality control 11
Armi Ratia
in 1959
but Unikko – an abstract Unikko (abstract
poppy design) is
representation of poppies by
still being made
one of her artists, Maija Isola in the Marimekko
– was simply irresistible. factory in
Helsinki
The ‘poppy power’ made the (middle photo)
brand beloved by the lifestyle
magazines of the world –
People, Time, Elle and Vogue
to name but a few – who
embraced Marimekko as a
fresh breath of air.
12
lıvıng herıtage
Lapponia and Pretty
Earth
For years, another Finnish design
company has been a strong
supporter of Europa Nostra.
Jewelry company Lapponia
supported Europa Nostra with a
percentage of the proceeds of their
Pretty Earth necklace.
Danish sculptor and jewelry
designer Poul Havgaard wanted
to express his feelings towards
conservation and created this
necklace in the shape of the
earth: a perfect example of the
more than 50 years of Lapponia’s
craftsmanship and jewelry design.
Denis de Kergorlay, Executive
President of Europa, said of the
cooperation between the Finnish
company and Europa Nostra:
“Pretty Earth symbolizes the
importance of Cultural Heritage
in preserving and enhancing
the beauty and the soul of our
European cities and countryside.”
However, passion alone
cannot always pay the bills,
Classic and enthusiasm cannot
Marimekko
designs, replace profit. By the end of
Spring 2017 the 1960s the brand was in
serious trouble. It would not
be the last time. Armi Ratia’s
stream of consciousness style of
management mixed brilliance
with ever looming bankruptcy.
She believed in spending money
to achieve great things.
“Throw the money out of the
window so it will come back
through the door,” she used to
say. The seesaw of the world
economy and the roller-coaster
ride of international taste
continued to be a challenge.
Once again after Armi’s death
and in the 1980s, the brand was
sailing through stormy weather
and almost lost sight of a safe
harbour.
The modern building on the
outskirts of Helsinki has a
company restaurant (where
everything from plates to
tablecloths is Marimekko) and
a popular store where Japanese
tourists are buying anything from
coffee cups to shower curtains.
There is however a real factory
behind the welcoming façade,
where Marimekko fabrics are
still being produced in a highly
innovative, automated and
specialised process. The endless
rows of brightly painted materials
move from the printing to the
drying and are continuously
checked by quality supervisors,
who watch the fabrics like hawks
to make sure the dyes stay where
they are supposed to stay. Since
the 2000s Marimekko is playing
on its strengths and once again is
keeping it simple. The company
is successfully rediscovering its
classic designs and in the 2017
spring collection we can discover
many familiar patterns and
colours. Armi Ratia would be
proud.
 Leap of Faith
14
treasure

21st century art in a 16th century church

It had been a labour of love; the
restoration of the charming St. Olaf’s
church in Tyrvää on a peninsula on Lake
Rautavesi, between the cities of Turku and
Tampere. But disaster was looming.

Tyrvää Church
 15

Since a new village church had Wood after

the fire
been built in 1855, the old Tyrvää
church had been used only
sporadically. Nevertheless, the
local community had always
felt deeply connected to it and
on special occasions the early
16th century building would
still be in use. The solid stone
church was built of indigenous
granite rocks and decorated with
bricks, which were considered
a luxury. The roof was high and
covered with aspen shingles in
diamond-shaped patterns, as
well as in layers of protective tar.
The location on a peninsula in much religious decoration. In
was not accidental. It had been 1997 the old roof was in such a
a pagan place of worship since state that the community jumped
the 4th century. The natural to action to restore the tens of
surroundings and the exterior thousands of shingles. For weeks
of the Tyrvää church were and weeks the local volunteers
impressive, but the interior – the oldest over 90 years of
was truly magnificent. The 17th age - worked to repair Tyrvää
century decorated pulpit and church, sometimes on shaky
the wooden interior which was ladders dangling dangerously in
covered in paintings by Andreas the breeze. The whole village was
Löfmark from the 1780s were involved, assisted by volunteers
a rare visual extravaganza in from the whole region and
a country that was not used to experts from the government.
16 (from left to
right) Osmo
treasure
Rauhala, Ulla
Rahola, two of
the volunteers
who worked on
the project, vicar
emeritus Osmo
Ojansivu
Interior with
Osmo Rauhala’s
paintings
Interior with
work by Kuutti
Lavonen (top)
and Osmo
Rauhala (bottom)
Three weeks after the festive
re-opening, the church was
reduced to ashes by a local,
mad arsonist. With only the
stone walls still standing, the
new roof, the wooden interior
and all the paintings were lost.
The tight-knit community
was of course devastated and
downhearted, but soon a decision
was reached to restore the church
to its former glory. The National
Board of Antiquieties took the
responsibility for the restoration
and made plans to repair the
walls and reconstruct the roof.
ICOMOS Finland organized
two discussions concerning the
interior reconstruction and a
steering group for the interior
design was nominated. Architect
Ulla Rahola was approached
with the tall request “to restore
the unique atmosphere of the
original interior.”
Rahola worked for many years
to repair the heavily damaged
monument. Together with
the local community and
craftsmen, the shingles as
well as the underlying roof
construction were restored.
Everybody working on the
project felt that this was much
more than a restoration – the
church was living heritage
and a part of the community.
More than a thousand
volunteers participated in the
reconstruction works between
1997 and 2003. The 18th century
wooden interiors were rebuilt
using mostly new wood. The
result was a fresh and clean
church, but something was
missing: the paintings. Some
wanted to keep the church in
its empty and serene wooden
form, but after many discussions
a bold decision was reached.
Instead of working towards a
reconstruction of the original
paintings, modern artists would
be approached to capture the
traditional biblical stories in
completely new light.
Art should remain a centre piece
of the Tyrvää church.
Two, very different, Finnish
contemporary artists were
selected to find a 21st century
creative solution between the
500 year old walls, Kuutti
Lavonen (1960) and Osmo
Rauhala (1957). Each would
be responsible for part of the
church. They worked on the
project for five years, during
which the church was mostly
closed to the public. Although
they had artistic freedom,
they often wanted to discuss
their ideas and concepts with
various experts involved in the
restoration. The circumstances
in the church were often
challenging with temperatures
ranging from -20 to +20 as well
as a destructive humidity.
The artists had to test materials
and paints. Lavonen and
Rauhala respected one another’s
space and rarely worked in

the church at the same time.
They decided however that
they would cooperate on the
painting of one of the columns.
The original art works of
Andreas Löfmark could still
be studied on photographs, but
the artists did not want
to try to re-create the 18th
century interior. They wanted
to use the same themes and
the same surfaces but create a
truly 21st century interpretation
of devotion. Their individual
approach to the subject-matter
was however very different.
Kuutti Lavonen is clearly
inspired by Europe’s cultural
heritage and the artists of the
Renaissance and Baroque.
He made sketches, which he
and his assistants then painted
directly on the wood panels,
an unforgiving and challenging
way to work. He worked on
29 panels, from the Stations
of the Cross and the Last
Judgement to the Apostles and
the Evangelists. His paintings
show raw emotion and capture
real suffering in striking reds
and intense imagery.
17
Osmo Rauhala – who divides his
time between New York and his
family estate in the nearby village
of Siuro – has a very different,
more cerebral approach to
painting. His work has an almost
calming, meditating effect after
the direct impact of Lavonen’s
paintings. His wooden panels
covered subjects such as the
Creation and the Birth of Life. St. Mary’s Church in
He does not show human figures Sastamala
and his highly symbolic works of
art are almost like puzzles with A short drive away from Tyrvää church we
discover the St. Mary Church of Sastamala
hidden meaning. Every aspect, which, in its present form, dates back to
from the capture of the movement the 15th century. In the 19th and 20th century
the church was largely abandoned but
of the wing of a dove and the now it has found a new future as a popular
all-seeing eye to large elephants, location for summer activities.
It is exceptional to see a traditional floor
forbidden fruits, DNA and of sand as well as the small but impressive
scientific discovery is important. collection of early artifacts.
Rauhala admits he sometimes had
to adjust his colours to bring them
in line with the intense colour
pallet used by Lavonen.
In 2009 all the hard work
was completed, and now the
Tyrvää church is once again
truly living heritage, a proud
and active member of the local
community with a new roof, a
new interior and contemporary
art that will easily withstand the
test of time.
18
ındustrıal herıtage

Nokia – Reconnected
How would the Spanish composer
Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909) feel,
had he known how much anticipation,
anxiety and happiness his music would
bring to hundreds of millions of people?
A fragment of his Gran Vals is one of the
world’s most – often grudgingly – listened
to melodies. In 2013, more than a billion
people heard it every single day.

The famous ring-tone is just one of the

many interesting stories that connects
Francisco Tárrega
(1852-1909) Nokia to our European heritage.
 Tehdassaari
Factory Island
Nokia is not a city somewhere
in Japan or Korea, as some
originally thought, but
an industrial town with
foundations firmly grounded in
the industrial revolution and the
history of Finland. But what is
the link between this pleasant
and green town between the
Finnish lakes, close to Tampere,
and the iconic brand that for
more than a decade dictated
the rules in the global phone
industry?
For that, we have to go back
to the 19th century, when
Europe was in need of paper
and cardboard. Knut Fredrik
Idestam (1838-1916) was eying
the Emäkoski rapids close to the
old Nokia farm, a small rural
community surrounded by an
endless pine forest. Idestam’s
family was already well
established in nearby Tampere,
but the young entrepreneur
looked for a new location to make
his mark on the world. The free
energy of the rapids and the
abundant space to grow was
ideal for his pulpwood factory.
He would become the father
of the Finnish paper and pulp
industry. The ramshackle
collection of wooden sheds
and mills of the early years
quickly grew into a large
industrial complex, riding high
on the waves of the industrial
revolution. The steamboats
docked from 1881 and the first
train arrived in Nokia in 1893.
The beating heart of the town
was Tehdassaari Factory Island
where the main factories and
offices were located. In 1908 the
new headquarters of the Nokia
Corporation opened, a classic
building designed by architect
Birger Federley.
19
Nokia village in
1912
Knut Fredrik
Idestam
Advertisement
rubber boots
Other industries started to join
in the success of the paper and
pulp industry, such as a cable
making company and a rubber
factory. While the First World
War brought disaster to Europe,
the Nokia rubber factory did
business as never before.
With Russian competition out
of the picture, their famous
galoshes and tyres were in high
demand.
Nokia rubber
shoes
20
ındustrıal herıtage

Tampere rapids with the Museum

Centre Vapriikki on the left
Redeveloped factory buildings in
Tampere

The industries of Nokia were

much more than just factories,
Nearby Tampere was an industrial city before Nokia. they were communities in which
The Tammerkoski rapids had an enormous potential for the company was everything.
industrial development. Today many of its old factories
have been dismantled and are being reused as homes, With working days of 14 hours,
restaurants or museums. The only factory still working there was not much else in
by the rapids is Tako board mill. The power-stations on
the rapids are still generating abundant amounts of green,
people’s lives than the factory,
clean energy. Most of the town however had to find a new and the owners built complete
future and Tampere today is a town transformed.
villages with all the facilities a
The Museum Centre Vapriikki used to be part of the community might need, creating
Tampella factory but now the 14.000 square metre
building houses the Pirkanmaa Provincial Museum, the more of a dependent family than
Natural History Museum, the Media Museum, the Mineral a workforce.
Museum, the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, the Doll
museum, the Postal Museum and the Finnish Museum
of Games. That is quite a lot of Finnish heritage to enjoy The factories of Nokia became
before relaxing on a terrace overlooking the still impressive
industrial landscape of the rapids. as intertwined as their
communities and by the 1960s
the paper, cable and rubber
industries were essentially
one company. The Nokia
 21

Nokia’s iconic phone is the Nokia 3310. It

was the most popular phone in the world.
It has already become part of our collective
industrial and cultural heritage. Now the
new Nokia company is bringing back their
classic design, hoping that the old silhouette
combined with today’s technology will bring
Nokia back to the front line of the telecoms
industry and back into the limelight.

Corporation had become a
conglomerate of businesses,
which made toilet paper,
rubber boots and tyres, cables
and electronics as well as
maintained forests and owned
power-stations. But times
were changing. The head office
moved to Helsinki in 1972 and
many of the properties and
companies were sold off. The
depression, which started
in 1975, only sped up
the process and by
the 1990s the Nokia
Corporation only
owned the Nokia
Manor and some
houses and landed
property. The Nokia name
however stayed and the cable,
electronics and phone company
that would conquer the world
with their mobile technology
still officially traced their
history back to Knut Idestam,
who started the Nokia story
with his mill on the Emäkoski
rapids.
The town of Nokia has
gone through difficult
changes but is now
reinventing itself.
Industry is no longer
the main employer
of the city although
the rubber factory
is still successful. Now the Above Paper Machine
halls from 1885
green city is making use of the
natural beauty that surrounds Nokia villa on
Tehdassaari Factory
it. The historical buildings of Island
the Tehdassaari Factory Island
are being redeveloped with
new industries, run by young
entrepreneurs, who help to
reconnect the city of Nokia once
again to the world.
Finland also brought us another revolution of the phone
industry. As one Finn described it: “It is not as personal
as a phone call, but not as impersonal as an email.
It was just the level of intimate communication people felt
comfortable with, like Whatsapp today.” The sms (short
message service) was created by the Finnish engineer
Matti Makkonen (1952-2015) in 1984 when he was working
for the national Telecoms and Postal Agency. It seems a
lifetime ago but the first sms was only sent in 1992.
22 Sammallahdenmäki
treasure

The scenery would have looked

very different to a stone age
family, making their way along
the archipelago and the lakes.
Most importantly, Finland
as a whole would have been
substantially lower and the
sea and lake levels remarkably
higher. As a result, this reality
had less land, but more water
and ice. The climate would have
been warmer, with oak and
linden trees covering the shores.

Nowadays, standing on the

slope of the UNESCO World
Heritage Bronze Age burial site
of Sammallahdenmäki, you can
walk down a rather steep hill
to the shore of a swampy lake
and bird paradise stretching
out before you. In ancient
times this hill would have been
a cliff situated directly on the
coastline of the Gulf of Bothnia,
with dotted islands visible on
the horizon. The more than 30
burial cairns, stacked with local
granite boulders, were not built
in the middle of the forest, they
were built within easy reach
of the boats and could be seen

Back to
the Stone Age
The earliest inhabitants of Finland left
impressive monuments and art behind which
still mesmerises scientists and inspires visitors.
View towards the lower march lands
from the burial site

from a distance. The view from
this large prehistoric graveyard
would have been impressive.
However, very few human
remains have been found on the
site and even objects such as
sherds of pottery, burned animal
bones and artefacts are rare.
Sammallahdenmäki lies just
north of Rauma and is the
largest burial site from the
Scandinavian Bronze Age
(1500-500 BC). According
to scientists, the large graves
are indicative of a new, sun-
worshiping religion and
the beginnings of a farming
community. These ‘islands’ of
stone situated in a lush, green
environment give the burial
site a wonderful meditative
atmosphere, a unique
combination of nature and
man-made structures.
A large quadrangular cairn,
locally knows as the ‘Church
Floor’, is an especially
remarkable monument.
Everywhere you look, light-
green reindeer lichens cover
the ground between the old
pine and spruce trees. The
23
relatively remote location of Sammallahden-
Sammallahdenmäki has been a mäki
blessing in disguise. Although
the site is fully protected under
national legislation, the local
agricultural community is
also closely involved to keep
the monuments maintained
and protected. Here it is easy
to imagine how prehistoric
man would have brought their
leaders to their final resting
place, overlooking the endless
seas under a summer sun that Rock with a
would hardly set. fungi pattern
The Kastelli at Linnankangas,
Pattijoki is one of the tens of
rectangular ramparts built –
according to legend – by giants
over 4,000 years ago in the
coastal areas of the Gulf of
Bothnia. They are also on the
tentative list of UNESCO World
Heritage
24
treasure

The huddled figure at

Astuvansalmi
Close up of the face of
the rock
The smooth rock-face
of Astuvansalmi
Female warrior

Astuvansalmi Rock Paintings
It is a foggy fall morning as guide
Helena Partanen, marketing
coordinator Emmi Eronen
and museum director Matti
Karttunen stand waiting at a
small jetty in Mikkeli to take
me to the mysterious rock-face,
first discovered in 1968 on the
River Vuoksi. As with many fall
mornings in Finland, the watery
sunlight at first hides the deep
arctic cold underneath the early,
barely warming rays. The lakes
are featureless dark pools with
only the waves made by our
motorboat disturbing the placid
surface. In the mist the yellow
birch trees catch the morning
light and reveal a few log saunas
on the lake-shore. Not much has
changed in this landscape over the
last few thousand years, except
that there would have been a lot
less land and much more water.
The quiet beauty of the lakes, and
the pine-covered islands that rise
from them, has been preserved in
its natural state.
At first glance the 30 metre rock
looks like any other large boulder,
so typical of this region. But then,
as the boat turns to come about,
the image of a huddled figure
with an immense stony face
with bulging eyes, a large nose
and protruding lips is clearly
visible. It is not hard to imagine
 25

Kierikki, photo by Estormiz

Kierikki
The Stone Age Village reconstruction of
Kierikki lies 50 kilometres north-east of Oulu.
Kierikki is both a museum and a touristic
centre and was opened in September 2001. It
has a massive exhibition building which is the
largest modern time log building in Finland.
From 5,000 BC onwards, people lived on the
sandy banks of the river Iijoki near Kierikki.
The reconstructed buildings were created based
on research data obtained from archaeological
excavations. The centre brings the stone age
to life and teaches children and adults stone
age skills such as how to use a bow and arrow
and paddle a log boat. You can also try to be an
archaeologist in public excavations with help of
British students. The project was a recipient of
a 2002 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa
Nostra Awards.

ochre date from 3800-2200 Hamd impression

BC, but prehistoric man did Elk

why prehistoric man would
have immediately been taken by
this site. Astuvansalmi, as the
location is now mainly known, is
on the tentative list of UNESCO
World Heritage.
The site is reachable by foot
and by boat. From the jetty, the
rock-face is impressively large.
It used to be a place of sacrifice
and was used over a long period
of time. The paintings in red
not stop worshiping here until
the beginning of recorded time.
Looking up along the 17 metre-
high smooth surface we can
make out several human figures
and even three female figures,
of which one or maybe even two
could be warriors. There are elks
and boats and hand impressions.
They are well preserved, thanks
to a natural, transparent coating
of silicate oxide, the result of
minerals in the rock which have
dissolved over time. Besides the
paintings themselves, there is
not much to go on to explain why
hunter-gatherers decided to paint
what they painted. Were there
shamanic, religious motives or
more practical reasons?
An amber pendant and some
arrow heads from later periods
were discovered in the water
below the boulder, but hard
facts are hard to come by.
The Astuvansalmi paintings
were included among in the
international RockCare project
funded by the Raphael and
Culture programmes of the
European Union in 2000, but
scientific research is still ongoing.
26
lıvıng herıtage

The Legacy of
Paavo Nurmi
entering the
Olympic
stadium in
Helsinki in

the Flying Finn

1952
Paavo Nurmi
publicity
photo

Paavo Nurmi not only inspired a generation

of runners, he also became a strong
national symbol of the new Finland after its
independence from Russia.

Paavo Nurmi (1897 – 1973) career at the 10,000 metres.

was much more than a running
sensation. True, he set 22 official
world records, won 9 gold and
3 silver medals at the Olympic
Games in Antwerp (1920), Paris
(1924) and Amsterdam (1928)
and was unbeatable during his
However, it was his impact on
the young Finnish republic
that would make his legacy so
enduring and endeared him to
Finns then as much as today.
Nurmi was a working-class
hero who forged his way out
 27

of poverty and claimed that

working hard as a poor youngster
helped him to develop the strong
muscles that would catapult
him on his way to success.
His talent for running, which
manifested itself at a young
age, brought him worldwide
fame. He travelled to the USA,
hung out with Hollywood
celebrities of the day, such as
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary
Pickford, and even met President
Coolidge. The newspapers called
him ‘The Flying Finn’ and the
“Phantom Finn,” names that
stuck for the rest of his life.
His dream of ending his career
with a marathon-win during the
Olympics of 1932 in Los Angeles
was shattered by a dispute about
his amateur status and he retired
from running two years later.
When he ran, twenty years later,
into the stadium holding the
Olympic torch during the 1952 Poster Paavo Nurmi

Olympic Games in Helsinki, Paavo Nurmi running

70,000 people welcomed him
with a standing ovation.
More than 40 years after his
death, Nurmi’s name still has a
magical quality. In Turku, the
town of his birth, the Paavo
Nurmi Legacy works to preserve
Paavo Nurmi’s sport- and
cultural heritage by activities
such as the Nurmi School Tour
which has reached over 10,000
children - in the age-group of 6
to 13 - in more than 100 schools.
The multilingual Paavo Nurmi
website - in co-operation with the
Sport Museum of Finland - keeps
his digital heritage alive and
relevant.
in the Olympics
The Olympic torch Paavo Nurmi was so famous
from 1952 in the USA that it was good
publicity to be related to him.
Hollywood star Maila Nurmi
(1922 – 2008), better known
as Vampyra, was born Maila
Elizabeth Syrjäniemi but took
on Nurmi’s name. She was
of Finnish descent, but later
claimed to have been born in
Petsamo, Finland, and to be
Paavo Nurmi’s niece.
 School-group
28 Paavo Nurmi
Legacy project
lıvıng herıtage

In a sense, there was

not one Flying Finn,
but at least two. Hannes
Kolehmainen (1889 -1966)
was a four-time Olympic
Gold medallist and a world
record holder in middle-
and long-distance running.
He was a star of the 1912
Olympic Games and a
major inspiration to Paavo
Nurmi. Yet the vegetarian
(a rarity in those days)
Finnish runner still won
under a Russian flag, much
to his own chagrin.

Paavo Nurmi An annually broadcast Paavo
Marathon
Nurmi documentary, the Paavo
Paavo Nurmi
Junior Games
Nurmi home museum and his
burial site are other aspects
Stadium during
Pavoo Nurmi which the project’s executor, PN
Games 2016 Turku Ltd., brings attention to
the wider public.
The Paavo Nurmi Legacy is part
of the successful Paavo Nurmi
Festival organised since 2013
with the Paavo Nurmi Games,
the Paavo Nurmi Marathon, the
Paavo’s Sports Day for children
and the Paavo Nurmi Junior &
Master Games.
The activities and plans of
the Paavo Nurmi Legacy are
not running out of steam any
time soon as a lasting tribute to
Finland’s most famous athlete
and national treasure. It is no
wonder that their activities
won the EU Prize for Cultural
Heritage / Europa Nostra
Awards 2017 in the category
Education, training and
awareness-raising.
paavonurmi.fi/en
Welcome
to the
oldest
city in
Finland.

www.turku.fi/en
30
feature

Creating bridges thanks

to emphasis on common
cultural heritage
Interview with Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament

On occasion of the 60th
anniversary of the Treaty of
Rome on 25 March, EU leaders
adopted the ‘Rome Declaration’
for the future of Europe in which
they commit to work towards
“a Union which preserves our
cultural heritage and promotes
cultural diversity.”
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović,
Secretary General of Europa
Nostra, had the pleasure of
meeting Tajani in Rome on that
occasion.
What was your personal
impression of this historic day?
On 25 March, more than ever,
I realized how important the
European unity is, and what we
could achieve thanks to it.
The celebration was more than
just a formal event to mark what
have been the best 60 years in the
history of a free Europe. It was
also a grave, solemn moment,
because it was obvious to
everyone that the EU would need
to be changed. And that it would
European 31
parliament
leaders during
a meeting in
Norcia, Italy,
next to the
San Benedetto
Basilica which
was heavily
damaged in an
earthquake.
Benedetto is the
patron saint of
Europe. The EU
will fund the
restoration of the
Basilica.
be our responsibility to make sure
that it is strengthened, and not
weakened. All the institutions
need to work harder to find the
answers that Europeans are
looking to us to provide.
The only response to populism
is to demonstrate by means of
practical achievements that we
are working together for a Europe
that produces results.
Your home country Italy
now plays a leading role
internationally in building
momentum for heritage: the
Italian G7 Presidency initiated
M. Antonio Tajani has been
the first ever G7 Ministerial Member of the European
meeting on Culture in Florence Parliament since 2014 (and
previously 1994-2004)
at the end of March. How can and was elected President
civil society and the European in 2017. Prior to this, he
was Vice-President of the
Parliament work together to European Commission
sustain this momentum? responsible for Industry and
Entrepreneurship (2010-
2014) and for Transport
The European Parliament’s (2008-2010). Antonio Tajani
previously worked as a
DNA is about creating bridges journalist. He holds a degree
towards the people in Europe, in in Law from La Sapienza
University in Rome and speaks
particular thanks to emphasis Italian, French, English and
on common cultural heritage. Spanish.
You can count on me and on the
32 of cultural objects, or mere
feature

neglecting.

Thanks to the efforts of your

colleagues from the EP Culture
Committee, the budget for
implementing the Year at
European level has been
increased compared to the
initial proposal. Much depends
now on EU Member States to
promote the Year and provide
for additional funds at national
level. How can we ensure that
the Year receives adequate
funding to match its high
Tajani and other European Parliament to stress as European citizen, what do you ambition and high expectations?
European leaders
signed the Rome
the importance of it. expect from the Year? What role could be played by
Declaration, the EP to enhance the political
marking the Together with civil society I hope that this initiative will significance of the Year, both
60th anniversary
of the Treaty organisations like Europa Nostra raise awareness of European from the European dimension
of Rome in the and the European Heritage history and strengthen a sense and the global perspective?
Capitole’s room
of the Horaces
Alliance 3.3, the European of European identity. I also
and the Curiaces Parliament also played a key hope that it will draw attention As you already mentioned,
role in the decision to declare to the fragility of our cultural the European Parliament played
the European Year of Cultural heritage, which is often an important role in ensuring a
Heritage 2018. Both as President threatened by environmental proper budget for implementing
of the European Parliament and pressure, illicit trafficking the European Year of Cultural

The day after,

the youth takes
the place of
the European
Leaders in the
Capitole’s room
of the Horaces
and the Curiaces
 With Sneška 33
Heritage. With the support of Quaedvlieg-
the EP Culture Committee, Mihailović,
Secretary
the Parliament is committed General of
to stress the political Europa Nostra
significance of cultural heritage, in Rome

including in EU external
relations such as conflict
prevention, post-conflict
reconciliation and rebuilding
destroyed cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage has a

significant and substantial
positive impact not only on our
economies but also on society,
culture and the environment –
as demonstrated in the report
‘Cultural Heritage Counts
for Europe’. Given your vast
experience, among others as
former EU Commissioner for
Industry and Entrepreneurship,
what is your view on how this
should be reflected in future
EU policy priorities and more
importantly in future EU
funding programmes?

While it is not easy to quantify

the power of our cultural
heritage to improve the quality
of our lives, we know, in our
hearts and minds, that policies
and investments are necessary
to sustain our heritage. Culture
is also an important drive for
growth and jobs. Just think how
many tourists come in Europe to
visit our incomparable cultural
heritage.
Many heritage treasures like
the Basilica of San Benedetto
in Norcia were destroyed or
damaged by severe earthquakes
in your home country Italy.
Europa Nostra welcomes
that the EU confirmed its
financial support for the
reconstruction process of
the San Benedetto Basilica
in Norcia. Yet, through our ‘7
Most Endangered’ programme
Europa Nostra receives many
calls for support to endangered
heritage sites, often due to simple
lack of funding, but also due to
unsuitable and unsustainable
development. Could we make use
of the European Year of Cultural
Heritage to set up a ‘European
Heritage Fund’ to save endangered
heritage sites in Europe?
In the framework of the 60th
anniversary of the Treaty
of Rome, the Conference of
Presidents, accompanied by
Members of the Bureau of the
European Parliament, visited,
upon my proposal, the destroyed
Basilica of San Benedetto. I
personally support any initiative
to raise awareness on endangered
heritage sites in Europe.
To end, which heritage site in
Europe do you consider as a true
embodiment of the European
spirit?
The Capitole’s room of the
Horaces and the Curiaces, where
the signature of the Rome’s
treaties by the governments of
six Member States took place 60
years ago.
34
Cultural Heritage: A Bridge
partner
between our Past and our Future
Interview with Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education,
Culture, Youth and Sport
Commissioner Tibor Navracsics
and his team face a full plate of
responsibilities every day. The
job at hand in an everchanging
European landscape is a
challenge for any commissioner,
but many of the aspects of his
portfolio have a direct and
important impact on people’s
lives - from identifying how to
modernise Europe’s education
systems to creating more
interaction between universities
and economic innovation,
from promoting cultural
diversity and helping Europe’s
artists and creators, to using
culture as a catalyst for
innovation, economic growth
and new jobs for young people
of all social and cultural
backgrounds. How does the
heritage world and the wider
world of culture fit into all of
these ambitions? And what
opportunities does the coming
European Year of Cultural
Heritage offer?
You have worked hard – together
with civil society representatives
such as Europa Nostra and other
heritage organisations – to
make 2018 the European Year of
Cultural Heritage.
2018 will be the European Year
of Cultural Heritage thanks to
the enthusiasm and dedication
of a number of players: Member
States, the European Parliament
and organisations from the
cultural and creative sectors.
When I presented the European
Commission’s legal proposal to
make 2018 the European Year
of Cultural Heritage in August
of last year, I knew that I could
count on them in making this
project a reality. The mobilisation
of Europa Nostra and its network
was one of the keys to convincing
political actors to go ahead.
Firstly: Was it a difficult initiative
to get support for?
As I said, there is broad support
for this initiative. Many
Europeans have an emotional
connection with our European
cultural heritage, want to see it
protected and enjoy it in all its
forms. Therefore I regard the Year
as a truly European project. The
European Parliament and Member
States are very committed to
it. And the support of Europa
Nostra, the members of the 3.3
Alliance and other organisations
has – from the very beginning –
been remarkable. The Year will be
implemented at European level by
the Commission, in cooperation
with all institutions, starting
with the European Parliament
which has been so supportive.
But most importantly, the Year
will happen on the ground, in
local communities. It will depend
on and be for people – from
heritage professionals to those
who are already interested in our
patrimony to those citizens who
will discover it for the first time
thanks to the activities planned for
2018.
Secondly: When is the Year a
success for you? What is the
message for the Europeans you
want to share with the Year?
I believe that cultural heritage
is a crucial part of our identity, a
valuable resource from the past
which can and must help us look
to the future together.
This is my key message for the
Year and I am particularly keen
on creating this bridge from the
past to the future, focusing on
future generations: children
and young people. Getting
them involved and interested in
finding out about their roots and
what these roots mean for the
future will be a great challenge
for the Year – and one measure of
success.
More broadly, success means
creating a legacy. This should
not be a one-off project, finishing
on 31 December 2018. If we
can show that the Year has
contributed to more efficient
management of cultural heritage
resources across Europe in the
long run, greater awareness of
the value of cultural heritage
and the risks it is exposed to, and
better protection of tangible and
intangible testimonies from our
past, then we can say that we
have been successful.
Thirdly: What do you expect 35
from Europa Nostra and our
members? How can we help?
I count on Europa Nostra, its
wide network, and other cultural
heritage organisations, to bring
cultural heritage closer to people
and to help us to implement the Liszt Academy,
Budapest (Grand
Year at grassroots level. This will
Prix Winner
be vital in achieving the goals we EU Prize for
have set ourselves for the Year. Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra
Awards 2015)
This year we celebrate 100 with Maestro
Plácido Domingo,
years of Finland – one of the
President of
reasons the Europa Nostra is Europa Nostra
holding its annual congress in
Turku. Can you tell us what
you – as Commissioner – are
looking forward to in this year’s
ceremony for the EU Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa
Nostra Awards, especially in
Finland?
Every year, the ceremony for the
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Awards is a
major event in the cultural
heritage calendar. It is the ideal
occasion to demonstrate the
remarkable achievements of
the winners. At the same time,
it is an excellent opportunity
to highlight the significant role
of cultural heritage in society,
36 and to promote participation in
partner
heritage protection. One element
of the prize and the ceremony
that is important to me is the fact
that it focuses on what people are
doing together; it celebrates the
way people in Europe respond to
the challenge of preserving their
cultural heritage and how they
invest in the next generation. I
am glad to see the Congress held
in Finland this year as a tribute
to the centenary of Finnish
independence and the country’s
rich maritime heritage. And I hope
that this year’s ceremony will add
to the discussions and exchanges
to be held during the Congress
by showcasing some remarkable
heritage initiatives that Finland
has seen over the past few years,
such as “Adopt a Monument”
which gets citizens involved in
managing cultural heritage.
I am also confident that the
Congress will inspire and prepare
the ground for discussions on
creative ways to engage more
citizens in the preservation of
cultural heritage, providing
a stepping stone for many
organisations to start preparations
for the European Year of Cultural
Heritage in 2018.
Veszprém
castle (photo by
For a few years now, under your
Csendesmark) leadership, heritage sites have
been selected for the European
Heritage Label. Could you tell us
about the selections this year and
what impressed you the most?
The European Heritage Label is
definitely on the up. This year,
19 Member States have proposed
sites they have pre-selected for
addition to the European Heritage
Label list. That is a 70% increase
on the last selection process in
2015, and I am impressed to see so
many Member States involved.
The 25 sites they have pre-selected
range from the sixth century to
more recent examples. Proposals
include the Maastricht Treaty and
the village of Schengen, as well
as memorial sites from the two
World Wars and the Communist
era, religious sites, industrial sites
and much more. I wish them all
the best of luck; and let’s see what
sites our panel of experts will
select to be put on the list at the
end of this year.
The European ideas and ideals are
under attack from many sides.
Are your colleagues now more
susceptible than before to give
culture a try as the heart of the
Union?
Culture is at the heart of
the European project. The
celebration of the 60th
anniversary of the Treaty of
Rome is a poignant reminder
of this. And the European
Commission remains committed
to the goals it has been working
towards for a long time:
promoting cultural diversity,
protecting cultural heritage,
easing the mobility of cultural
professionals, and supporting the
cultural and creative industries.
The cultural and creative sectors
have an important role in socio-
economic development. Let me
nevertheless underline that
culture is not just a means to
economic growth. Culture plays a
significant role in our lives and in
our society too. We need culture
to better understand each other,
to strengthen the bonds between
our countries and our people, to
help us fight and prevent violent
radicalisation and stand together
against common threats. And it
can also strengthen diplomatic
relations and help the EU build
stronger ties with its partners
across the globe.
One of the aspects you have
stressed is the growing
importance of cultural diplomacy
in the framework of EU’s
enlargement and external
relations policy. Could you tell us
why you think cultural diplomacy
is gaining momentum?
There is growing recognition
of the important role
that culture plays in EU
international relations. The Joint
Communication “Towards an
EU Strategy for International
Cultural Relations”, which
I presented with the High
Representative Vice-President
Federica Mogherini last June,
is proof of it. We want to put
cultural cooperation at the
centre of the EU’s diplomatic
relations with countries around
the world. Because cultural
diplomacy is about conservation,
innovation, education, security,
and human development. This
is an important achievement in
the long process of strengthening
the role of culture in the EU’s
external relations. And it is a new
beginning as it paves the way for
further action in this field.

What is important now is that
we bring this strategy to life
with concrete instruments
and projects. For example, a
Cultural Diplomacy Platform
was launched last year with the
aim of enhancing the European
Union’s engagement with non-
EU countries and their citizens.
This two-year project, financed
with a grant of more than EUR
900,000, is designed to help the
EU engage even more effectively
with audiences and stakeholders
in other countries through
cultural diplomacy activities.
Moreover, the European Year of
Cultural Heritage will contribute
to the recognition of cultural
heritage as an important element
of the EU’s international
relations and as a key field of
cooperation with our partners
worldwide. Indeed, heritage was
one of the subjects discussed at
the recent meeting of G7 culture
ministers I attended – the first
of its kind. This makes me very
confident that this important
topic will stay high on the
political agenda.
Over the years many different
commissioners have shown
interest in cultural heritage,
often from very different
perspectives; from DG Connect
to Regional Development, from
Agriculture to the Erasmus
Programme. We sometimes
wonder if there is enough
communication between the
different DG’s on sharing the
important results.
Well I do not entirely agree
with you here. I am impressed
by the great level of interest
in cultural heritage that exists
across Commission services. In
2014, the Commission presented
a policy document calling for an
integrated approach to cultural
heritage. This means that as an
institution, we are determined
to implement coherent policies
together, taking into account
cultural heritage concerns across
policy areas – from environment,
energy, agriculture to research,
social and industrial policies.
And I believe we have been quite
successful. There are so many EU
funding programmes supporting
heritage that my services issued
a guide to map them all and help
stakeholders find their way! The
Year will help us make the EU’s
cross-sectoral commitment to
cultural heritage more visible.
Moreover, the declaration
adopted by Heads of State and
Government on the occasion
of the 60th anniversary of the
Treaties of Rome recognises and
celebrates the importance of
cultural heritage for Europe.
Europa Nostra believes that one
of the important messages of
the European Year of Cultural
37
Heritage is to show that almost Iseum
Szombathely
all our heritage is multi- (photo by
dimensional and the result of Sudika)
many different cultures over
time. Can you give us an example
– maybe from your own home
country Hungary – of heritage
that is a clear example of this
multi-layered history?
Cultural heritage represents
our history and our identity, our
past, our present and our future.
When people refer to cultural
heritage, what often comes
to mind is the idea of a single
society and the communication
between its members. However,
our European heritage brings
together elements of numerous
and different cultures. In
Hungary we have many
examples of this multi-layered
history, such as the banks of
the Danube, the Buda Castle
Quarter and Andrássy Avenue,
the Synagogue in Pest and the
Turkish baths in Buda, the
Christian Necropolis of Pecs
and the Iseum in Szombathely.
A place that is particularly
important to me is a viewpoint in
the castle area of my hometown
Veszprém. It is often referred
to as “The end of the world”
because, from the top of a
hill, it offers great views over
the city in which you can find
many cultural influences apart
from Hungarian-Austrian and
Ottoman in particular.
38

Cultural heritage is one

feature

common language
which all countries can
understand
Interview with Owen Bonnici, Minister for Justice,
Culture and Local Government from Malta.

Malta holds the Presidency of the European Union in the

first semester of 2017.

Owen Bonnici,
Minister for
Justice, Culture and
Local Government,
Malta
This year, Malta has been
holding the EU Presidency
for the first time since its
accession to the EU. Your
Presidency coincided with
the Rome Summit which has
marked the 60th anniversary
of the signature of the Treaty
proposal for a European Year
on Cultural Heritage happening
during 2018 - a file which it
also endeavours to bring to a
close. The Maltese Presidency
also worked on taking the Joint
Communication titled ‘Towards
an EU strategy for international
local cultural infrastructure, 39
which is then to be left as
inheritance for generations to
come. The same can be said for
the European Year of Cultural
Heritage.
(from left to right)
The Maltese Presidency has Owen Bonnici

of Rome. Europa Nostra has
strongly advocated the need
to include due reference to
our shared cultural heritage
in the Rome Declaration and
was very pleased to see this
reference included in the
final text of this important
Declaration. The Maltese
Presidency has certainly played
a key role in recognizing the
cultural dimension of the entire
European project?
The European Project is indeed
a great example of how uniting
and working together achieves
greater and more fruitful results.
The world is currently being
faced with many new challenges
which have called upon the need
to recognize the importance of
culture to improve relations
between people, building
mutual understanding and
partnerships, fostering
openness and building tolerant
and peaceful societies. The
Maltese Presidency has
recognized how instrumental
culture is not only because it is
one of the country’s strongest
resources but also because we
believe that it is a key element
of the European project. During
its term, the Maltese Presidency
has been working on a number
of important files which further
give culture the important role
which it deserves. Indeed, the
Maltese Presidency has been
instrumental in reaching a
provisional agreement on the
Cultural relations’ forward by given a strong emphasis to the Sneška Quaedvlieg-
Mihailović,
means of Council conclusions value of cultural diplomacy
Secretary General
which will provide the needed and has given an example by of Europa Nostra
framework for the next steps in promoting and signing a “5+5” Simone Mizzi,
the field of cultural diplomacy agreement to promote cultural Board member of
Europa Nostra
in full cognisance of EU and cooperation between the
Member States’ spheres of countries of the North and South Guy Clausse,
Board member
competences. shores of the Mediterranean. of Europa Nostra
How can we use our shared and former Dean
of the European
You have always shown a cultural heritage to promote Investment Bank
great interest in culture and intercultural dialogue and re- Institute (EIBI)
the environment and you feel
strongly connected to Europe.
What are your expectations for
the European Year of Cultural
Heritage - on which the final
decision has been taken by the
Council and the EP during the
Maltese Presidency of the EU
– as well as for the celebration
of Valetta as European Capital
of Culture 2018? How are the
Maltese government and the
City of Valletta preparing for
these great challenges?
Following the approval of
Malta’s application for Valletta
to be Europe’s Capital of Culture
in 2018, the Maltese government
has set up and is effectively
implementing a strong and
varied programme of activities
in order to attract and actively
involve all possible audiences.
More importantly, since this build trust and mutual respect in
is not being considered as a the Mediterranean Region?
one-off event, a number of
specific projects, such as a Rather than a barrier, the
new community art museum Mediterranean has often
(MUZA) managed by Heritage been a very effective means of
Malta, have also been taken in communication throughout the
hand in order to improve the centuries. This has resulted in
40 Reception held
on 17 March at
feature

Fort St-Angelo
on the occasion
of the Europa
Nostra Board
visit to Malta
(from left to right)
Owen Bonnici
Sneška
Quaedvlieg-
Mihailović,
Secretary
General of
Europa Nostra
Europa Nostra’s
Executive
President Denis
de Kergorlay
Simone Mizzi,
Board member of
Europa Nostra

countries in the Mediterranean
basin having a lot of common
traditions and history, apart
from a long story of social,
political, commercial and
cultural exchanges. Although
languages may differ, therefore,
cultural heritage is effectively
one common language which all
countries can easily understand.
Moreover, it is a language on
which all countries agree. It
would therefore be very short
sighted not to use such common
denominator as a vehicle by
means of which to bridge other
aspects which may be perhaps
more problematic.
Since its accession to the EU,
back in 2004, Malta has made
ample use of EU structural funds
for large-scale projects with
regard to heritage restoration
and revitalisation. Could you
tell us about some of them and
what these projects have meant
for the Maltese and Gozitan
communities?
I think I can safely say that this
has been a veritable success
story for Malta. Successive
administrations have invested
considerably in this sector
and ensured that such funds
are utilized to the full and
with maximum effect. Just to
mention a few: the restoration
of major stretches of the
fortifications, Fort St Angelo,
Fort St Elmo, Tarxien Temples,
Ggantija Temples, St Paul’s
Catacombs, the Hypogeum,
and others. This has resulted,
among other, in better quality of
life for residents, employment,
increased services and facilities
for the local communities,
and increased economic
opportunities in general
through increased visitor
numbers and all the associated
spill-over effects, apart from
the pride of Maltese citizens in
seeing such important cultural
sites receiving the much desired
attention. However this is not
enough, and more projects are
being currently implemented
in the 2014-2020 funding
programmes.
There has been quite some
controversy about some
development projects
(and especially skyscraper
projects) due to their negative
(visual) impact on priceless
cultural heritage sites in
Malta, including the World
Heritage City of Valletta.
Also, Malta’s traditional
vernacular architecture and
rural landscapes are very much
threatened by over-development
caused by mass tourism and
real-estate business. What are
your concrete plans to tackle
this situation?
The trick in such instances,
such as in so many others,
is finding the right balance.
While we cannot live in a time
capsule which would render us
insignificant, we have to ensure
that any actions implemented
safeguard all our cultural assets.
I believe that the recently
introduced legislation regarding
the Planning Authority, the
Environment and Resources
Authority, the Lands Authority,
and the current revision of the
Cultural Heritage Act will put
our minds at rest on this front.
Europa Nostra strongly believes
that our cultural heritage is
very rarely one-dimensional
but is instead the result of
many cultural influences and
interactions over time. Which
heritage sites do you feel is the
most representative of such
cultural and historical layering
in Malta?
Nothing exists in isolation.
There are a number of sites
in Malta which can fit this
description perfectly well, such
as Mdina or the Citadel in Gozo.
In actual fact, however, Malta
in itself and in its entirety is a
prime example of this multi-
layering and heterogeneous
cross-influence across time. All
successive waves of occupants
and visitors have left their own
particular influences in all
sectors of life, architectural,
language, cuisine, traditions,
literary etcetera. Over time
these have moulded together
into what today can be defined
as ‘Maltese’; however this is also
constantly always changing,
through other contacts and
influences, in a constant state of
flux.
The Maltese and the whole
world are still in mourning
following the recent collapse
of the Azure Window on Gozo.
What message can we learn
from such a sad loss of an iconic
natural or cultural heritage site?
The collapse of the Azure
Windom was a natural
phenomenon about which
effectively not much could
have been done to control an
irreversible natural process.
In any case, however, we have
to keep firmly in mind that
heritage sites, be they natural
or cultural, can never be taken
for granted, and that we all
carry a huge responsibility
to forward to our children
what our forefathers have in
turn forwarded to us. It is our
obligation to do so for many
reasons – cultural, historic, 41
social and also economic. We are
so much poorer and meaningless
without our heritage.
Which heritage location in Malta
is especially important to you
personally?
Considering the very high
concentration of cultural
heritage in Malta, I am quite
spoilt for choice. If I really had
to choose one, however, I would
say the recently restored Fort St
Angelo. Its place at the
very centre of Malta’s Grand
Harbour and of Malta’s history,
with all its significance to Photo by Sneška
Quaedvlieg-
the people of Malta, makes it Mihailović
difficult to beat.
And finally, can you also give us
an example of heritage outside
of Malta that has a special place
in your heart?
This is a rather difficult
question. Having to choose,
however, I would say Rome’s
Coliseum. Its imposing
architectural magnificence,
created to host impressive
dramas for human consumption,
has left an indelible mark
on me.
42
feature

Cultural heritage is
a powerful driver of local
and regional development
Interview with Markku Markkula, President of the European
Committee of the Regions (CoR)

As President and long-standing
member of the European
Committee of the Regions,
you have helped to make
the voice of Europe’s regions
and cities heard in the EU
decision-making process.
What is the message of
regions and cities for Europa
Nostra?
Lifelong learning based on
cultural heritage is a cornerstone
of local, regional, national and
European identity, as well as
a powerful driver of local and
regional development. On
average, subnational authorities
are responsible for two thirds of
public expenditure for cultural
activities.
We share the same passion and
drive for the preservation and
development of cultural heritage
and the promotion of cultural
diversity. Europa Nostra has an
impressive cultural activity and
a well-established track record
in these fields. The European
Year of Cultural Heritage in
2018 constitutes a valuable
opportunity to raise awareness 43
of these topics.

Europa Nostra had the pleasure

of meeting you on 25 March
2017, when you celebrated the
60th anniversary of the Treaty
of Rome together with citizens,
politicians and civil society
organisations in Rome. What is
your personal birthday wish for
the future of Europe?

First of all, we should be proud

of what we have achieved. These
60 years have brought peace
and prosperity to Europe. If you
look back in the history, that
was not something we could
take for granted. However, we
must make sure that those who
are in power listen to citizens’
concerns. People want to see
that most decisions are taken as
close as possible to them – this
means in our regions and cities.
We need to encourage bottom-up
movements – cities catalysing
and enabling new innovative
solutions in tackling societal
challenges. The European
Committee of the Regions has
launched an initiative called
Reflecting on Europe, which
includes town hall debates in
around a hundred EU regions
and with the aim of offering
a space for local and regional
authorities and for citizens to
present their thoughts and ideas
about the current situation and
the future of Europe. This way
we are hoping to engage citizens
in the European project. My
wish is a Europe where people
have not only national, but
also a strong local, regional and
European identity.
Europa Nostra strongly believes
that culture and cultural heritage
are one of the most important
cohesive forces that bring
European citizens together –
uniting them across borders.
In March 2017 – shortly after
the Rome celebrations – , the
G7 culture ministers gathered
for the first time. Do you see a
momentum for culture to play a
larger role in politics?
Promoting culture and cultural With Sneška
Quaedvlieg-
heritage is essential in order
Mihailović,
to strengthen identity and Secretary-
democratic values in Europe General of
Europa Nostra,
and to contribute to social during the March
and economic cohesion. This for Europe in
Rome, also with
is particularly important
Professor Paolo
among children and young Vitti, Member
people. Therefore we have of the Scientific
Council of Europa
recommended including in Nostra
school curriculum elements of
European art, music, theatre
and film education. Intercultural
dialogue and better knowledge
of Europe’s cultural heritage
can also play a key role in the
integration of migrants. These
topics will be further elaborated
in two seminars that the SEDEC
commission of the European
Committee of the Regions will
organise this year: the first
will take place in Sofia in May
and the second in Timisoara in
September.
44
feature
Markku Markkula is a member
of the European Committee of
the Regions (CoR) since 2010
and was elected President in
February 2015. He is a member
of Espoo City Council and of
the Board of Helsinki Regional
Council in Finland. From 1995-
2003 he was member of the
Finnish Parliament. Markkula
holds a Master of Science
in Technology in Industrial
Management from Helsinki
University of Technology. He
has been the CoR rapporteur
on many topics related to
innovation, including Horizon
2020 and Closing the Investment
Gap.
Culture and learning must also
receive a stronger role in the
EU’s international relations.
It is important to develop
cultural diplomacy in the
European Union and thus to
enable it to compete with the
new emerging powers at all
levels on the world stage. This
means promoting a positive
image of Europe and its Member
States. The ultimate aim should
be creating a more distinctive,
pluralist, European cultural
identity that will be recognised
both internationally and within
the EU by the people of all the
Member States.
The current EU research
programme Horizon 2020 has
funded substantial heritage-
related projects. However,
Europa Nostra has heard that
cultural heritage might no
longer be one of the priorities
in the successor programme.
Given your experience in EU
research policy, what would you
recommend to policy makers
in Brussels who are currently
drafting the future research
programme?
Our message is clear: it’s
essential that heritage-related
research continues to receive
substantial funding from the
future research programme,
as it contributes to the
conservation, development and
promotion of cultural heritage.
Multidisciplinarity is important
– integrating heritage-related
research and innovation to
other fields. Combatting climate
change and preventing natural
disasters is obviously vital for
the long-term future of our
cultural heritage. Digitisation
and new technologies can make
cultural works more accessible
to everyone and help to preserve
them for the future generations.
In general, more resources need
to be made available to cultural
and creative sectors. Given
that culture has more than just
economic value, new ways of
financing conservation of the
Europe’s immense cultural
heritage must be sought. It
remains essential to maximise
synergies between European
funds and programmes so as
to ensure their effectiveness
and efficiency. We should also
encourage the involvement of
private capital.
Many heritage-related projects
have also been funded through
the EU Structural Funds. How
can civil society and regional
authorities work together to
ensure that these projects are
implemented in line with the
highest professional standards in
the field of heritage?
Cities and regions, especially
rural areas, need to pay more
attention to cultural heritage
in their smart specialisation
strategies and involve all
stakeholders in the planning and
implementation phases. This
includes the civil society, but
also businesses and educational
institutions. We need to look
for innovative solutions for
cultural heritage preservation,
implemented more than so far
through public-private-people
partnerships. We are also
hoping that the European Year
of Cultural Heritage 2018 will
create a momentum to increase
the funding available in the
COSME programme for small
and medium-sized enterprises
related to cultural tourism.
Europa Nostra has the honour
of welcoming you during the
European Heritage Congress
in May 2017 where heritage
volunteers and professionals
will gather in Turku, Finland.
For many, this will be their first
occasion to discover Finnish
cultural and natural heritage.
If you were to name but one, 45
which heritage site embodies
Finland for you and why?
First of all, I warmly welcome
all our visitors to Turku, which
is the oldest city in Finland
and our former capital. It
was the seat of the country’s
first university and used to be
our gateway to the European
civilization. The city also hosts
some of the most remarkable
historic buildings in Finland,
such as the Turku Castle and the
Cathedral of Turku. However,
if I had to pick just one site
in my country, it would be
Suomenlinna, a sea fortress
built on a group of islands across
Helsinki. I do have my personal
links to this: one of my former
staff members – an expert
in continuing engineering
education – is serving as a
head of maintenance of this
masterpiece. The landscape and
the architecture of the fortress
have been shaped by key
events in Finnish history. It has
served to defend three different
sovereign states: the Kingdom of heritage site in Finland or beyond The UNESCO
World
Sweden, the Russian Empire and that is your personal ‘shared
Heritage site
most recently the Republic of heritage’ favourite? Suomenlinna is
Finland, we are celebrating our one of Markkula’s
favourite places
hundred years of independence In a way, we can consider the in Finland
this year. The fortress, which Acropolis of Athens as the cradle
consists of six islands and is of the European civilisation and
one of the most visited tourist (local) democracy. So I guess
sites in Finland, is also a natural that would be a fairly obvious
site which provides amazing choice. However, we need to
views over Helsinki and the look at the European cultural
surrounding island landscape. heritage in all its diversity.
Therefore we are supporting the
In 2018 we will be celebrating creation of a European Network
the European Year of Cultural of World Heritage Cities, as
Heritage. Europa Nostra believes these cities are the common
that the European dimension heritage of all European citizens.
of our shared cultural heritage Specific measures are needed
holds a strong positive message to preserve them and raise
for citizens. Is there another awareness about their existence.
46
treasure

Build to Last
The Medieval Castles of Finland

In many European countries,

castles are shape-shifters,
adapting to ever changing times,
transforming from the stern and
solid strongholds of the Middle
Ages, to the comfortable palaces
of the 18th century with made-
for-show turrets, over-the-top
towers and unnecessary frills.

Finland does not have many

castles that have survived up to
the present day, but the castles
it does have make their raison
d’être very clear. They are made
to impress, to establish power in
the region and to show who is in
Turku Castle inner control, without much patience
courtyard
for needless distractions.
 Turku Castle seen 47
from the river

Turku Castle in the

19th century

The Finnish ‘linnas’ rise from

the surrounding rocks like
massive, grey mountains of
stone, completely at ease within
their harsh environment and
constructed with giant, no-
nonsense boulders. They are
impressive monuments with
stories to tell that leave little room
for fairy-tale style romance. A few
of them, such as Kajaani Castle or
Kuusisto Castle, are in a ruinous
state, but others have retained
most their original charm.

Of the just five medieval castles

which have survived more or
less intact, Kastelholm Castle
on Åland (between Finland and
Sweden) and Raseborg Castle
are still very much recognisable
in shape and form, but the real
medieval treasures are St.Olaf’s
Castle, Turku Castle and Häme
Castle. The medieval Viipuri
Castle, a famous stronghold in
Finnish history, is now located
across the border in Russia.
Turku Castle
Turku Castle, located on
the outskirts of town, is a
remarkable collection of
heritage buildings. Seen from
the river, it looks like something
that could have been designed
by a child, with a massive square
tower in the middle and huge
house-like structures on either
side. Its form is probably based
more on an ancient Roman
army camp than on a ‘modern’
medieval design. Within its
high walls, Turku Castle keeps
surprising the visitors with huge
48
treasure
Children receiving a courtyards and stunning, stony
knighthood vistas of long corridors and
Architect Erik massive defensive structures.
Bryggman
(1891-1955) from The castle is a very popular
Turku designed the tourist attraction and the
museum’s famous
dedicated staff, many dressed in
attic.
medieval attire, guide the tens of
thousands of visitors per month
through the museum, with its
period furniture, prison cells
and impressions of everyday
castle life. Children are of course
still knighted on a daily basis.
The castle was built in the
13th century on an island
to maximise its defensive
capabilities. The Swedes were
consolidating their hold over the
east by making their way along
the Åland sea to Turku.
The castle was constructed to
protect their interests but also
to be used as an administrative
centre for the whole of Finland.
In 1556 King Gustav Vasa made
his son John Duke of Finland.
To make his castle more
comfortable John added the
beautiful Renaissance halls.
Turku – then the capital of
Finland - found itself on the
receiving end of many internal
conflicts within the Swedish
kingdom, but the castle escaped
these skirmishes without
much damage. In 1614
however, during a visit of
King Gustav II Adolf - the
king who made Sweden into
European power-house – the
wooden structure of the castle
was completely destroyed by
fire. The castle was abandoned
and for a while simply used
as a large storage room.
It would not be the last time
the castle burned. In the
summer of 1941, soon after the
Continuation War had begun,
a fire bomb hit the castle with
devastating results. In the
1950s large scale restoration
works began and nowadays
the castle has regained much
of its former glory and it is
one of Finland’s most popular
destinations.

Häme Castle
Häme Castle is built to impress.
Walking along its outer walls
you slowly discover how
massive the structure really is.
At the heart of the fortifications
is a relatively modest, square
brick building resting on
granite boulders. Brick was
an unusual building material
and the stones were probably
manufactured on the spot by
German craftsmen. The central
keep has surrounding curtain
walls with gatehouses, storage
rooms, battlements and gun
towers. Built in the middle of
the Finnish countryside under
Swedish rule, 14th century Häme
Castle had a turbulent start as
49
part of the eastern defence line its gates to the general public. Museo Militaria
against the Novgorod Republic. In the nearby 19th century Inner keep
After new borders between Russian barracks the Museo
Finland and Novgorod were Militaria - The Artillery,
drawn at the peace treaty of Engineer and Signals Museum
1323, Häme was suddenly at a of Finland has found a new
safe distance from the enemy. home.
It became a Swedish
administrative centre for the
middle regions of Finland.
The castle later served as a
prison and in the 1950s Häme
Castle, just like Turku Castle,
became the subject of large scale
restoration works. Since the late
1980s the castle has re-opened
50
treasure

St. Olaf’s Castle

If there ever was a competition
for the most beautiful location
for a castle, St. Olaf’s Castle
would probably finish at the
top of the list. Standing on a
rocky outcrop in the middle
of the stunningly beautiful
Saimaa lake system, it is easy
to understand why founder
Erik Axelsson Tott picked this
spot for his new castle, built
around 1475, then just 5 miles
from the Russian border.
It was the first Finnish castle
which was suitable for cannons
and guns with its massive
round towers of which three
have survived until today.
Tott had to hire foreign
masters from Talinn in
Estonia to lay the bricks. As
St. Olaf’s Castle was on the
border between east and west,
it often changed hands. In 1714
it was Russian, the Swedes got
it back in 1721, and in 1743 it
was once again back in Russian
hands.

When the Russian army finally

left, the castle stood empty for a
while before being transformed
into a prison. Cinders from
passing steamboats in 1868
proved to be more dangerous
than all the war and conflict, and

the castle was severely damaged
by fire. Due to its unique
location St. Olaf’s Castle was an
early tourist magnet. Soprano
and first Finnish diva Aino
Ackté would, in 1912, give it the
legacy which would last until
today: opera.
The grand opera festival in
St. Olaf’s Castle is still one of
the most popular international
classical festivals in Europe and
it lasts the whole month of July.
There is however one draw-back
to this tremendous musical
51
success. Finland has short Opera diva Aino
Ackté dressed as
summers and maintenance
Salome
work on the castle has to be
performed on a regular basis.
The summer months are taken
up by the preparations, the
concerts and the dismantling of
the stage and stands. That leaves
limited room for restoration.
In September and October the
experts and builders move in
en-mass to enthusiastically
do as much work as they can
in the fast fading sunlight
and increasingly lower
temperatures.
52
treasure

Suomenlinna
The UNESCO World Heritage site
(since 1991) of Suomenlinna, or
Sveaborg as it is also known, is just
a short boat trip from the centre
of Helsinki and can easily be seen
from town. It is not just one fort on
one island, it is a huge collection
of defensive structures on several,
sometimes interconnected islands at
the entrance of the harbour of Helsinki.
It covers an area of 210 hectares with
200 buildings and 6 km of defensive
walls over six separate islands.
Landscape architect Pia Kurki
and architect Tuija Lind have been
working for quite some time to help
restore the massive fortifications. It
is a pleasant walk from their offices
to the shore line where they are in
the process of restoring walking
trails. The site of a massive historic
canon offers a spectacular view of the
archipelago of Helsinki with islands
sharply silhouetted against the sun.
The ongoing restoration works on
Suomenlinna can be a challenge. The
Suomenlinna from
sheer number of bastions, bunkers,
the air
barracks, casemates and all the
Landscape architect related structures such as storage
Pia Kurki and facilities, 18th century residences,
architect Tuija Lind accommodations for soldiers and
officers, a church, a dockyard, water
basins, factories, and even a hangar
for planes, is a serious, almost
overwhelming issue. The fact that the
islands are visited by close to a million
visitors a year, almost exclusively in
the summer periods, takes its toll on
the continuity of the maintenance
work. Suomenlinna – literally the
Castle of Finland – is also home to a
half-open prison with smartly designed

living quarters. The prisoners are not
just idly biding their time, they are
actively contributing to the restoration
works on the fortifications. It is a
successful rehabilitation programme
in which the inmates are learning
new skills and knowledge which
prepare them for a life outside the
island’s confines. It is a excellent
example of how cooperation and a
sense of community spirit can lead to
innovative ways of dealing with large-
scale restoration and maintenance
works.
Suomenlinna was built in the second
half of the 18th century, in accordance
with the principles of the French
military leader and engineer Vauban.
Some have called it ‘The Swan Song
of Swedish Military Power’. It has
defended not only the Kingdom of
Sweden but also the Russian Empire,
and since 1917 the Republic of Finland.
The fortress played a central role
in the history of Finland and for
instance, during the Crimean War,
the Anglo-French fleet bombed
the fortress for three consecutive
days. For most of the 20th century
the Finnish army was responsible
for Suomenlinna, but the upkeep
of historical architecture was not a
priority. The vast fortress was turned
over to civilian administration in 1973.
The goals were and are ambitious. The
Masterplan – the capital letter is well-
deserved – of the Governing Body of
Suomenlinna (GBS) aims to preserve
the cultural heritage and the memory
of its remarkable history, develop the
islands as residential areas as well
as facilitate the growing number of
visitors and day-tourists.
One of the main elements of the plan
is the reuse of the many different
buildings. An artists’ residence
53
programme has been set up for Entrance to the
instance, and there is a hostel, a shop, fortress
restaurants and cafés as well as several
museums (he first Suomenlinna
museum, later the Ehrensvärd
museum, was established already in
the 1920s). Preserving the inhabited,
reused and heavily visited monuments
while at the same time respecting the
natural tranquility and history of the
islands is a fragile equilibrium. This
means understanding the value of
the different monuments, the needs
of the 850 inhabitants and tenants,
while being aware of the interests
and demands of the visitors and
tourists. The redevelopment of the
Suomenlinna sea fortress is a true
balancing act.
In 2000, Suomenlinna was awarded a
medal by Europa Nostra for the quality
of its restoration and revitalisation of
the fortress.
feature

54
100 Years of Finland
“The century-old desire for freedom awaits fulfilment now; The people
of Finland step forward as a free nation among the other nations in
the world.” The Declaration of Independence, 15 November 1917
The birth of the Finnish nation,
exactly one hundred years ago
this year, makes the country
one of Europe’s younger states.
The period around the First
World War was a time when
Europe’s destiny changed
quickly and dramatically, with
the old-world order ripped
apart in a vicious tug of war.
A clash of political and social
ideas took place amidst the
quest for self-determination in
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and
Poland. Meanwhile, countries
also emerged from the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire,
while the Ottomans lost their
last foothold in Europe. It led to
the autonomy of Albania (1912),
Hungary (1918), Austria (1919),
Bulgaria (1918) and former
Yugoslavia (1918-2006).
Yet to truly understand
Finland’s struggle for
independence, we have to travel
further back in time.
In 1809, as a result of the
Finnish War, Finland had
become a part of Russian
Empire. As an independent
Grand Duchy, the legislative
assembly (the Diet of Finland)
could already establish some
freedoms for the Finnish people.
For instance, since 1860 Finland
has had its own currency, and
in 1906 universal and equal
suffrage was introduced, making
Finland one of the first countries
55
in the world to allow women
to vote. In 1917 – after the
Russian Revolution – all efforts
came to fruition and formal
independence was declared.
Geo-political trouble, however,
was brewing. Up to the First
World War, Finland had already
been part of many conflicts, but
the first half of the 20th century
would be extremely hard on the
new country.
The Finnish Civil War of 1918
was in a sense part of the Eastern
Front of the First World War.
The power struggle, which
quickly evolved between the
different Eastern factions and
the German ambitions, put
Finland in the thick of it.
The Civil War would leave
deep wounds within Finnish
society for generations. The difficult geographical The National
Museum of
Several cities were destroyed position between the West and
Finland in
and the battles between the East continued to influence the Helsinki
Russian-influenced Reds and politics of Finland even after the
the German-influenced Whites Second World War.
would make independence
more bitter than celebratory. It is hard to understand Finnish
The Second World War would history and independence
bring even more hardship. As a without learning about the
reluctant neighbour of the USSR, pivotal role of Baron Carl
the Finns defended their country Gustaf Mannerheim
against a Russian invasion in the (1867-1951). From the Finnish
Winter War (1939–1940) and Civil War until after World War
together with the Germans they II, no other politician was as
fought the Russians once again influential. His former home in
in the Continuation War (1941– Helsinki, on a hill overlooking
1944). In the Lapland War the bay, tells the story of a
(1944–1945) the Finns fought man who could not escape his
against the Germans. responsibilities.
56
feature
Mannerheim’s
home in Helsinki
Urho Kekkonen
in 1962
Studying his photographs
taken during the Winter and
Continuation War – he was
already in his seventies – it is
hard to shake the feeling that
he was a man haunted by his
destiny, dealing with Hitler,
Stalin and the Allied Nations to
keep Finland’s independence
secure. This balancing act in
Finnish politics continued to
cast a long shadow in the post-
war years, particularly during
the 25-year long presidency of
Urho Kekkonen (1900-1986).
As an experienced skier, he
managed to slalom around the
most sensitive and difficult
political issues, always keeping
the Russian bear at arm’s
length, while simultaneously
trying to stay as neutral as
Carl Gustaf
Mannerheim
in 1941
possible. Kekkonen became
the embodiment of neutrality
and stability during the Cold
War Era. His 1975 Helsinki
Conference on Security and
Co-operation in Europe helped
to defrost the relationships
between the USSR and the West.
He was in power for such a long
time that the Finns used to joke
that they democratically elected
a President and his name was
always Urho Kekkonen. With
such a turbulent history under
their belt, it is maybe no wonder
that most Finns are now strong
advocates for peace, stability
and European cooperation.
To learn more about the Finnish
national identity, we have
to look beyond politics and
military conflicts, and revisit
its clearest symbols. Some, such
as athletic sensation Paavo
Nurmi, architect Alvar Aalto
and composer Jean Sibelius,
we can discover in other
contributions to the Heritage in
Action magazine. In this article,
we take a look at Finnish epic
poetry from the Kalevala and
encounter some of Finland most
influential thinkers and artists.

From the 18th century onwards,
the idea of an independent
Finland had been seriously
discussed. The country had
always been wedged between very
different cultures, on the east the
Russian influence, on the west
the Swedes and the Danes. But
what made Finland truly Finland?
What did it mean to be Finnish?
The 19th century Fennoman
movement tried to find answers
by putting Finnish culture at the
heart of the discussion. Swedish
(official language until 1892)
was the language of the educated
intelligentsia and Finnish was the
language spoken by the common
folk. This early interest in
Finnish culture was therefore
the work of an often Swedish
speaking group of people who
had their own ideas of what
was ‘Finnish’ and what could
be considered ‘authentic’. They
made it a point to speak and read
Finnish and sometimes even
Finnicised their names. One of
the most famous Fennomans was
Johan Vilhelm Snellman (1806-
1881) who stated: “Swedes we
are no more, Russians we cannot
become, therefore Finns we must
be.”
In the late 19th century, Finnish
gained its status as an official
language. Written Finnish
already existed since Mikael
Agricola (1510-1557) had
translated the New Testament
into Finnish. To be able to do
so, the passionate bishop of
Turku had to construct a written
Finnish language from scratch.
However, up to the 19th century
most Finnish texts would have
been religiously inspired, not
literary. That all changed in
the 1830s, when the Finnish
language would take centre
stage in the Finnish national
Romantic Movement. Elias
Lönnrot (1802-1884) started
researching and collecting
Finnish and Karelian folklore,
especially the Kalevala metric
poetry, the “perculiar and
beautiful folk songs of the
country.” From his work,
which took eleven field trips, he
created a unified storyline for
the Kalevala (first published
1835), which later gained the
status of the Finnish national
epic. Still today, Kalevala Day
and Finnish Culture Day are
celebrated on 28 February, the
date of its publication.
Sources of 57
the Kalevala
included people
similar to
the Karelian
poem brothers
Poavila and
Triihvo
Jamanen (photo
from 1894)
Bust by Emil
Wikström of
Mikael Agricola
in the Turku
Cathedral
The present day standard
edition of the Kalevala was first
published in 1849.
In the Kalevala, Lönnrot
combined different themes
and oral poems into a coherent
story which depicted heroes and
their deeds as representatives
of the Finnish people and their
history. This Kalevala narrative
– Kalevala being the name of the
native land of the heroes in the
poetry – is in atmosphere much
like the stories of the ancient
hero Orpheus.
100 Years of Finnish
independence is celebrated the
whole year round with many
activities for everybody. The
theme of Finland’s centenary
year is “Together.”
Be a part of it at
suomifinland100.fi
58
feature

The house in
which Elias
Lönnrot grew up
Interior
Elias Lönnrot
A kantele, a
Finnish zither

One of Finland’s most famous

sculptors Emil Wikström (1864-
1942) also frequently referred
in his work to the Kalevala. He
made sculptures of Elias Lönnrot
and Johan Vilhelm Snellman. His
villa is a picture-perfect example
of Finnish romantic ideals, with
a castle-like main building and
traditional wooden log buildings
amidst gardens overlooking a lake.
The restoration of the museum won
a EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Awards in 2004.
The museum also shows work of
his grandson, the cartoonist Kari
Suomalainen (1920-1999).
Hero Väinämöinen has
the magical power
of song and music.
He invented
and played the
kantele, a Finnish
zither, made from the
jawbones of a great pike. The
Kalevala is a grand story with
creation myths, complicated
relations and epic adventures.
The stories include giants and
mysterious beasts, supernatural
powers, as well as a magical
artefact called Sampo, which
brings riches and good fortune
to its owner, and let’s not forget
a firm doses of love and passion,
slavery, incest, suicide, murder,
rage and revenge.
It is no surprise that such a
rich canvas of stories would
inspire artists around
the world. The book
has been translated to
over sixty languages.
Behind the curtain of
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord
of the Rings we can easily
discover the dark shadows of
the Kalevala. Many of composer
Jean Sibelius’ best-known
works are influenced by the
Kalevala and the works of
Finland’s most celebrated
painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela
(1865-1931) are often directly
depicting scenes from the
poetry. In the National Museum
of Finland you can discover
 “Aino” triptych, 59
painting by
Akseli
Gallen-Kallela.
National Museum
Helsinki

(Left) The warrior

Lemminkäinen
has been
murdered and
hacked to pieces.
His grieving
mother has put
Väinämöinen defending the magical him back together
artifact Sampo. “The Defence of the and looks for a
Sampo”, painting by Akseli Gallen- bee with magical
Kallela from the National Museum. honey from the
god Ukko, which
could bring him
back to life.
“Lemminkäinen’s
mother”, painting
by Akseli Gallen-
Kallela.

Kullervo is an
orphan with
supernatural
how much the Kalevala has wounds can be healed. Or to strength. After a
influenced Finnish culture and quote the Kalevala: life of hardship
and committing
the Finnish identity. unspeakable
Bring anew the harp of joyance, acts, his story
After one 100 years of Bring again the golden descends into a
spiral of revenge.
independence, the Finns have a moonlight, “Kullervo
lot of history to come to terms Bring again the silver sunshine, cursing”,
painting by
with but have also proven that Peace and plenty to the Akseli Gallen-
adversity can be overcome and Northland. Kallela.
 Knock on Wood
60
treasure

The miraculous survival of

the UNESCO World Heritage
site of Old Rauma

There was a time when

Scandinavia had many market
towns and harbours almost
exclusively made of wood.
Over the centuries however,
many of these medieval
wooden treasures went up
in smoke, were rebuilt and
then burned down again.
Cities such as Turku, Naantali
Typical Rauma and Tammissaari only have Old Rauma is one of the best and town, but due to land uplift it is
street
small areas left where the old most expansive examples of a now a few kilometres from the
atmosphere of the historic town traditional northern European sea. “One of the most important
can still be experienced. But wooden settlement. Markus aspects of Rauma,” Bernoulli
one town on the Bothnian coast, Bernoulli was one of the first explains, “is that the city is
north of Turku, escaped this Finns to join the Europa Nostra alive. It is not a museum. Almost
vicious circle of fire after the 17th Council and is actively involved all the buildings in Old Rauma
century and survived mostly in preserving his beloved town. are privately owned and that
intact into the 21st century. Rauma used to be a harbour- makes all the difference.”
 City Hall and market
square
Bernoulli’s own house is a
beautiful example of Rauma’s
fairy-tale charm, with a lush,
green inner courtyard and a
collection of wooden structures.
Entering the main residence
feels like stepping back in time
with its wooden floors and
walls, and its traditional, tiled
hearth. This used to be a house
not just for one family but for
at least two, including children,
newly-weds, grandparents and
other visiting relatives. Times
have changed. Now about 700
people live in the 600 colourful,
wooden residences, often behind
beautifully decorated gates,
along the romantic cobble stone
streets. Most of the Old Rauma
buildings have been technically
updated and modernised. Rauma
is not a poor city living from
hand to mouth, it is a successful
tourist destination and a regional
business centre. On the opposite
side of Bernoulli’s courtyard we
discover another familiar feature
of Rauma architecture: doors.
61
There seems to be an endless
supply of them and – reminiscent
of that old TV-show – you cannot
help but wonder what is behind
door number 3. It could be the
sauna (a basic Finnish need) or
a storage room. It may turn out
to be an office, a garden shed, an
old stable or a craftsman’s repair
shop. Bernoulli smiles at the
idea and points to a remarkable
initiative of the townspeople;
the building material exchange
or bank. The communal building
is laden with a variety of doors,
wooden gate-elements, old
windows and even metal door
handles. The project helps the
local owners to restore their
houses in a traditional way.
The use of these old building on which the wooden residence The many doors of
architect Markus
materials and techniques in is built are rough and in their Bernoulli’s courtyard
maintenance and repairs also natural state, just cemented The building material
helps to preserve the cultural together. In the newer houses, ‘bank’ of Old Rauma
historic spirit of Old Rauma. you see that the foundation A collection of door
Bernoulli points to the clearly stones are precisely hewed and handles
visible foundations of the houses. measured. It makes the houses One of the many
colourful houses of
“This is typical example of an look much more uniform in
Old Rauma
older style building. The boulders appearance.”
62
treasure

Typical inner
courtyard of a
Rauma house

The green belt

around the old
town
Spending the
long summer
days with your
friends

The retired architect is proud of a harmonious historic For Markus Bernoulli,

of his town as we make the grand
tour of his World Heritage city.
The original street plan of the
medieval town has been well-
preserved. Two main streets
cross the city with shops and
businesses. The busy Market
Square is the heart of
the city, with the large yellow
City Hall built around 1775.
The medieval church is another
important landmark. Almost
all brightly coloured houses
are just one storey high
and this adds to the feeling
environment, built over
centuries with different historic
layers visible. The ship trading
of the 19th century had brought
some wealth to the town and
during that period many of the
residential buildings got a face-
lift with new decorative panels
in Neo-Renaissance style. Maybe
even more important is that the
town has retained its genuine
local character with a famous
local dialect which adds a sense
of humour and authenticity to
daily life in the city.
who seems to know everything
and everyone, Old Rauma is
much more than a heritage
treasure, it symbolises how
heritage preservation should
ideally work, keeping history
alive and relevant together
with your friends and a
dedicated local community.
With volunteers and experts
such as Bernoulli to safeguard it,
the World Heritage city of
Old Rauma can face the future.
with confidence. Knock on
wood.
 www.exponatec.de
www.exponatec.com

Kooperationspartner von · cooperation partners

Koelnmesse GmbH, Messeplatz 1, 50679 Köln, Germany

Tel. 0180 6267747, exponatec@koelnmesse.de
 Alvar Aalto
64
feature

The Human Touch

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was Finland’s
most successful and influential architect.
For him, designing the building itself was
not the main goal. The architecture was
‘just’ a part of a total art concept, a true
Gesamtkunstwerk. His ambition was to
include all elements of life in his work,
which makes his modernism so intensely
human. “We should work for simple,
good, undecorated things, but things
which are in harmony with the human
being and organically suited to the little
man in the street,” he said in a speech in
London in 1957.

The human touch also makes
many of his surviving national
and international buildings
so contemporary in look
and feel. For instance the
harmonious retreat he built for
Harry and Maire Gullichsen
in Noormarkku in 1939 or the
house he designed in 1956 for
Southwest
Finland
Agricultural
Cooperative
building
the French art dealer Louis
Carré, an attractive combination
of architecture which merges
with the surrounding landscape
and which interior is designed
for beauty as well as daily use.
This same approach can be seen
in the villa he built for composer
Joonas Kokkonen in 1969. In
this article we make a tour along
some of Aalto’s lesser known
creations in Finland.
Alvar Aalto’s buildings cannot
easily be overlooked. They are
not neutral. Although they
usually are a perfect fit for their
environment and firmly in
sync with their local roots, they
cannot help but to stand out in a
crowd. The Southwest Finland
Agricultural Cooperative
building in Turku is still built
in Aalto’s understanding of
1920s Nordic classicism. Aalto
had won the competition to
design this building and moved
with his wife, designer Aino
Marsio, in 1927 to Turku. The
five floor corner office, which
is now mostly an anonymous
hotel, immediately draws the
attention away from the other

buildings in the street. These
elements are less obvious in the
Tapani Apartment Building
(1927). The Turun Sanomat
Newspaper Building (1928) is
an example of Aalto’s move to
functionalism. It is clear that
Aalto is developing the basic
elements of his signature style
during his time in Turku.
In 1929 Aalto won another
competition, this time to build
a sanatorium in the middle
of a pine forest. The Paimio
Sanatorium was completed
in 1933 and immediately drew
international attention.
The main reason was maybe
that a lot of thinking had gone
The back of 65
the Tapani
Apartment
Building
Turun Sanomat
Newspaper
Building
into the design. Aalto must have Aino also designed all the
reasoned that people suffering furniture, so a perfect harmony
from tuberculosis probably had between exterior and interior
enough problems to deal with was accomplished. The so-called
to also suffer bad architecture. Paimio chair never went out of
The design is adapted to the style and is still in production
needs of the patients and the today.
staff. The pleasant and light
patient rooms are all facing
south and their sunny, colourful
balconies offer ‘healthy’ views of
a green ocean of pine trees. The
various wings of the building
are situated around a central
axis, so the internal routing
was simple. Aalto and his wife
Paimio
Sanatorium,
patient wing
66 Paimio
Sanatorium,
feature
veiw from the
sun-deck
Paimio
Sanatorium, bed
and chair in the
staircase
The sanatorium was converted
into a general hospital in the
1960s and now functions as
a rehabilitation centre for
children. The site has been
nominated for inclusion in
the UNESCO World Heritage
list.
The Viipuri Library, located
nowadays in Russia, was
completed in 1935. Again, it
is clear that Alvar and Aino
Aalto had a clear eye for the
needs of the people who would
use the library. The light and
sunny reading rooms, the
use of natural materials and
warm colours as well as the
wave-like ceiling to improve
acoustics, made the library an
architectural triumph. Aalto’s
reputation grew internationally
and in 1938 an exhibition of his
designs was organised at MOMA
in New York.
The Viipuri Library suffered
during the Second World War,
but even more from a large-scale,
badly executed restoration in the
late 1950s to early 1960s. When
Aalto visited the building in 1962
he lamented: “The building exists
but the architecture has gone.”
Recently, in a major restoration
project in close Finnish/Russian
cooperation, the original
architecture was restored using
the original drawings and designs
from the Alvar Aalto Foundation.
In 2015 the restoration won an
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Awards in the
category conservation.
Viipuri Library (photo by Ninaraas)
Reading room of the Viipuri Library
(photo by Ninaraas)

Villa Mairea was meant as an
experiment. Harry and Maire
Gullichsen had asked Aalto
to build a villa for them in
Noormarkku and to do whatever
he wanted. It was to become one
of its most celebrated designs
and many of the ideas he had
honed in Paimio and Viipuri
were integrated in this total
work of art. He redesigned the
house several times before
he felt he reached the right
balance in the large amount of
rooms the Gullichsen wanted.
The exterior design had to be
in perfect harmony with its
forest environment and the
67
The Aalto
stool is one
of Aalto’s
most popular
Villa Mairea is still design£s,
privately owned and not seen here in
open to the public the Helsinki
Design
Museum
Villa Mairea seen
from the forest
interior design, the furniture,
the textures, the lighting and
even the glassware all had to be
complementary to one another.
Hospiz Betel
The House of Culture was
originally designed by Aalto for
Finnish Communist cultural
organizations. He worked
without pay (although some of
his project architects may have
charged their normal fees) and
could work in complete freedom.
Up the 1/3 of construction work
was done by volunteers, who
worked on the building for
three years. It was completed Åbo Akademi University Library
in 1958. It is one of Finland’s
When Alvar and Aino Aalto moved to
House of Turku they soon befriended architect Erik
Bryggman. Bryggman had an important
Culture
influence on the city development. He
restored Turku Castle, designed the famous
Resurrection Chapel, created the Åbo
Akademi University Library and built the
Hospiz Betel (1929, now a hotel). Together
with Aalto he designed the Turku Fair
buildings and architectural structures.
He was one of the few people in Aalto’s
long career with whom the architect really
collaborated. Bryggman however never
received the same international recognition
as Aalto. Aalto moved in 1933 to Helsinki.
bryggman.fi/english/homepage
68
feature
Villa youngest protected monuments.
Tammekann
Unfortunately, many of the
original elements, such as
the café and the cinema, had
been seriously changed over
the years. Architect Tapani
Mustonen, who is Chairman
of Europa Nostra Finland and
now working on the restoration
of Aalto’s Suoja Building in
Jyväskylä, was also responsible
for the large-scale restoration of
the House of Culture in 1990s.
Mustonen explains: “The aim
of the restoration was to revive
the original expression and
atmosphere of the building
which had faded over the years
and to combine necessary new
technical requirements and
functions with the original
design. But we wanted to keep
Villa Kokkonen
Villa Kokkonen seen
from the garden
Lamp designed by
Aalto and fence with
Alvar Aalto’s initials
the restoration as gentle and
low-key as possible.”
Tapani Mustonen was also in
charge of the restoration of
another of Aalto’s masterworks,
this time in Estonia, the Villa
Tammekann. The building
is owned by one of Europa
Nostra’s most loyal members in
Finland, the Turku University
Foundation. Aalto designed
the house in 1932 for Professor
August Tammekann and his
family. The Turku University
Foundation bought the property
from his children in 1998.
During the restoration many of
Aalto’s original designs were
renovated and repaired and even
reconstructed. In 2002 the
Villa won a Europa Nostra
Medal in the category
conservation.
In 1969 Alvar Aalto designed
another villa, this time for
composer Joonas Kokkonen,
on the shore of a lake in the
small town of Järvenpää. Villa
Kokkonen was once again
designed with the end user
in mind. The acoustics were
excellent and the house was
designed in such a way that the
rooms could be made smaller or
larger. The living-room could
easily be turned into a decently
sized concert-hall. The large
garden had an infinity pool and
of course a sauna.
After the death of the composer,
the unique villa and all its
specially designed furniture were
brought to auction, but luckily the
city managed to buy the house.
The wooden residence is recently
restored, the garden cleaned and
its musical heritage protected.
The house is now the home of
pianist Elina Viitaila and opera
singer Antti A. Pesonen who have
opened the villa to guided tours.
They also organise concerts and
special events in line with the
ideas of Kokkonen and Aalto. The
villa is once again living heritage.
villakokkonen.fi
 WELCOME TO EXPERIENCE
NAANTALI'S CHARM!

The unique City of Naantali invites you discover and

experience the authentic historical and natural charm of
the idyllic wooden old town and our breathtakingly
beautiful archipelago. Welcome to Naantali!

Please contact Visit Naantali | tel. +358 2 435 9800 | info@visitnaantali.com

 Where the Sea
70
country dreams

Meets the Sky

The Magical Touch of
the Turku Archipelago

Utö
 71

Harbour Örö
Sailing between
the islands is a
popular Finnish
pastime

The Baltic Sea between the Hotel on Örö in a

restored Russian
Åland Islands and mainland barrack
Finland is home to one of the
largest collection of islands
in the world. To the north we
find Kvarken National Park
(UNESCO World Natural
Heritage) and to the south, close
to Turku, the Archipelago Sea
National Park (UNESCO MAB
Biosphere Reserve).

The Turku archipelago is

a magical water-world of
uncanny beauty and heritage.
Some islands are barren, grey
coloured islets, scraped clean by
thousands of years of ice sheets,
while others are lush, green
gardens in a watery labyrinth
of brackish creeks and wide
open canals. Finland’s landmass
is firm bedrock, but since the
Weichselian Glaciation the
country has been steadily rising
up, maybe as much as 10 metres,
a geological speed record of some
sort. Islands were surfacing by
the thousands from the seabed
of the Baltic Sea, lakes became
smaller and the land between
them grew in size. Looking out
over the vast expanse of the
archipelago is quite literally an
uplifting sight.
72 Hotel room
The 12 inch
country dreams
gun
Harbour café, Architect and Europa Nostra’s
Örö
eminence grise Benito
Bengtskär Casagrande is passionate about
lighthouse
(photograph ‘his’ Archipelago National Park
by Janke) and explains the deep, historic
connection between the city of
Turku and its island paradise
with enthusiasm. His self-
designed house and gardens
are situated on one of its quiet
waterways, not far from town.
This private oasis of tranquillity
is the starting point of a boat-
tour along some of the highlights
of the archipelago. Casagrande
has a point in talking about
‘his’ archipelago as he and his
family bought close to a hundred
uninhabited islands, not to
develop them, but to secure their
natural beauty and protect them
from potential harm. The first
plants to arrive on these islands
would have been sea buckthorn,
lichens and glasswort, later
to be followed by sea kale, for
instance, with its strong smell of
honey. These hardy plants were
followed by juniper trees, sea
asters and, of course, pines. On
the rocky outcrops cormorants,
gulls, geese and even grey seals
can be spotted. The untouched
landscape of Casagrande’s
uninhabited islands, some
no larger than a few granite
boulders, still capture the
atmosphere of the archipelago
before humans settled here.
Life could be tough for the first
settlers, who would make a living
fishing and hunting seal to sell
the blubber, pelts and bones.
It was a time when ships were
made of wood and the men of
iron. It was far cry from paradise,
with the ever present chance
to become shipwrecked in the
dangerously shallow waters
and treacherous ice flows, not
even mentioning the heavy
workload, the meagre pay, and
the loneliness.
Now the islands face different
problems. Automated
lighthouses make the necessity
to stay on the islands during
winter less pressing. The
government puts in a lot of
effort to preserve jobs, keep
up transport connections and
provide a decent amount of
 A subtle
warning
services to keep the more remote
islands inhabited year round.
First stop is Örö, part of a former
military zone. Since 2015 the
island has been open to the
public and the tourists have
embraced this new destination in
the archipelago with enthusiasm.
From the charming little harbour
the island can easily be explored
on foot. Most of the cobblestone
streets and army barracks date
from the Russian period in the
early 20th century. Many of the
buildings have recently been
redeveloped into restaurants
and even a hotel. One impressive
piece of military heritage is a 12-
inch artillery canon. It is a scary
battery beast which eats shells
weighing 500 kilograms, and can
easily shoot them 45 kilometres
away. Originally there were four
canons, but only one remains in
place today. On the far horizon,
you can see the lonely Bengtskär
lighthouse, constructed on a
small stony island. Standing at 52
metres, it is the tallest lighthouse
of the archipelago. In 1906, 34
men, women, and children lived
there. In 1941 the lighthouse was
the scene of a fierce battle, when
the Russians unsuccessfully tried
to invade it.
73
Baltic herring with horseradish
A few words on Finnish
Cuisine
Let’s be honest. When thinking of haute cuisine,
Finland is not the first country that springs to
mind. For many centuries, due to the harsh,
unforgiving Finnish climate and the short
growing season, food was often more about
quantity than quality. Taste buds were still
undeveloped and culinary efforts concentrated
more on how to safely preserve food to last
through winter.
Typical archipelago food
However, in recent years dedicated foodies
have not only rediscovered and reinvented old
traditional recipes, they have also reinvigorated
the culinary industry. Their passion has not
only spread to the restaurants of cities such
as Helsinki, Espoo and Turku, but also to the
countryside, where many restored heritage
buildings have now found a new future as
restaurant. Finland has four Michelin star
restaurants and everywhere you go, you can
find magnificent food, firmly rooted in Finland’s
culinary heritage. The Turku archipelago is
deliciously famous for its organically grown
fresh food directly harvested from the sea or the Muikku (photograph wiki commons)
countryside. From Baltic herring to Karelian
pasties, muikku, lörtsy or kalakukko, Finnish
food has a lot of tasty surprises on offer.
The first mention of Karelian pasties, or as they
are known in Finnish, karjalanpiirakka, dates
from 1686. The filling could be made of a large
variety of ingredients from rice to barley, carrots,
mushroom or turnip. The dough is usually made
from rye, water and a pinch of salt. The pasties
are so special they have received a ‘certificate of Kalakukko
specific character’ from the European Union.
Muikku comes in many varieties, but is usually
a deep-fried collection of small fish in a special
spiced batter. Kalakukko is a perfectly formed
rye bread with a big surprise of white fish and
sometimes bacon waiting inside. Lörtsy is pastry
folded in the form of a half moon and mostly
filled with apple or meat.
It is a pure delight to watch the quiet, slow
summer sunsets from one of the archipelago
island villages, in the company of some thinly
crusted karjalanpiirakka or Baltic herring sushi.
www.tasteoffinland.fi Karjalanpiirakka
74
country dreams
Utö
Aspö
Lighthouse Back on the ship, Casagrande
Utö
talks about how the landscape
Church Utö
on the first
changes with the seasons, for
floor of the instance when the first warm
lighthouse rays of the sun in spring slowly
breaks the ice. On this summer
day, the freezing, dark days of
winter seem a lifetime away.
The archipelago looks friendly
and welcoming, but even in
this warm weather the sea can
be treacherous and choppy as
soon as you hit open water.
Casagrande has to keep his
hands steady on the wheel and a
close eye on the instruments to
stay on course to the next stop,
Utö.
Utö is the most remote island of
the archipelago, a 90 km from
Aspö
Maarianhamina, capital of the
Åland Islands. It is a remarkable
heritage island, with a large
collection of attractive, red
coloured wooden houses.
The solid, square lighthouse
doubles up as church. Utö is not
only a bird watcher’s paradise, it
is a popular tourist destination.
Life can be a bit challenging
in winter when the ferry
sometimes cannot make it all the
way to the island. But it still has
a shop, hotel, and a school. The
sense of community is the small,
permanent island population is
strong, but it helps if you – as
some Finns do – long for a little
solitude now and again.
On the way back, we make a
stop at Aspö, a charming island
with a long history. The Vikings,
the Russians and the Germans
all used its small harbour for
military purposes. Now it is one
 Utö 75

Aspö

of the most enchanting islands Benito

Casagrande
of the archipelago with a small on his estate
café and shop and a 1950s stone close to the
archipelago
church on the same location
where the faithful already
gathered in medieval times.

The Archipelago Sea National

Park is a remarkable treasure of
natural and cultural heritage. In
another 2,500 years, this whole
area will have risen so much,
that the open seas will have
been replaced by a large, shallow
swamp. Yet for the time being,
the archipelago is still an island
paradise, untouched by mass
tourism and sensational in its
own quiet, reserved way.
76
“It was one of those lovely “We’re alike, you and
feature

warm afternoons full of I,’ he thought. ‘We

the scent of flowers and understand each other, we
the humming of bees, and only care about beautiful
the garden was brilliant things.”
with the deep colours of
late summer.” Moomintroll,
Moominpappa at Sea
Tove Jansson, Finn
Family Moomintroll

Tove Jansson’s beloved creatures

captured the Finnish soul and
opened it to the world.

It happens only once in a blue

moon that a spark of imagination
captures our hearts and refuses
to let go. Maybe it is magic,
maybe it is sheer luck, but we
can be absolutely sure it is not
the result of cold calculation or
market research. Without it, the
world would be a slightly colder
place. Without Alice, Harry
and Winnie, Cinderella or even
Hamlet, our lives would lose
some of its colour, and maybe
even some of its wisdom.

The Moomins of Finnish writer

and artist Tove Jansson
(1914-2001) are deeply
beloved by the Finns and
around the globe. They
are a close knit family
of white trolls who live
with and around an array
of other creatures. They
are quite a good-natured,
tolerant and bohemian
bunch, enjoying food and

It’s a company, adventure and

curiosity. The stories can have
a stream of consciousness and

Moomin’s World
a dreamlike fluidity in which
wisdom, silliness and strangeness
harmoniously melt together.
“Isn’t life exciting! Everything can Reading a Moomin-book can be
a mind-altering experience and
change all of a sudden, and for no part of their enduring popularity
reason at all!” *
* Moomintroll in Moominpappa at Sea
 77

is their ability to be entertaining Puppet-series

Moomin
for children as well as adults.
The Moomin books and comics,
originally written in Swedish –
which is one of Finland’s official
languages – have not only been
translated into fifty languages,
they have also resulted in TV-
series, animation-series, museum
exhibitions and even a real theme
park.

Tove Jansson grew up in an

artistic family and even as a
child it was clear that she would
be an artist. She had success as
an illustrator for magazines and
books long before the Moomins
entered her life. Her book Small
Trolls and the Great Flood from
1945 was a first step, but did not
have a large impact. Maybe the
Moomins were not quite ready
to take on the world. Success
came with Comet in Moominland
(1946) and Finn Family
Moomintroll (1948). She would go
on to write many more Moomin
books, including hilarious comic
strips in which her brother Lars
Jansson was heavily involved.
Later she also wrote books and
articles geared towards an adult
audience, including the very
successful The Summer Book.
During her studies, she met her
lifelong partner Tuulikki Pietilä.
Pietilä was a successful artist
in her own right and together
they worked on many of the
Moomin projects, including the
Moominhouse, the cosiest house
ever envisioned. The original
can be seen in the Moomin
Museum in Tampere, but the real
life-size house can be visited in
Moominworld on Kailo island,
close to the city of Naantali. The
house is filled with props from
the puppet TV-series from the
late 20th century. The island
theme-park was the brainchild
of television producer Dennis
Livson (1946–2013) and of course
approved of by Tove Jansson.

“It would be awful if the
world exploded. It is so
wonderfully splendid.”
Snufkin, Comet in
Moominland
“People respected one
if one didn’t talk. They
believed that one knew a
great many things and led
a very exciting life.”
Tove Jansson, Tales from
Moominvalley
“The world is full of great
and wonderful things for
those who are ready for
them.”
Moominpappa,
Moominpappa at Sea
“I love making journeys!
There are hardly any
unnecessary things,
I think. Only eating
porridge, and washing…”
Moomintroll, Comet in
Moominland
78
om
transition fr
“The quiet
feature

te r is n ot a
w in
autumn to ’s a ti m e for
all. It
bad time at ng th ings
d securi
protecting an sure you’ve
in g
and for mak you
y supplies as
got in as man gather together
e to
can. It’s nic close
hi ng yo u possess as
everyt st or e up
ssible, to
to you as po d yo ur thoughts
th an
your warm a
yourself into fety
and burrow , a co re of sa
si de
deep hole in t is
n defend wha
where you ca precious and
and
important
ur ve ry ow n.”
yo
valley in
on, Moomin
Tove Janss
November

Moominworld Moomin Museum in Tampere

Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä spent most of their summers on

Klovharu, an island in the Pellinki archipelago in the south of Finland.
It is clear that its natural beauty and relative remoteness was the
inspiration behind many of the Moomin stories and definitely
The Summer Book. Maybe when there is very little to distract you – they
stayed in the only house on the tiny island – the mind can open up to great
possibilities and even greater dreams.
 79
Interior Moomin house

“She started thinking about all

the euphemisms for death, all
the anxious taboos that had
always fascinated her. It was
too bad you could never have
an intelligent discussion on the
Harbour of Naantali
subject. People were either too
young or too old, or else they
didn’t have time.”
Tove Jansson, The Summer
Book
Postage stamp with Tove Jansson 2014

He was also the man behind the
Japanese animated series created
together with Tove’s brother
Lars.
Moominworld is not just a little
family magic, it is also located
on one of the most beautiful
parts of the archipelago, close
to Kultaranta, the summer
residence of the Finnish
their endearing qualities are
still waiting to be discovered by
some European countries.
Steps are taken to remedy
that. One of the comic strips,
Moomins on the Riviera, was
recently made into Finnish-
French movie. And a new
television series is in the
making which is overseen by
the creative director of the Street of Naantali

President. It is somewhat fitting Moomin Characters company

that in the surreal world of the
Moomins, while Moomintroll
is giving children free hugs,
Russian President Putin is flying
overhead in a heavily armed
helicopter.
The Moomins have not
conquered the whole world, yet.
Although they are extremely
popular in some countries, for
instance Japan and Scandinavia,
Sophia Jansson, the daughter of
Lars. The family connection is
essential because in essence, the
Moomins are about family in the
widest meaning of the word: that
no matter who you are, what you
look like, or where you are from,
everyone deserves to be treated
with respect. It is a message
which is still as important today
as it was when Tove Jansson first
put it to paper in the 1940s.
Naantali
The town of Naantali is within easy
reach of Turku and a heritage treasure
perfect to wile away the long summer
evenings. The wooden heritage
buildings which line the streets are all
built around a central harbour, with
cafés and restaurants as well as one of
Finland’s oldest churches, dating back
to 1443. The city is known as a spa town
and besides the 230.000 visitors of
Moominworld, 200.000 visitors enjoy
the traditional spa culture.
The charming city is also an important
gateway to exploring the archipelago
and the Gulf of Bothnia.
80
lıvıng herıtage

Hot Habits
The sauna heritage of Finland is much more
that a cultural tradition, it is a way of life.

Sauna on a lake
 81

The word ‘sauna’ will Entrance

Rajaportti-sauna
inadvertently pop up in most
conversations in Finland.
If you are new to the country,
it is probably a wise idea to
make the sauna your first stop
on the way to integration and Sauna in
acceptance. Helsinki (1913)
82
lıvıng herıtage

Sauna of the Finnish

Sauna Society in
Helsinki

Sauna by
painter Pekka
Halonen
(1865-1933)

At the Finnish
Sauna Society in
Helsinki

Finns were already enjoying
smoke saunas a few thousand
years ago, and although the
sauna is extremely popular in
all Nordic countries, Finland
is most proud of its heritage.
Sauna is of course a Finnish
word, and Lasse Viinikka of
the Finnish Sauna Society in
Helsinki thinks there may be
as much as one sauna for every
two Finns. The Society also has
its own sauna of course,
which is beautifully located on
the sea shore. A wooden pier
leads you towards the water to
cool off.

Most Finnish homes have an
in-house sauna or a separate
wooden log cabin. Even
apartment buildings have
private saunas, if not, surely a
communal one. Sailing along
the Finnish islands and lakes, it
is easy to spot a sauna at almost
every turn, nestled between the
pines trees in close proximity
to the water for a wintry dive.
Sitting in temperatures between
80 and 100°C and then jumping
into a freezing lake is obviously
not everyone’s cup of tea, but for
the Finns it is a normal affair.
A Finnish sauna is first and
foremost a place to be together;
with family, with friends or
even colleagues. People talk and
discuss and most Finns would be
horrified if someone would ask
for silence. It is a place to relax,
to socialise, have a couple of
drinks and invigorate both body
and soul.
Everywhere in Finland you
can find historical saunas.
Home sauna in
Old Rauma
However, the Rajaportti-sauna
in beautiful Pispala near
Tampere claims to be the oldest
working public sauna, dating
back to 1906. The collection of
stone and wooden buildings is
owned by the municipality but
the Pispala Sauna Association
is an enthusiastic group of
volunteers who run the sauna
and make sure this living
heritage is kept in prime
condition.
83
For 25 years Urho Kekkonen (1900-
1986) was President of Finland.
He was a great sauna enthusiast.
He was even born in one. It was
often whispered that the sauna was
an underestimated aspect of his
political balancing act between the
USSR and the West. ‘If you cannot
stand the heat, get out of the sauna,’
he must have thought many times
of pivotal moments in Finnish
politics. There was a famous sauna
at Kultaranta, the summer residence
of the Finnish President, where
many international politicians found
themselves sitting in the hot seat.
Also, his residence in Helsinki had a
large sauna where, allegedly, many
heated debates during the Cold War
took place in high temperatures.
Kekkonen’s sauna in Helsinki
84
lıvıng herıtage

One of the
volunteers of
the Pispala
Sauna
Association

The location of the sauna has

probably had an influence on
its survival. Pispala is one of
the most appreciated areas of
Tampere. Many artists were
inspired by the high ridge
between two lakes on which the
town is located. Nobel Literature
Prize winner Frans Eemil
Sillanpää for instance, situated
his novel Hiltu ja Ragnar (1923)
here. The bohemian inhabitants
Rajaportti-
sauna of the town were probably
Red iron tower
regular visitors of the Rajaportti
from 1908 public sauna. The area has a long
industrial history as well and
one of the industrial heritage still has most of its authentic, an oasis of flowers and plants.
landmarks, a red iron tower historical elements intact and Sauna culture is an essential
from 1908, has been lovingly is fully functional. The saunas part of being Finnish; or as one
restored by a local volunteer themselves are simple spaces visitor said: “It consoles the soul
organisation. with separate rooms for men and heals the body, it brings
and women. The fires are still warmth to the heart and peace to
The Rajaportti-sauna is located lit almost every day in a large the community.”
in the green heart of old Pispala. traditional stove. An outside
The charming place with a café, to relax even more after sauna.fi
nostalgic, friendly atmosphere an already relaxing sauna, is rajaportti.fi/index.en.php
 Then & Now
86
then & now

Heritage is more than just stones and mortar, concrete and iron. Our heritage give us an anchor
in these fast, ever changing times. The more things change, the more we want things to stay
the same, but maybe nothing ever really remains unchanged. No heritage building has survived
its journey through time unscathed, and that is probably a good thing. We do not need relics
of bygone ages or dead reminders of what used to be, we need heritage that has a relevance
and a contemporary meaning. For natural, moving, and built heritage to survive, we and every
generation after us have to fall in love with it all over again. Let’s look at some of Finland’s most
beloved heritage, especially in Turku, and see if and how they have changed over time.

Turku plan to bring the city back to life,

Turku (Åbo in Swedish) was
already an important market
town in the 13th century. It was
the first capital of Finland and
for centuries its most populous
city. Yet tragedy has struck
Turku many times in its long
history. In 1827 almost 75% of the
town went up in flames. It was
(Above left) an unbelievable disaster and it
Medieval festival would change the landscape of
Turku
the city dramatically. In the city
Painting of the
center only stone buildings like
Turku fire of 1827
the Cathedral and the Academy
(Above right)
Buildings restored building were saved from fire.
by architect Benito Architect Carl Ludvig Engel,
Casagrande
who was the author of the master
realised that most of the city had
to be rebuild from scratch. At the
end of the 19th and the first half
of the 20th century many art deco
and modernist houses were built
that give part of the town an
international grandeur.
In the 1950s and 1960s the city
was, like so many other cities
across Europe, on the road
towards modernity, and many
of the old wooden houses and
historical areas were demolished
to make way for cars and new
apartment buildings – a decision
still regretted up to today.
The recession in the 1980s had a
negative impact on the livability
of the city, but it also offered
opportunities. Architect Benito
Casagrande from Turku explains:
“The city centre was in a really
bad shape. The waterfront of the
river Aurajoki was a disgrace.
People have already forgotten
this, but at that time the river
was dirty and stinky. There were
cars everywhere and even a gas
station in front of a historical
portico on the Cathedral side
of the river. Today, the portico
is part of a popular restaurant,
Pinella. On the opposite side,
the so-called Julin quarters
next to the city library were
not an attractive area either.
The buildings were waiting
for demolition, the riverfront
itself was neglected. I decided
to act and do something about
it. It was not easy, but now I
feel very proud of what we have
accomplished. Turku is today
one of the most charming cities I
know.”
Casagrande shows the apartment 87
buildings, offices and restaurants
he has built or restored. The
site of a medieval church was
Street in
found in the excavations during Turku centre
the construction project. As a
result of Casagrande’s personal
engagement, the underground
ruins of the Holy Ghost Church
from the 1500s were restored
into an ecumenical Chapel
of the Holy Spirit. It is now a
favourite wedding location.
The gas-station next to the
Cathedral is now a restaurant, Chapel of the
Holy Spirit
the buildings along the river
(restored 1986)
are now completely renovated
Turku river now
Turku river then
(1910)
Pinella
Restaurant
but still show their medieval
roots in the dining- and meeting
rooms. Part of the city centre Restored street
Turku
is car-free and there are many
festivals that keep the city centre
an exciting place to be year-
round. The embankment is now
a green belt along a clean river
which is once again a living part
of the city. The old villa of the
tobacco manufacturer Rettig has
been turned into a restaurant
 Flower market square with the
88 19th century Orthodox church now
then & now

Flower
Luostarinmäki Handicrafts
market
Museum now (photo
square with
wikicommons)
the 19th
century
Orthodox
church then

Luostarinmäki
Handicrafts
Museum then

and modern art museum, Aboa
Vetus & Ars Nova. In the cellar,
we also discover medieval walls
and streets. A small district, just
outside of Turku’s centre, still
has a few, beautifully restored
streets of 18th and 19th old wooden
houses, which now house the
Luostarinmäki Handicrafts
Museum. In 2011 Turku, together
with Talinn in Estonia, was
designated European Capital of
Culture. The library that was
opened in that year, is a fitting,
modern addition to the historical
centre of the city.
In 2017 the Europa Nostra
Congress, the largest
get-together of heritage
professionals and volunteers
in Europe, as well as the
award-giving ceremony for
the European Union Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa
Nostra Awards, was held in
Turku, in the presence of
Europa Nostra’s President
Plácido Domingo and EU
Commissioner for Education,
Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor
Navracsics.
 Turku library
(2011)
Cathedral of Turku
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary
and St. Henry, the Cathedral of
Turku is one of the most famous
landmarks of Finland, its chimes
have been heard on national
radio since 1944. The 700-year-
old Cathedral was heavily
damaged in the Turku fire of
1827. The cupola dates from
this period. It is a magnificent
building with many stories to
tell. A curious cat, for instance,
left its paw-prints centuries ago
in the then wet floor tiles.
St. Michael Church
The neo-gothic church stood
alone in an empty field when
it was finished in 1905. First
the church, then the homes,
the architect of the St. Michael
Church, Lars Sonck, must have
thought. Many of its original
Cathedral 89
of Turku (now)
(From left to
right)
Cat’s paws
Cathedral interior
Cathedral in 1889
colourful stained glass windows
were destroyed during the
Winter War in 1939. Nowadays
the thoroughly restored church
is one of Turku’s most popular
wedding locations. In May 2017,
the church was the location for
the award-giving ceremony of
the European Union Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa
Nostra Awards, hosted by
Europa Nostra’s President
Plácido Domingo and EU
St. Michael
Commissioner for Education, Church now
Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor St. Michael
Navracsics. Church then
90
then & now

(From left to Forum Marinum

right) The new Forum Marinum Logomo is located next to the
Architect Pekka
Vapaavuori on his
is a large and sometimes rail depot and was originally
famous Logomo controversial redevelopment built in 1876 as an engineering
stage project in the old harbour area workshop. It is a significant
Offices Logomo of Turku, not far from Turku collection of buildings in terms innovative entrepreneurs have
Suomen Joutsen Castle. If we look at the whole of cultural history, the Turku found a new home. The top
now
redevelopment area we discover cityscape and railway history. attraction is the movable stage
Suomen Joutsen many heritage treasures such as It was in use until 2002. Now which can cater to varying
then
factories, workshops and storage it is Turku’s most popular and crowd sizes by moving the
facilities, which have found a largest event location. It is walls. It was a very complicated
new destiny. also a place where young and engineering and architectural
puzzle that they managed to
solve, explains architect Pekka
Vapaavuori.

The Swan of Finland (Suomen

Joutsen) is a 100-year-old, three
mast training frigate in the
Maritime harbour of Turku. It is now part
Museum of the new Maritime Museum
at the heart of the Forum
Marinum.

Practically next door, we

find the Turku Music
Conservatory, which is housed
in an old factory building. It
is one of the locations in the
Europe Nostra 2017 Heritage
Turku Music
Congress and was a winner of a
Conservatory Europa Nostra Award in 1995.

Rakennusperinteen Ystävät
The Association of Heritage
Tradition is housed in a
charming, restored farmhouse
on a green hill in the centre of
Turku, not far from the central
station and surrounded by
Jugendstil apartment buildings
and villas.
The association, with more
than 2,400 members, is active
in sharing their knowledge of
traditional Finnish building
methods. Viri Teppo-Pärnä,
Chairman, shows us the old
wallpapers, the different
colour-schemes and traditional
91
Viri Teppo-Pärnä,
Chairman
methods of building walls and
windows in their headquarters
and museum. Their popular
magazine Tuuma is a welcome
and practical source for anyone
interested in restoring and
repairing their homes.
92
then & now

Porvoo Porvoo
riverfront now
Porvoo is a town east of Helsinki
Porvoo
in the south of Finland. Old
riverfront then
Porvoo is a carefully restored
heritage city with narrow
streets lined with wooden
heritage buildings. In 1995 the
conservation of the Old Town, the
repaving of the old streets, and
the restoration of the riverfront
foundations, as well as the free
advice given to the owners of
the roughly 250 heritage homes,
received a Europa Nostra Award.
The plaque commemorating the
Europa Nostra Award can be
found on the wall of the Old Town
Hall building, which is also home
to Porvoo Museum. The picture-
perfect houses along the river
have been victim to fires many
times, but were always rebuilt.
Kaleva Church Kaleva 93
Church now
This modern monument is
one of Tampere’s most famous
landmarks. It was built in the
1960s by architect couple Raili
and Reima Pietilä. Beautifully
located on a hill, the impressive
mountain of white concrete
houses a surprisingly serene
interior.

Kaleva Church
then

Tampere today
Tampere Tampere after
Tampere is Finland’s first large- the Civil War
scale industrial town formed 1918

on the banks of Tammerkoski

rapids. Former weaving mills,
foundries and engineering
workshops now house
museums, cafes, restaurants
and offices. The Ministry of
Environment has declared the Tampere suffered greatly during them were restored to their original
rapids and the redbrick milieu of the Finnish Civil war of 1918. splendour and walking to the city
factory buildings lining it one of Many buildings in the centre today, it is hard to imagine how
Finland’s national landscapes. went up in flames. Many of extensive the destruction was.
94
then & now

Turku Art
Museum now
Turku Art
Museum then

Turku Art Museum completed in 1904 and houses

The massive, grey granite
building of the Turku Art
Museum looks almost like a
medieval castle. The creation by
architect Gustaf Nyström was
one of Finland’s largest art
collections. In the same area,
we can discover many other
attractive buildings from the
turn of the 20th century.

Juho Hänninen
(photo by
McKlein Hyundai
Motorsport)
gravel at every turn. Hundreds
Timo Makinen in of thousands of visitors flock
his Mini in 1965
to Jyväskylä, right in centre
In it to win it rally sport has grown into a of Finland’s lake district, to
Maybe it is the vast stretches national sensation and the watch the spectacle. If you want
of country roads available, annual Finnish Rally, or Rally to have a chance of winning,
or maybe it is something in of the Thousand Lakes, is a you really need to know and
the Finnish psyche, but rally- wild and high-speed adrenalin understand the terrain – no
sport has particularly captured ride with countless jumps, wonder the rally is usually won
Finnish hearts. Since the 1950s, tricky corners and fountains of by a Finn.

Helsinki Railway Station
The train station in the centre
of Helsinki is a real signature
building of the capital, designed
by architect Eliel Saarinen
and inaugurated in 1919.
It is considered to be one of
the most beautiful railway
stations in the world. Saarinen
had successfully tried his
modern style in the Viipuri
train station (Viipuri is now
in Russia), which he designed
together with Herman Gesellius
95
Helsinki
train station now
Viipuri train
station
and was opened in 1913.
The Viipuri station would
probably have been an equally
important monument, were it
not for the fact that it was blown
up by the retreating Soviet
troops during the Continuation
War in 1941. An important
aspect of the popularity of the
Helsinki station are the gigantic
human shaped sculptures
of Turku born artist Emil Sculptures
Wikström (1864-1942). Helsinki station
 Dreaming
96
country dreams

in Style
In the Finnish Lake District,
traditional heritage
buildings and heritage
towns are using their history
to find a new future.
Some historic buildings
have (re)discovered Detail of a cat on the roof

their potential as luxury

heritage hotel.

Imatra
Valtionhotelli
 The Imatrankoski 97
rapids today
Famous names
etched in the
boulders

A viewpoint with
a rickety cable
car crossing the
raging river

Imatrankoski
It was a sensation. Peoples
travelled in droves to holiday
at the Imatrankoski rapids in
the east of Finland. The white,
wild foaming lake water rushed
through a narrow corridor with
ear-shattering noise. Empress
Catherine the Great of Russia was
one of the first celebrities to view
the natural spectacle in 1772, but
many would soon follow in her
footsteps. The rich and famous
etched their names for posterity
on the large boulders along the
ridge. The remote Finnish rapids
were on many 19th century bucket
lists. In a historic photograph,
we can even see a rickety cable
car crossing the raging river for a The Jugendstil castle, which was the construction of the The viewpoint
today
better view. is now known as the Imatra Imatrankoski Power Plant in the
Valtionhotelli, has recently been 1920s. The 24 metre fall of the The restored
interior of
The Crown Park (Kruununpuisto completely restored and brought rapids was seen as an irresistible the Imatra
Park), covering the area around back to its original turn-of-the- potential for the generation of Valtionhotelli
Imatrankoski is Finland’s oldest century splendour. electricity. It was an engineering
nature park. It was established miracle, but the tourists stayed
in 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I, a The hotel had gone through away. There was nothing very
frequent visitor to the rapids. less glamorous times in the 20th exciting about looking at water
century. It was used as a field trickling through a concrete dam.
There was serious money to be hospital, and in the Winter and
made from all these affluent Continuation Wars it functioned as Nowadays the floodgates are once
tourists, and in 1903 the Grand the Finnish military headquarters. again open for daily shows during
Hôtel Cascade, designed the summer periods and for a few
by architect Usko Nyström One of the reasons the hotel and magic moments the rapids are back
(1861-1925) opened its doors. the rapids had lost their appeal in their full glory.
98
country dreams

Hotel
Punkaharju
entrance
Saimi Hoyer
in front of
her Hotel
Punkaharju
Hotel
Punkaharju

(Right page) Hotel Punkaharju

A hotel room
She is one of the most famous
Design lamp in
faces of Finland. Supermodel
the dining room
Saimi Nousiainen worked with
The veranda
Burberry and Givenchy.
The stairs to the
She catwalked in London,
tower room
New York, Paris and Tokyo.
She was photographed for
fashion magazines such as Elle
and Vogue. After her modelling
career, she became an editor and
television personality.
Yet outside the spotlights
something was amiss. While she
was surrounded by the glamour
and glitter of the fashion
industry, the unhappiness in her
heart grew. She made a drastic
decision to rediscover her roots
and re-find her happiness and
her passion for life. She returned
to the Finnish Lake District
where she grew up. Being back
in Finland’s nature with its
forests and lakes, now with a
family of her own, helped her to
reconnect to who she once was
and now wanted to be again.
Saimi Hoyer’s (she is now known
under her husband’s name) love
for cooking and especially for
all kinds of mushrooms lead to
a successful book (in Finland
you have right to walk and
pick berries and mushrooms
everywhere as long as you
do not disturb the owners).
And the abundant, natural
beauty of the region of her youth

GLOW hotel, Elsewhere in Finland heritage
Helsinki buildings are also finding a new
future by becoming hotels or
restaurants. The capital Helsinki
is no exception.
The GLO hotel Art looks more
like a granite, medieval granite
castle than a hotel, The art
nouveau building in the National
Romantic Style offer a fairy-
tale setting in heart of modern
Helsinki.
Even if you have done nothing
wrong, you can still enjoy the
hospitality of Hotel Katajanokka,
situated in a historic former
prison in Helsinki. The luxury
hotel is a far cry from the solitary
confinement of olden days, and
spending a night in jail was never
quite as comfortable.
Suomenlinna Fortress, which can
be easily reached from Helsinki
(see the article on Finnish
castles in this magazine), also
offers the possibility to stay the
night. Staying on these now
peaceful islands full of military
heritage monuments is a unique
experience.

inspired her to dream big.
When she found out that the
Punkaharjun Valtionhotelli,
the oldest Finnish State Hotel,
was up for sale, she decided to
take a leap of faith. The hotel
was originally built in the time
of Tsar Nicholas I as a ranger’s
lodge with a tower overlooking
the surrounding forest and
nearby lake.
Later the building was extended
and it became a famous hotel.
The steamboats would moor not
far away from the main wooden
building. When Hoyer bought
the traditional hotel, it was not
in a good shape. The rooms and
facilities were outdated and the
buildings were in desperate need
of an overhaul. In a very short
space of time Hoyer and her
designer friend Petri Salmela
managed to completely renovate
the buildings, the kitchen, the
terrace and gardens as well as
the bed- and dining rooms and
made the hotel ready for 21st
century guests. The result is a
stunning heritage hotel in which
style and gastronomy go hand
in hand. The process was far
from easy and Hoyer spent many
long, restless nights dealing with
building permits and plumbing
regulations. But in the summer of
2016 the new Hotel Punkaharju
opened her doors. The work is
not yet completely over. Work on
a villa in the gardens and a new
tower room are still ongoing, but
Hoyer feels certain that the Hotel
Punkaharju will once again be
one of Finland’s finest historical
hotels.
Cultural heritage 99
as a resource in Mikkeli
by Kirsti Kovanen,
Secretary General of ICOMOS
The town of Mikkeli introduced a new way of
integrating cultural heritage as a resource into
the administration and citizens’ activities.
The idea was to widen the knowledge basis
was with new research and especially on the
under-represented fields of history writing.
A prerequisite of the work was to listen to the
citizens and to find their priorities throughout
the project.
The tool taken was to prepare a program for
this in a 5-year project which was subsequently
executed in 2008 – 2013 from the viewpoint
of the town. The first notion of the work to
be done was to raise awareness of one’s own
heritage on all levels, firstly of those working
in the municipal administration and of school
children, and enlarging then the target groups to
all citizens. The objectives of the program were
defined as reinforcing the knowledge on heritage
as a resource for the citizens, enterprises and the
municipal administration. The range of activities
were arranged in four pillars: systematic
inventories and programming, built environment
and town-planning, heritage education and
heritage brands and tourism. Both, the tangible
and intangible heritage, were included in the
activities.
The notion of heritage and heredity lead to a
frame-work, where information was produced
by the citizens – as understood as producers
of culture – and experts – as understood as
producers of systematic surveys - as well as
artists. Citizens’ understanding and opinions on
heritage were sought for in special events, and in
survey monkeys. All the information collected
from various sources was worked out in 6 themes
that could well present the heritage of the people
and of the area.
What was achieved? The results present a
data bank including series of inventories and
histories, education material for all the levels
of teaching from day-care upwards. Micro-
histories and inventories were prepared on some
properties of commercial use and research on
the intangible heritage resulted in books on local
food traditions and on the peaceful relations
between the local inhabitants and the Russians.
Books were published in print and in ebooks, all
material was published on a wikipedia platform,
and includes interactive parts. The over-arching
cultural heritage program outlined the focuses of
historic timelines and their messages as well as
priorities for decision-making and for the daily
administrative work and was adopted in 2013.
Moreover, new permanent information on the
intangible heritage, methods of inventorying
in use of town-planning, material for tourism
purposes (for ex. in the form of a number of
routes), continued cooperation of school and
museum authorities, enhanced awareness
among culture sector, coordination group for the
municipal administration and many practical
processes in improving archiving and use of the
existing material were established.
100
country dreams

Hotel rooms of Tertti Manor

Tertti Manor
The main buildings of the Tertti
Tertti Manor shop farm, not far from Mikkeli,
Entrance Tertti were built at the end of the
Manor restaurant
19th century. Now its original
countryside charm has been
restored. The heritage hotel,
grand café, delicacy shop and
gastronomy restaurant are
still part of a working farm.
The harvested produce goes
straight from the land to
the kitchen. The restoration
of the estate is ongoing. herbs, roots and berries. We can ICOMOS is a global non-
The next challenge is to restore enjoy kalakukko – a fish slowly government network of experts
the vegetable and fruit gardens. baked into a rye bread – and promoting the application
maybe a blueberry pie to round of theory, methodology and
The regional produce around it off. scientific techniques to the
Mikkeli is excellent as the many conservation of architectural,
restaurants of the city prove. Like many of the heritage hotels archaeological heritage as
In the surrounding forests and and restaurants in the region, well as landscape- and other
lakes the hunter-gatherer in Mikkeli is reinventing itself. forms of cultural heritage.
all of us is also rewarded, as The Mikkeli Heritage Project Kovanen is also a passionate
lake fish such as vendace or is a strong example of this. promoter of the preservation
perch can easily be caught at a Kirsti Kovanen is Secretary of Mikkeli’s heritage. Together
warm, sunny spot when the ice General of ICOMOS, one of with Pia Puntanen, an expert
Tertti Manor
starts melting. And nature also Europa Nostra international in military history, she wants
restaurant provides us with mushrooms, partners in the field of heritage. to capture Mikkeli’s long and
interesting history, for instance
by preserving the military
headquarters of Baron Carl
Gustaf Mannerheim, the famous
Marshal of Finland, as a centre
of war and peace.

sodanjarauhankeskus.fi
 University of Turku
“FROM FREE PEOPLE TO FREE SCIENCE”
The academic heritage of the city of Turku dates back to 1640 when the first
university in Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku, was established.
The University of Turku is the first Finnish-language university in the world,
founded in 1920 – just after Finland gained its independence in 1917.

Bengtskär Lighthouse Island

- the tallest lighthouse building in the Nordic
countries

Villa Tammekan designed by Alvar Aalto in

Tartu, Estonia - Europa Nostra Medal in 2002

Today, the University of Turku is an active academic community

of 24,000 students and employees. It is the most international
university in Finland and ranks among the best 1 % of universities in
the world (THE Ranking 2016, QS Ranking 2016). The University is
Vanhalinna Mansion in Lieto
- with history dating back to the Viking Age located in the centre of Turku, a bustling student city in Southwest
Finland. The main campus, designed by architect Aarne Ervi, is a true
masterpiece of the functional Finnish architecture of the 1950s.

In addition to the campus area, the University and the University

Foundation cherish Finnish cultural and scientific heritage with unique
estates in Southwest Finland and Estonia.

Island of Seili in the Turku Archipelago Sea

- with the Archipelago Research Institute
 Panorama
102
panorama

Finland
There are few countries in the world where
darkness and light, as well as sea and soil, meet
one another more dramatically than in Finland.

There are over a hundred
thousand islands – some as small
as a heap of pebbles fighting to
stay above water, others as large
as granite giants dramatically
rising from the seabed. There are
hundreds of thousands of lakes -
from tiny placid mirrors to large
and treacherous bodies of water
reaching for the horizon. In some
parts of the country, the sun loses
its grip for more than six months
in winter, but that same sun never
leaves the skies during endless
summers.
The Finns have perfected their
balancing act with nature over
thousands of years and it has
become part of who they are.
With only 5.5 million Fins, it is
still one of the least populated
103
countries in Europe and the Korvatunturi, the
home of Santaclaus
resulting appreciation of wide in summer (photo
open spaces and solitude is deeply by Eusa)
embedded in Finnish culture.
Although you can walk through
rugged pine forests or sail along
the coastal islands without
encountering another soul for
hours or even days, the cities are
bustling with regained energy and
cultural activities the year round.
Autumn lake
panorama

104
Farm 105

Hiihtomaa
(photo by
Tiia Monto)

Boathouse
106
treasure

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Music for a Nation
Ainola entrance Standing at front door of the Ainola estate, named
Portrait of the
young Sibelius by
after Sibelius’ wife Aino, it looks like a modest
Akseli Gallen-Kallela summer house on a pine forest hill. Only when
(1865-1931)
you walk around to the back you discover that the
residence is substantially larger than expected.
Finland’s most celebrated composer had this dream
house designed by architect Lars Sonck in the early
1900s.

It is easy to imagine how
inspirational the estate with its
lake views as well as the house
with its romantic, countryside
interior must have been for the
Sibelius family. It looks like a
home for a recluse but, again,
the first impression would be
wrong. The idyllic shores of Lake
Tuusula in Järvenpää, half an
hour’s drive north of Helsinki,
were far from empty. It was
a thriving enclave of creative
107
minds and thinkers with writer Ainola seen from
the lake side
Juhani Aho and artists such
Green tiled
as Pekka Halonen and Aino’s
fireplace
brother Eero Järnefelt living
nearby. Still, Ainola was a quiet
and restful place, perfect for
a restless man with music to
write. Sibelius had given the
architect no specific demands,
except for a green tiled fireplace,
an undisturbed view of the
surroundings and a minimum
of plumbing to avoid clunky
pipes. Architect Lars Sonck, who
was working at the Neo-Gothic
Tampere Cathedral at the time, more independence from Russia.
did not work for free and Sibelius Sibelius – who came from a
had to go out on a tour to help Swedish speaking background
cover the costs. But in 1904, at – embraced his Finnishness
age 38, the house where he and with enthusiasm and literally
his beloved family would live the gave it a voice. Finnish history
rest of his life was ready. and Finnish identity became a
key inspiration for many artists
The late 19th century, when the at the time with Finland’s
composer was making a name national epos the Kalevala as
for himself, was a time when the main source and Sibelius
Finland was retracing its roots was no exception. He was so
and working towards more and inspired by the melodies of
108
treasure

The Villa of Karelia, the heartland of the

Pekka Halosen
on Lake Kalevala legends, that he even
Tuusula, built honeymooned there, and his
in 1902
Kullervo symphony and the
Sauna, Lemminkäinen suite (with the
designed by
Aino Sibelius famous Swan of Tuonela), for
instance, all musically retold
the Kalevala stories. His most
famous work Finlandia (1899,
revised 1900, words by V.A.
Koskenniemi in 1941) was
written as a protest against the
increasing censorship from the
Russians.

Sibelius was a sensitive man,

who sometimes suffered from
depression and drank and
spent too much. He struggled
with feelings of insecurity. The
music did not always come
easily. He reworked and revised
his compositions. His health
seriously started to suffer
under the creative stress, and
the smoking and drinking did
nothing to help the situation.
In 1908 a life threatening tumour
was removed from his throat.
His survival lead to a burst of
musical energy and a healthier
lifestyle, at least temporarily. Like
most restless people he enjoyed
travelling, but he also needed
the quiet and peaceful family life
at Ainola, where he could spend
hours watching the swans and
cranes on Tuusula lake.
The music that emerged from
all these sometimes conflicting
emotions – from the symphonic
poetry of his younger years to
his symphonies of the early 20th
century – would capture the
Finnish soul and embody what

the Finnish identity would sound
like. Sibelius’ music was very
much appreciated in Finland but
also in in the rest of Europe and
America.
Over the years he was
composing less and less, despite
his international success and
national adulation, as well as the
respect from fellow composers
such as Debussy. Protecting
his image for posterity he
decided to not to publish some
of his compositions. And 1945
his wife Aino accidentally
walked in on him while he
was throwing a basket full of
manuscripts into the open
fire. She quietly left the room
109
but later noted that he was Interior Ainola
more calm and his mood had Jean and Aino
Sibelius on the
improved.
estate in the
1930s
Sibelius lived in Ainola until The grave of
his death in 1957, while his Sibelius on the
estate
widow continued to live there
until her death in 1969. They are
both buried at the estate.
By 1974 the house was a museum.
8 December, his birthday, is the
official Day of Finnish Music.
110
lıvıng herıtage

Santa’s Home

Mr and Mrs
Claus in Finland
(photo by Anssi
Koskinen)

The Americans believe Santa
Claus lives on a secret location on
the North pole, but due to global
warming, that would probably
mean that by now his home is
slowly sinking to the bottom
of the sea. The Dutch believe
that their Sinterklaas is living
in Spain, but with the growing
number of tourists, that would
mean it is becoming unlikely he
can continue to keep his global
operation a secret. The Finns
believe that all this is nonsense.
They know for certain that Santa
Claus comes from Finland. His
real name is Joulupukki, the
Yule billy-goat, who is strongly
linked to the pagan Midwinter
celebrations. The Joulupukki uses
a sleigh pulled by reindeer and
usually wears a red outfit with
animal fur. His home is hidden on
a lone mountain in the far north,
in Korvatunturi to be precise, on
the border between Finland and
Russia. Conveniently this remote
wilderness knows no roads, so it
hard to check the facts.
All joking aside, Christmas is a
serious Finnish heritage treasure.
Rovaniemi is the Christmas
capital of the world with Santa’s
village, a real ice hotel, and
celebrations that lure tens of
thousands of people to the far
north in the midst of winter.
Even if you do not believe in
Santa Claus it is it a magical
111
Reindeer ride
(photo by Timo
Newton-Syms)
Hattifatteners
snowmen,
inspired by the
Moomin books.
Photo by Miika
Silferberg
Santa Claus
Village in
Rovaniemi
(photo by Timo
Newton-Syms)
place when, if you are lucky, the
Northern Lights light up above the
Christmas trees in the quiet polar
nights. Rovaniemi is not the only
Finnish city strongly associated
with Christmas. Since 1996, Turku
is the official Christmas City of
Finland.
The reason is a very old tradition,
which dates back to the 1320s: The balcony of
the Brinkkala
the reading of the Christmas
House
peace declaration on the Old
Great Square in the centre of the
city. Since 1886, the speech has
been read from the balcony of
the historic Brinkkala House.
The special moment starts at
midday with the bells of the
cathedral. Then the declaration,
wishing peace and prosperity to
112 Northern Lights
(photo by the
lıvıng herıtage
Finnish Tourist
Board)
Santa Claus all mankind, is read in Finnish
Village (photo by
Tyg 728)
and Swedish. The public sings the
Finnish national anthem in both
Skiing at the
Riisitunturi the Finnish and Swedish version.
National Park To end the official procedures,
(photo by
the March of the Pori Regiment is
Matkailuneuvo)
played and the Christmas season
has officially begun. Nowadays
the Declaration of Christmas
Peace is viewed live via the
internet and watched by millions
around the world.
Finland’s seasons are extreme
and the Finns have found joy and
happiness in winter as well as
summer. Many Finnish children
can hardly wait to make snow
angels or snowmen. Winter –
with temperatures up to minus
30 degrees – is as much part of
Finnish heritage as summer and
quite a few Finns yearn for the
days that the reflection of the
snow lights up the dark skies
once again. Besides rolling
through the snow after a Finnish
sauna, there are plenty of other
wintry activities with a long
history, from reindeer sledding to
ice-fishing on the frozen lakes.
Or you can do some cross country
skiing and explore the bizarre
landscape of frozen trees that
look like surreal sculptures of a
mad artist. And a glass of Glögi, a
traditional Christmas glühwein
with raisins and nuts, can help to
get your temperatures right back
to normal.
The Declaration of
Christmas Peace
Tomorrow, God willing,
is the graceful celebration
of the birth of our Lord and
Saviour; and thus is declared
a peaceful Christmas time to
all, by advising devotion and
to behave otherwise quietly
and peacefully, because he who
breaks this peace and violates
the peace of Christmas by any
illegal or improper behaviour
shall under aggravating
circumstances be guilty and
punished according to what
the law and statutes prescribe
for each and every offence
separately.
Finally, a joyous Christmas
feast is wished to all
inhabitants of the city.
 You
can’t buy
heritage. The historic buildings
around Åbo Akademi
University are more than
a physical setting for
academic studies and
scientific research. They
are manifestations of the
passion and engagement
shared by our founders.
That is why our heritage
is our most valuable asset.

The Åbo Akademi University Foundation was
founded in 1917 through a donation by 35 private
individuals. The main role of the foundation is to
provide financial support to Åbo Akademi
University as well as to support scientific research
and cultural activities in Swedish speaking Finland.
www.stiftelsenabo.fi
Åbo Akademi provides an open, Swedish-
speaking university environment for quality
research and studies with a Nordic and
international anchorage. Our campuses in
Åbo and Vasa host 5 500 students and
1 200 employees.
www.abo.fi
114
country dreams
Rest in Peace The wooden, beautifully painted burial chapel of the Grotenfelt
family was completely restored to its former glory.
Joroinen cemetary “Our wooden burial chapel
was built in 1776 next to the
village church in Joroinen.
The reason was that burial
under the church floor was no
longer allowed. So from then on
my family was buried in a vault
under this wooden chapel,”
Karl Grotenfelt explains in
the traditional café Ursula in
Helsinki. “Then, in 1902, the
church council decided the
chapel was no longer welcome
and had to be dismantled. The
family decided to take the log
building to the ridge behind
our family estate, not far from
Joroinen.”
Karl Grotenfelt is the 11th
generation to live in Järvikylä
Manor and the history of the
family is very important to him.
“When the log walls of the burial
chapel were dismantled, serious
mistakes were made and some
damage was done to the paintings
inside.” At the beginning of the
21st century, the family decided
that the chapel should be restored
to its original state. They also
decided that a small family
graveyard should be made next
to the chapel. “Maybe the idea
of lying next to a busy road in
Joroinen was not very appealing
to me,” Karl Grotenfelt explains
 (main photo) 115
The chapel and
the ‘new’ family
graveyard on
the ridge behind
the manor
Ceiling of the
chapel
The altar of the
chapel
Some of the wall
paintings

with a smile. “We worked for four

summers to rebuild an old stone
wall from the forest on the ridge.
We carefully covered the low
stone fence with green moss and
already now, a few years later, it
looks like the graveyard has been
here for centuries.”

Arriving at the family estate

in Järvikylä to look at the
restored chapel, you first pass an
impressive yellow wooden manor have to bend your head to enter the walls and ceiling, which are Järvikylä
house with a free panoramic view the single entrance door. There is all spectacularly painted in rich Manor

over the valley and a distant lake. no floor, just sand. The benches colours and inspirational texts
Walking to the top of the ridge are simple and functional, the from the bible. The flower and
behind the estate, we discover an altar tiny. There is nothing to tree patterns are painted with
octagonal, wooden building. You distract attention away from enthusiasm and craft on a thin
116
country dreams
Frugård Manor
Items in the
family Frugård
‘museum’
surface layer, which is attached to
the walls with tiny wooden pins to
keep it in place, creating a large,
diorama-like canvas.
Some of the painted texts are hard
to make out. Karl Grotenfelt had
explained in Helsinki how they
spent a lot of time and effort in
researching the bible quotes and
the flora that adorns the walls.
“It is still a bit of a puzzle. We
have not been able to figure out
all texts. Yet,” he had added with
hope in his eyes. It is clear that
the restoration of the Grotenfelt
burial chapel was a labour of love.
Although the coming generations
of Grotenfelt’s will not be buried
in the chapel itself but in the
adjoining graveyard, it is a
reassurance that the long history
of the family is never far away.
Interior
Frugård Manor
The Grotenfelt family is one of
Finland’s noble families.
They are traditionally very
active in agriculture with their
company Famifarm, which grows
herbs and lettuce and is one of
Finland’s leaders in the field of
quality and sustainability. They,
for instance, closely cooperate
with multinational Philips to
innovate lighting conditions in
the greenhouses in the often-
challenging Finnish climate.
Other family members live
nearby. Professor Anna-Maria
Åström and her partner live on
the beautiful Frugård estate on
lake Saimaa. Their traditional
18th century house is a beautiful
yellow wooden building in a
green sloping landscape.
A herd of sheep are grazing
lazily along the lake shore where
the traditional family sauna is
situated. Åström sees it as her
duty to keep the family’s rich
history alive and their home is
filled with mementos from the
Grotenfelt family. The attic is
almost a museum. Here we find
very personal belongings, from
underwear and hats to antique,
illegal distillery equipment from
the prohibition period. It is a
remarkable heritage collection
of items reflective of the many
stories associated with the
Grotenfelts.
In 2009 the Grotenfelt Burial
Chapel restoration received the
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage /
Europa Nostra Awards.
www.oras.com
118
ındustrıal herıtage

Pulp Faction
Verla Groundwood
and Board Mill The Verla Groundwood and Board Mill is
a red brick miracle of World Heritage.
The Verlankoski Rapids are
located in a beautiful valley in
southeastern part of Finland.
On one site of the river we find
the historical residential area
for the community of workers
who were once employed at the
relatively small Verla mill which
lies on the opposite site of the
rapids.

The Verla Mill and all its

buildings, including the wooden
estate and gardens of the former
owners, are now a UNESCO
The wooden estate World Heritage site. In the 19th
and gardens of the
former owners and 20th century, wood-pulp
was the main ingredient for
 119

Machinery
for pressing
the sheets

cardboard, carton and paper.

As an answer to the ever-growing
demand, milling factories were
springing up across the globe.
Finland was one of the biggest
suppliers in Europe, mainly
because it combined cheap energy
from water-power with what
seemed to be an endless supply
of trees. The Verla Groundwood
and Board Mill is a prime example
of this industrial heritage for a
very special reason. As you enter
the valley, you are immediately
struck by the perfect harmony
between the buildings and their
natural environment. But the real
surprise can be found inside the
red brick buildings themselves.
The factory is so well-preserved
Heavy
it looks like it is frozen in time, a machinery
ghost town of industrial activity.
120 Weighing the
sheets
ındustrıal herıtage

Machinery to
remove the
tree bark
Sheets are still
drying since
1964

The workers seem to have just machinery since 1964.

stepped out for a quick bite or a
smoke. The machines look like
they could restart at any minute,
the big sheets of board are still
in the drying house and bulky
packages are ready to be shipped
to no longer existing clients.
The administrative office still
has documents on the desk with
bills to be paid, a calendar fixed
on the wall. You almost expect
the phone to ring or a cup of
coffee to be lukewarm.
An empty
Although the power plant is still
office used, nobody has worked the
By 1972 the Verla Mill had
become an industrial museum.
The property consists of
almost 50 buildings and its
equipment, installations and
surrounding landscape have
remained almost intact.
The many stories of the
wood-pulp mill have now
become part of Finland’s
history and industrial
heritage and thanks to
the excellent state of the
buildings and its equipment,
the Verla Mill is once again
flourishing, as a museum.

The Makkarakoski
powerplant in
Noormarkku was built
in 1914 and renewed in
2004. It is Finland’s
oldest operating
power plants.
 Adopt a Monument
122
lıvıng herıtage

Maybe at first glance there is not much to see.

We are looking at the remains of a stone stacked
wall in a forest on the outskirts of Tampere.

The restored wall


The wall on an old
photograph
Yet the surrounding area has
been cleared and the monument
has been restored by a team of
volunteers and experts who
have ‘adopted’ this historic
structure. The wall was the
result of a long forgotten feud
between communities, who
went so far that an actual wall
was built to separate ‘them’ from
‘us’. Now thanks to the adoption
programme, the local history of
the area is once again visible.
In nearby Pispala, we examine
the high ridge between two
bodies of water. It is a popular,
bohemian district with
charming, wooden villas and
great views over the lake.
This ‘hill’ is actually an esker, an
Working with the
whole family
123
ice-age phenomenon whereby
a mountain of material was
pushed up on the side of a
glacier. In the 19th century, the
ridge was an obstacle to moving
large amounts of logs from
one side of the hill to the other
and various ways were used to
solve this problem. You could
pull them over with horses
or man-power, or you could
dig a tunnel and push them
through. Some physical remains
of these historical techniques
are still visible today and have
been adopted or are still up for
adoption.
‘Adopt a Monument’ is grassroots
project, facilitated by the
124 The old way
to pull logs
lıvıng herıtage

over the ridge

A new
potential
‘adoption’
project, the
tunnel under
the ridge

The ‘Adopt a Monument’ professionals. Despite its

September 2016: Pirkanmaa Provincial Museum,
Ceremony for
the Grand Prix of which encourages citizens to
the EU Prize for ‘adopt’ monuments of cultural
Cultural Heritage
and historical significance in
/ Europa Nostra
Awards in the their own neighbourhood. It is
Museum Centre not just about restoration, it is
Vapriikki,
Tampere also about taking responsibility
for its upkeep and regularly
monitoring its condition. As the
monuments’ adoptive parents,
they also have to raise awareness
in their communities about local
heritage.
movement has been a great
success with new monuments
being added on a regular basis.
Other areas of the country
have expressed an interest
in the scheme and even
internationally the project
has drawn media attention.
An interesting aspect of the
adoptions is the inclusion of
asylum seekers. The project
provides meaningful, short-
term activities and gives an
opportunity to learn about
Finnish history and work
together with Finns towards
a common, useful goal.
The volunteers do not work in
isolation, but are supported
by professionals from the
museum and more monumental
restorations of buildings
are aided by conservation
modest budget, Adopt a
Monument has helped to
promote active citizenship and
to encourage the commitment of
the local communities to their
local heritage.
In 2016 the ‘Adopt a Monument’
programme won a Grand Prix in
the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Awards in the
category Education, training
and awareness-raising. The jury
noted that “‘Adopt a Monument’
helps the protection of smaller,
unprotected buildings. The wide
array of structures that are ‘up
for adoption’ are from many
different periods in history and
shows the inclusive nature of
this programme. The project is
sustainable and its potential to be
applied across Europe is evident.”
 SONYA
YONCHEVA, SOPRANO
ANTOINE PALLOC, PIANO
15.8.2017 19:00
CONCERT HALL, TURKU, FINLAND
43,00 / 28,00 €, www.ticketmaster.fi

“Ms. Yoncheva is
the one I’d seek out,
not matter what she does.”
– New York Times

“She is the most brilliant

Violetta since Maria Callas.”
– Die Welt
© GREGOR HOHENBERG / SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
126
treasure
The Simple Life
A Russian Emperor’s
Holiday Home
The man has a well-groomed beard,
kind eyes and a satisfied smile
playing on his lips. He is standing
on rock overlooking a wild running
river, watching some men fishing for
salmon. He has been cutting wood for
the fire place, his axe in hand. His wife
is standing on the veranda of their
wooden log building with the children,
calling out. Lunch is ready. It is fresh,
homemade fish soup.
For a few too short summers
this was the fantasy Alexander
III, Emperor of Russia, and his
consort, Danish-born Empress
Maria Feodorovna, lived out
in the unspoiled beauty of
Langinkoski. The estate was
built along an estuary of the
Kymijoki river, near Kotka,
when the Grand Duchy of
Finland was part of the Russian
Empire.
For the couple, it was an escape
to a simpler life, far away from
the complexities and intrigues of
St. Petersburg’s golden palaces
and the strict etiquette of the
Russian Imperial court.
Here they could pretend to be
normal folk, taking the kids
to the forest to find berries
and mushrooms or sitting in
their country-style living room
drinking tea from a traditional
samovar. Here they could have
dinner at an informal dining
table made of birch and pine and
sleep in locally made wooden
beds, positioned head to head
in a small bedroom upstairs.
The basic kitchen was equipped
with a simple stove where the
Empress could cook her family a
meal which the Emperor might
even pretend to have caught
himself. The long salmon pan
and the napkins were of the
best quality and monogrammed
with the Imperial coat of arms,
because there were some
standards one could not ignore,
of course. And washing the
dishes and cleaning the house
was left to the servants – there
were limits to this going-back-
to-basics idea, obviously.
Nevertheless, it was a scandal
at the Russian court that the
Imperial family would choose to
live as commoners.
Alexander had discovered
their getaway paradise in the
1880s when he was still the
Russian Crown Prince.
 127

He was smitten by the beauty

of the rapids where the fish
would literally jump out of the
crystal-clear water. He was not
the first person to discover the
abundance of fish in this part of
the river. The fishing grounds
had been the property of the
monastery in Vadstena, Sweden,
founded by St. Bridget. Later,
the rights were transferred
to the Valamo Monastery in
Karelia. In the 19th century they
even built a small orthodox
chapel on the grounds, which
still stands and functions today
in the summer months.

In 1887, Alexander, by then

Emperor of Russia, took his
consort and children on a
scouting trip to his salmon river.
The grounds and the fishing
rights were transferred to the
Emperor and the idea to build
a relatively small, traditional
fishing lodge was born.
The lodge was planned by three
Finnish architects, Sebastian
Gripenberg, Magnus Schärfbeck
and Jacob Ahrenberg and built
by Finnish carpenters.
The Imperial family oversaw
its construction in 1888 and on
128
treasure
15th July 1889 the Langinkoski
Fishing Lodge was ready. It
was only a short sailing trip
for their yacht Tsaverna from
St. Petersburg to Kotka, and
they had invited some friends
to celebrate their new summer
house, such as the Queen of
Greece and the Duchess of
Edinburgh. They even toasted to
Finland.
The fishing lodge was the only
building owned by the Imperial
family outside of Russia.
For six summers they stayed
at Langinkoski, where they
felt safe and happy. After their
stay in 1894 disaster struck and
history caught up with them.
He died in his Palace in Crimea
a few months later. Empress
Maria Feodorovna would never
return to the fishing lodge.
Their son Emperor Nicholas II
shortly visited the lodge in 1906
with his daughters. Little 5 year
old Anastasia even wrote a big
letter A in the guest book.
Empress Maria Feodorovna
gave Langinkoski for use to the
Russian Red Cross in 1915 and
16. The Empress was one of
the few royals who escaped the
Russian revolution and she lived
out her life in Hvidøre House in
Denmark. Only in 2006 was she
reburied in St. Petersburg to be
reunited with her Alexander.
For a few years after Finland
independence, Alexander III’s
fishing lodge lay forgotten in the
pine forests and fell prey to the
unforgiving natural elements
of rain and snow. Some of the
furniture was shipped out, the
silverware disappeared.
But the Kymenlaakso Museum
Society and their leader Gösta
Winterbäck knew that this
unique heritage should be
preserved for posterity and
started to do anything in their
power to safeguard the house
and the grounds. Already in
1927 they wanted to turn the
property into a museum. In 1933
they got the official permission.
Presently the museum is run by
the Langinkoskiseura Society,
which continues the work of
Kymenlaakso Museum Society.
Museum curator Hannu Saarinen
proudly shows the beautifully
restored buildings and grounds of
the estate. Even the gate and the
bridges have been reconstructed
based on old photographs.
It is a wonderful, picturesque
place to visit, which combines
history, heritage and nature
harmoniously. Saarinen explains
how the society managed to
trace the lost beds and furniture
to Kultaranta, the summer
house of the Finnish president.
They were returned to
Langinkoski in 1956. The 1880s
silverware turned out to be
safely in the hands of the Finnish
government and the society had
replicas made. The main house
has not changed much since the
Imperial family vacationed here.
The wooden palace of modest
size, more a home than a castle,
was precisely what Alexander III
hoped the place would be.
The museum also commemorates
one of the largest salmons ever
caught in Finland, weighing 35.6
kilograms, caught after a long
fight by the legendary fisherman
Aukusti Hintikka in 1896.
 E U R O PA N O S T R A 129

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a number of exclusive visits to private homes. and the hospitality of our Munich hosts.
11– 17 OCTOBER 2017 5 – 8 DECEMBER 2017

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historic houses, art collections and gardens with excellent accommodation. In co-operation
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130 A Place to
cıty dreams

Come Home To

The Second World War had a devastating effect on the young

Finnish republic. Of the hundreds of thousands of men and For many there was no home
to come back to. Tens of
women who fought in the wars, many did not return, while thousands of orphans and
others came home seriously wounded or disabled for life. widows were in dire straits
and over half a million people
were were evacuated from
the areas annexed by Soviet
Union or had lost their homes.
The government decided that
something had to be done and
asked architects to come up with
a quick and efficient solution.
The foremost Finnish architects
such as Alvar Aalto, Woldemar
Baeckman, Aulis Blomstedt,
Erik Bryggman, Aarne Ervi,
Marianne Granberg, Jorma Järvi,
Eva Kuhlefelt-Ekelund and Yrjö
Lindegren worked on the plans.

The result was a series of simple

house designs to achieve the
Veteran houses in
best results with less material;
Oulu, 1950s a uniform, wooden, often
 131

two-storey box on a concrete

base with a pitched roof and
a chimney dead square in the
middle. The detached houses
had a small surrounding garden
in which traditionally apple
trees would be planted.
The houses were built with state
loans. Some areas were built
entirely uniform with only The veteran houses can still solidly build home. The residences
one or two types of houses, in be found in all major cities of may be more brightly coloured
other areas the residents could Finland. Of course, they are no than ever before and their apple
choose from several similar longer lived in by war veterans, trees may have grown taller than
types. The houses were not just widows, and orphans, but their the house itself, but the veteran
for one family, often the second traditional, efficient, no nonsense homes have now become a much
floor was a home for another design is nowadays very popular loved and permanent part of
family. with young families looking for a Finnish heritage.
132
lıvıng herıtage
It is a misty, autumn morning as
we drive around the countryside
of Joensuu in the eastern part
of Finland. We are looking for
some of the buildings restored
thanks to a very special
community project, better
known as “Work and restoration
expertise in the rural areas of
Joensuu 2009-2012.”
First stop, a red wooden log
building at the edge of a birch
forest. The restoration of this
classic, small-hold farm was
one of the early successes of
Rural
Restorations
the programme. Close by, along
the meandering country roads,
we encounter a collection of
wooden log buildings between
the freshly ploughed fields
adorned with large wheels of
straw, in preparation for the
Finnish winter. On the side of
one of the sheds, the old dark
logs have been replaced by
new, hand-chopped pine. It is
another successful example of
the training project. It may be a
small restoration on a relatively
small building, the long-term
effects are evident and all these
restorations combined slowly
change the face of the Finnish
countryside. Another good
example of this is found on a
larger farm nearby, which slowly
emerges from the misty fields.

A red-painted storage facility
with a white fenced balcony
was also restored through the
project. Next to the building
we find a Finnish mare with
her foal. The Finnish horse is
the only horse breed native to
Finland and are multi-purpose,
friendly creatures of remarkable
strength, speed and resilience.
They can plough, they can pull,
and you can of course, quite
comfortably ride them.
The idea of the project was to
combine necessary restoration
133
work with an informal
exchange between experts, home-
owners and volunteers.
It gave the opportunity to pass on
virtually forgotten log building
repair techniques
and expertise to the next
generation.
134
lıvıng herıtage
Even more importantly, the
project increased the appreciation
for these often small and
unnoticed heritage buildings.
Collectively all the barns and
farms, the boat houses and storage
sheds are vital ingredients in
keeping the Finnish countryside
alive as well as attractive.
The project also provided
employment and much needed
vocational qualifications for
long-term unemployed men
and women, and taught them
renovation skills through
work-based learning methods.
In 2012 the project won a
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Award in the
category Education, training and
awareness-raising.
The jury was impressed
by the results and recommended
not only the exemplary
cooperation between the
voluntary and public sector, as
well as owners and educational
institutions, but also believed
that this approach could
be a successful in heritage
conservation in rural areas
across Europe.
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136
Deep Sea Diving on Land
feature

The Vrouw Maria Underwater project is an example of innovative

research, which makes underwater heritage accessible to all.

Maritime Centre
Vellamo

Interior Maritime Exploring the wreck of the cargo
Centre Vellamo
vessel Vrouw Maria, which sunk
Trying out the
in 1771 close to Turku, would not
interactive
experience be an easy undertaking.
After having to laden yourself
with heavy equipment and diving
41 metres into the cold water, you
probably would not be able to see
anything interesting in the murky,
dark waters. You would also be
fined as the Finland’s Archipelago
National Park is a restricted
diving zone, and the wreck is
under additional protection from
the Finnish Antiquities Act.
Taking a dive without getting wet
and improving the accessibility to
the wreckage was what the Vrouw
Maria Underwater project - led by
the National Board of Antiquities
and funded by the Ministry of
Education and Culture - set out to
do. The Maritime Centre Vellamo
is an extraordinary designed
building on the outskirts of the
old harbour city of Kotka.
The interactive museum shares
the stories and adventures from
Finland’s maritime history.
It has also, since 2015, been the
permanent home to the end result
of the Vrouw Maria project, which
started in 2009 and was worked
on by a team of experts for three
years. In collaboration with Aalto
University’s Media Lab, a 3D
virtual simulation of the ship’s
wreckage and its surroundings
was created. The museum visitors
can explore the ship from all sides
and swim virtually around and
in the ship. Some of the artefacts
raised from the wreck have also
been digitised.
When the merchant vessel
Vrouw Maria left Amsterdam in
1771, it was fully loaded with the
inheritance of Dutch merchant
Gerrit Braamcamp, which was
bought at auction by Empress
Catherine the Great of Russia.
Captain Reynoud Lorentz was
confident to deliver the large
collection of furniture, paintings
and other luxury items safely to
St. Petersburg. The Vrouw Maria
had made that journey already
several times – but this time
he would not be so fortunate.
The fatal journey of the Vrouw
Maria is well-documented, as
the logbook is preserved in the
Turku City Archives. The ship’s
cargo was also registered by the
Danish custom authorities, which
show that the ship carried large
quantities of sugar, dye, wood,
cloth and zinc.
Everything went according to
plan, until they reached the
waters near Turku in stormy
weather. The treacherous waters
caught up with them during
prayer hour and before they fully
realised what had happened
the ship had lost its rudder and
had sprung several leaks.
The crew decided to abandon
ship, row ashore and come back
the next day. The logbooks
give us a detailed account of
everything that happened next.
The crew tried to salvage as
much as they could and kept
returning to the ship. But it
became soon clear that the
precious cargo could not be saved.
The Vrouw Maria was not going
any further. The ship sank to
its present location at 41 metres
depth in rock-infested waters.
In the 18th century, expertise in
salvaging ships at this depth was
virtually non-existent and even
pinpointing its exact location
proved impossible.
Empress Catherine the Great
was not amused, and became
personally involved to secure
her vulnerable and precious
paintings and furniture.
The exchange of urgent letters
between the different countries
and their representatives have
also been preserved. But in the
end, it made no difference.
The crew of the Vrouw Maria was
safe, but its cargo lost forever.
The modern search for the
wreck by the Pro Vrouw Maria
Association, consisting of 137
several wreck and maritime
history enthusiasts, was
successful in the summer of 1999.
The Vrouw Maria had spent
several centuries under water but
was still in decent shape. Thanks
to information in the archives
in Amsterdam, the team knew
the precise measurements of the
ship and were sure that they had
found what they had been looking
for. It still contained its cargo but
raising it would prove difficult
and very expensive. Salvaging
the cargo is also not an option as
the ideal preservation techniques
cannot be ascertained. The fact
that at such depth divers can only
work for 15 minutes at the time,
is also complicating any potential
salvage operation. The state of
Catherine the Great’s precious
cargo will remain a mystery for
some time longer. Luckily, thanks
to the Vrouw Maria project, we The deck of the ship
on the computer
can at least explore the wreckage screen
digitally in the Maritime Centre
Entrance Maritime
Vellamo in Kotka and that is Centre Vellamo
already a great accomplishment. Dutch cargo objects
from the collection
The Vrouw Maria Underwater
project received a Special mention
in 2015 in the category Research
and Digitisation of the EU Prize
for Cultural Heritage/Europa
Nostra Awards
 A Towering
138
treasure

Success
The Kesälahti bell tower,
in the east of Finland close
to the Russian border, was
lovingly restored by a team of
experts and volunteers over
many years.

Kesälahti tower
after restoration

On this cold September afternoon,
the little, wooden tower of
Kesälahti looks a somewhat out of
place next to the concrete 1950s
church, designed by Aili and
Niilo Pulkka, as if it somehow
accidentally ended up there. The
monument, dating from 1836, is
the sole survivor of an air raid
bombing in 1941, in which the
accompanying wooden church
was completely destroyed.
In the 1990s, part of the upper
section of the bell tower had
been repaired, but the rest of the
building was very much still in
its original state. The majority
of the shingles on the roof had
not been replaced for 170 years,
demonstrating the real value for
money and a testimony to the
craftsmanship of the original
139
builders. The bell tower was The roof before
restoration
mainly used as a storage room
and maintenance had been kept
to a minimum since the war.
Around the year 2000 it became
clear that the shingles and the
underlying birch-bark needed to
be urgently restored. But how to
repair the intricate pattern of all
those individually hewed pieces
of wood, project leader Hannu
Piipponen must have wondered?
Research and traditional skills
were necessary. Who would be
able to make hand-hewn shingles
and individually forged iron
nails in the 21st century? The roof
140
treasure
Birch forest
Finding the right
wood
Cutting with an ax
needed more than 200 square
metres of birch-bark and the
wood needed to be tarred with a
mature pine-tar, a complicated
and lengthy process. Piipponen
and his team of experts decided
that a restoration would
necessarily have to be combined
with a training project. Carbon
dating proved that the wood for
the roof had been felled many
years before it was actually
used, further proof of traditional
craftsmanship as wood needs to
dry out to settle. The nails were
very carefully hammered in,
saving just enough space to deal
with the variety of temperatures
and changing weather conditions.
It would be a challenge to make
a roof of the same quality with
the same lifespan. The builders
needed to study examples of
other churches with a similar
construction and learn from the
best. Funding of the long-term
project proved a difficult and
tedious process but in the end,
everything fell into place. The
parishioners also stepped in as
volunteers and reinvigorated the
old tradition of community work.
The old roof of the Kesälahti bell
tower survived unchanged for
170 years. The new roof has been
holding out perfectly for more
than 8 years and the prospect
for the coming 162 years looks
promising.
In 2009 the restoration of the
Kesälahti bell tower won one
of the seven Grand Prix of the
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Awards in the
category Conservation.
It included a cash prize of
€ 10,000.
europeanheritageawards.eu

The European Union Prize for

Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra
Awards has just launched a brand
new website.
You can access it from your
mobile phone, tablet, laptop or
desktop computer.
Read about all the award winners,
including detailed pages with
descriptions, jury citations, photos,
videos and locations. The award
winners are searchable by year,
country and category.
Everything you need to know
about the ‘Oscars’ of
Europe’s heritage at your fingertips.
142
partner
Markus Bernoulli, This year, Europa Nostra Finland
Irma Casagrande
(also a founding
co-hosts the European Heritage
member of Europa Congress and the ceremony
Nostra Finland), of the EU Prize for Cultural
Benito Casagrande,
Anna-Maija Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards
Halme and Tapani in Turku, the old capital of
Mustonen
Finland. We had time to catch
up with the people behind the
organisation, to find out more
about the Finnish heritage world
and its connection to Europa
Nostra. Former President
Markus Bernoulli was there from
the beginning. The architect and
heritage professional clearly
remembers his first contact with
Europa Nostra.
“That was in Heidelberg in 1988.
Europa Nostra had member
organisations in Finland, but no
Europa Nostra
Finland
Finn had actually ever visited the
congress. I was the first. It was
Europa Nostra’s silver jubilee
and I was invited because of the
restoration work we had done
for the re-use, enlarging and
renovating of the wooden houses
in Old Rauma (now a UNESCO
World Heritage site ed.).”
“In those days in Finland they
thought that ‘a happy family
lives in a brick house’ and the
historical wooden buildings were
threatened and being torn down
to be replaced by all these brick
things. So, that was my first
contact with the organisation
and Europa Nostra President
Hans de Koster even asked me to
speak during the congress.”
How did Europa Nostra Finland
come about?
“It started for pure
administrative reasons, just
as a contract of the Finnish
Local Heritage Federation and
the Finnish Association of
Architects. In 2011, The Finnish
Local Heritage Federation
called all Finnish Europa Nostra
members together to develop new
activities, and the other members
got very excited about the idea.
Only few months after that
meeting Europa Nostra Finland
was founded, and the association
has been very active ever since.”
In what area did Europa Nostra
Finland really make a difference?

“What springs to mind is
the work we have done on
endangered heritage in Finland.
When Europa Nostra started
their 7 Most Endangered
Programme, we needed to find
a way to nominate sites from
Finland. So, we started the Most
Endangered Heritage site of
Finland and it was an enormous
success. The media widely
reported on the nominations and
all the sites got a lot of publicity.
Malmi Airport in Helsinki, one
of Finland’s most endangered
heritage sites, is now on Europa
Nostra’s 7 Most Endangered
list and we are still actively
campaigning to save this unique
aviation history.”
What can the European heritage
world learn from Finland?
“We have very good rules and
regulations in place which may
inspire other countries. We are
concerned about the fact that
there seems to be less and less
money available for heritage
in Finland, but this may be an
European trend. Having said
that, I think one of the things
that Finns can teach Europeans is
the idea of ‘talkoot’. It is difficult
to translate but it is a form of
voluntary community work
and it helps to get things done.
Our Grand Prix winner ‘Adopt
143
Europa Nostra
member
Museum
Centre
Vapriikki
The 7 Most
Endangered
expert mission
to Malmi
Airport
Members of Europa Nostra in Finland
The Association of Castles and Museums around the
Baltic Sea
Finnish Association of Architects SAFA
Finnish Local Heritage Federation (Suomen
Kotiseutuliitto)
Finnish Museums Association
Turku University Foundation
Kierikki Stone Age Centre
Finnish Cultural Heritage Foundation
House of Nobility (Ritarihuone)
Association of Cultural Heritage Education in Finland
Nordic Association of Conservators, Finnish Section
Museum Centre Vapriikki
a Monument’ for instance (see Markus
Bernoulli next
article elsewhere in this magazine
to a traditional
ed.) is based on ‘talkoot’. Finnish tiled
We restore and repair buildings heater
together under ‘talkoot’. In Old
Rauma, we created a bank of
historical building materials,
which is now in every city in
Finland. All done under ‘talkoot’.
You know Finns love to ski but
over the last few years there was
144
partner
Hilla and Linnea Sarviaho with their
mother Mari
The European Heritage Congress is not the
only large-scale heritage event in Finland
this year. The European Heritage Days,
always held in on the second weekend of
September, bring together 50 European
countries to celebrate heritage across the
continent. The Days are very popular in
Finland, especially a competition called
Cultural Heritage-makers, a Finnish
innovation which has now spread all around
Europe.
The Singer sewing machine
In 2015 the theme of the competition
was Industrial and Technical Heritage,
to motivate children and young people to
explore their personal links to industrial
heritage. The winning entry from Finland
was created by Hilla and Linnea Sarviaho
from Siuntio. Their story of a Singer sewing
machine brought across the border from
Karelia to Finland and their family’s roots
in the village of Tyrjä, won the competition
and the prize of € 500. The panel of judges
– with representatives from the Ministry
of the Environment, the National Board of
Antiquities, the Finnish National Board
of Education, the Finnish Local Heritage
Federation and the Association of Cultural
Heritage Education in Finland – was
impressed with the strong, emotional and
story-driven project, inspired by their
mother Mari Sarviaho. She taught her
daughters that your identity is something
you work on every day, your own actions are
a continuation of your family’s living history.
europeanheritagedays.com
rakennusperinto.fi
Europa Nostra was, for many years, the
coordinator of the European Heritage Days
Europa Nostra member Kierikki Stone Age Centre
not enough snow in Rauma which
is on the coast. So under ‘talkoot’
we came together and created a
snowy ski-slope for all to use.
What do you expect from the
Congress in Turku?
“It is wonderful that the congress
is now in Turku and we are very
grateful to the city of Turku for
supporting this with so much
enthusiasm. They understand the
importance of the congress and
are really helping us wherever
they can. I am glad that the
congress is also open for Finns
who are not members, yet, and I
hope that many come and learn
about Europa Nostra and its
activities. I am still a member of
the organisational committee,
but all the hard work is done by
the President of Europa Nostra
Finland and my former student
Tapani Mustonen, Secretary
Anna-Maija Halme and, our Vice
President Benito Casagrande,
who knows everybody and
everything in Turku, and the
Board Member Johan Grotenfelt
who took the responsibility of
arranging the Maritime Heritage
activities of the congress.
Tapani Mustonen adds: “This is
Europe’s most significant annual
cultural heritage event, and we
are very pleased to organise
it in Turku after Amsterdam,
Lisbon, Athens, Vienna, Oslo and
Madrid.”
“The event will be one of the
highlights of Finland’s centennial
anniversary: thanks to the City of
Turku, as well as local companies
and foundations,” states Benito
Casagrande, Vice-President of
Europa Nostra Finland.
Also congress manager
Sari Ruusumo and Head of
International Affairs Mika
Akkanen are excited about the
event taking place in Turku.
“Turku was already a European
Capital of Culture and now we
have once again the opportunity
to share Finland’s oldest
buildings, the Cathedral and
the Turku Castle, as well as the
architecture of Alvar Aalto and
Erik Bryggman,”says Akkanen,
pointing out that in recent
years, Turku has become one
of Finland’s leading congress
towns with up to 70 international
events every year.
 europanostra.org

Europa Nostra, the leading heritage organisation in

Europe, has just launched a brand new website.You
can access it from your mobile phone, tablet, laptop
or desktop computer.

• Read about our work: Policy, Campaigns and

Awards
• Find information about our annual European
Heritage Congress and the European Year of
Cultural Heritage 2018
• Read the latest news, press releases and events
• Get involved: join and donate in easy steps
• Access our membership map
Photo by Araldo de Luca

• Access all our publications and social media

channels
• Join our Heritage Tours

heritagetimes.eu
Heritage Times is a website where stories
about Europe’s cultural heritage are shared by
a team of volunteers.
This is an initiative run by Europa Nostra and
European Heritage Volunteers
Would you like to become a social media
volunteer for heritage?
Go to www.heritagetimes.eu/apply

#Time4Heritage

146
partner
District court of Berlin (Germany) by Ansgar Koreng
Royal Albert Hall (United Kingdom) by User:Colin
Perch Rock Lighthouse (United Kingdom) by Richard J Smith
Wiki Loves
Monuments
2016
by Stephen LaPorte, member of the
international team of Wiki Loves
Monuments and others
As a lawyer, Mr. Ansgar Koreng spent a lot of time in
the District Court of Berlin. After careful planning,
Mr. Koreng took a series of photos of the beautiful
vaulted ceilings, double staircases, and red tiles in the
entrance hall of the building. His photo ended up being
selected as the international winner from over 277,406
photos submitted to Wiki Loves Monuments in 2016.
A growing group of volunteers around the world are
collecting photos of all the world’s monuments.
Wiki Loves Monuments started in 2010, and since
became the world’s largest photography competition.
The competition is organized annually, by a federation
of national teams around the world who collect lists of
monuments and host events to collect photos. Anyone
is welcome to submit their photos of monuments
in September, with a condition that they release
the photo so anyone can use it, for example under a
Creative Commons license. The photos are used to
illustrate Wikipedia articles and more. In 2016, more
than 10,000 people from 42 national competitions
submitted photos. In each country, the top ten photos
are selected by a jury, and from among these finalists an
international jury selects the top photos for the year.
The winners from 2016 included Mr. Koreng’s photo of
the court entrance hall in Germany, a concert hall and
lighthouse in the United Kingdom, a castle in sunset in
Italy, a Buddhist temple in Thailand, and many more
samples from built culture around the world.
Wiki Loves Monuments, like Wikipedia, is built
on a philosophy that everyone can participate.
Thousands of people -- from casual tourists to expert
photographers -- accepted this invitation to discover,
 147

Lights at sunset - Castle of Torrechiara (Italy) by Lara zanarini

document, and share the built cultural heritage

around them.

In addition to an annual photography competition,

Wiki Loves Monuments is an opportunity to do more
than one thing to improve free documentation on
monuments. People can write articles on Wikipedia,
curate information on Wikidata, and organize events
to showcase the competition. Wiki Loves Monuments
is an annual collaborative effort that has expanded
the digital record for monuments from around the
world, and a community of people who are passionate
about making this possible.

Wiki Loves Monuments will return in 2017, and

everyone is again welcome to contribute. Although
many monuments are well-documented, the effort is
Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchaworamaha Wihan (Thailand) by BerryJ
still far from complete. Along with the photography
competition, in 2017 we will focus on expanding the
international database of monuments that is freely
available on Wikidata. This data can be used to make
the photo competition easier, or to build new tools to
help people learn about monuments. Our eventual
goal is to gather the world’s largest free database of
built cultural heritage.

Join us by exploring the beautiful interiors and

exteriors of monuments, and while you are there,
consider taking a photo and submitting it to Wiki
Loves Monuments in September 2017.

WIKI LOVES MONUMENTS

IS A PARTNER OF EUROPA NOSTRA
Pakistan Monument (Pakistan) by Muhammad Ashar
 Ready for Take Off?
148
HERITAGE IN DANGER

A new future for the endangered

Helsinki-Malmi Airport?

The airport in Malmi, on the outskirts of Helsinki,

has been placed on the list of the 7 Most
Endangered in 2016. This programme initiated by
Europa Nostra, together the European Investment
Bank Institute, draws attention to the most
endangered heritage sites in Europe.

I meet up with architect Tapani to be held in Helsinki but which

Mustonen, Chairman of Europa
Nostra Finland, and with Malmi
enthusiast and architect Simo
Freese at the airport’s white and
round terminal, built in 1938.
Helsinki-Malmi Airport is a rare
surviving example of pre-World
War II aviation architecture, built
just in time for the 1940 Olympic
Games, which were scheduled
were eventually cancelled due to
the war. It is wonderful place to
explore and experience. Looking
at the small airplanes taking off
and arriving brings you as close
to the romantic idea of aviation
as you can possible get.
As Mustonen and Freese explain,
Malmi Airport, complete with
its original hangar (1936-1937),

terminal and runways, is still in
use with about 40,000 landings
per year. It is the only free-
schedule city airport for light
traffic in the capital region.
The area has been declared a
cultural environment of national
significance by Finland’s
National Board of Antiquities. Its
open meadow has considerable
biodiversity and makes the
nature path encircling the site
very popular among locals.
The authorities however want
to close the airport, keep the
modernist buildings largely intact
and build a large, new residential
area around them. Malmi Airport
would be no more than a memory
and its living heritage would
disappear forever. What makes
this threat to Malmi Airport even
more incomprehensible is the fact
that there seems to be plenty of
unbuilt forest and fields around
it which could be used with a lot
less effort.
The airport and its surroundings
can of course best be seen from
the air, so I have to ignore my fear
of flying and get into a 60-year-
old Cessna in windy weather, in
order to look at the runways from
above. It is worth some anxiety
to see this unique 75-year-old
airport the way it is meant to
be. Flying from Helsinki back to
Malmi, dangerously swinging in
the wind like a kite, captures the
true spirit of flying much more
Architect 149
Tapani
Mustonen,
Chairman of
Europa Nostra
Finland, next
to the Cessna
directly than any modern plane Inside the
aircraft hangar
or airport ever could. It would
truly be a pity if it was lost. It is
hard to imagine this inspirational
and exciting heritage, which
captures the dream of flying
as few other sites can, would
be turned into a rather dull
residential area.
So, what happens now?
The airport has been put on the
list of the 7 Most Endangered,
which was suggested by Europa
Nostra Finland, supported by
the Friends of Malmi Airport
(FoMA). The civil society
organisations want to keep
the historic airport as it is and
are preparing to propose the
site for the UNESCO World
150 Malmi airport
from the sky
HERITAGE IN DANGER
Heritage List. This line of action
seems also the most promising
to the team of experts of the 7
Most Endangered Programme,
who visited the site in 2016.
They stressed the importance
Stairs inside of the airport as living heritage
the main
and stated that “the modernist
building
buildings at Malmi airport are of
outstanding international value,
offering not only an excellent
example of preserved modernist
aviation architecture, but bearing
witness also to the extraordinary
progressive period between
the two world wars. Following
heritage legislation in other
European countries, the buildings
should be protected in their full
context, that is to say the entire
airport landscape of the flying
field with its runways. This means
keeping the airport in use.”
The 7 Most Endangered Programme
All over Europe, monuments and
heritage sites are in danger. Some due
to lack of resources or expertise, others
due to neglect or inadequate planning.
To find a sustainable future for these
important sites, Europa Nostra teamed
up with the European Investment
Bank Institute and launched the 7
Most Endangered Programme, with
the Council of Europe Development
Bank as associated partner.
It is a new way to draw attention to
threatened European monuments and
sites. It helps communities by bringing
It is not over yet. Helsinki’s
new General Plan proposes to
fill the airport with apartment
blocks to be constructed in the
early 2020s and the state will
withdraw – or by the time of
printing has withdrawn – all its
operations from the airport. All
aircraft should officially leave
the hangars by 16 May 2017.
The Friends of Malmi Airport
are still actively protesting to
keep their cause alive. This
nonprofit civic association
public and private partners together
and by generating creative ideas and
sustainable solutions. In short, the
aim is to use cultural heritage as a
generator for positive change.
The closing date for new nominations
for the 7 Most Endangered List 2018
is 30 June 2017.
The 7 Most Endangered Programme
has received the support of the
Creative Europe programme of the
European Union since 2014, as part
of Europa Nostra’s network project
‘Mainstreaming Heritage’.
(see malmiairport.fi/en) has
filed a complaint against the
City’s new General Plan in the
Administrative Court and its
application for protecting the
whole airport based on the Act
on the Protection of Buildings is
pending in the Uusimaa Centre
for Economic Development,
Transport and the Environment.
A citizens’ law initiative, Lex
Malmi, for protecting the airport
and its aviation use, is now in
Parliament after reaching the
required minimum of 50,000
supporters in record time.
Private citizens are also joining
the fight. Designer Jutta Kuure,
for instance, has just launched a
collection of bags and cushions
using photos of the airport and
has sent the cushions to Michelle
Obama, John Travolta, Tony
Robbins and even Harrison
Ford. Maybe if Han Solo lands
his Millenium Falcon on Malmi
Airport, the authorities will
finally be convinced to let the
airport and its important heritage
fly off to a new future.
Check out the latest developments
and all the other sites on the 7
Most Endangered list by going to
7mostendangered.eu
Become a Member of Europa Nostra
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 CALL FOR ENTRIES 2018

EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE / EUROPA NOSTRA AWARDS - SPECIAL EDITION

In 2018, the European Union Prize for Cultural In 2018, the European Heritage Awards Ceremony
Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards will be used to will take place in Berlin, in June, as a highlight of
promote the key objectives of the European Year of the European Heritage Summit which will be jointly
Cultural Heritage. hosted by Europa Nostra (www.europanostra.org) and
its key German member organisation, the Prussian
The adapted Call for Entries 2018 will be posted Heritage Foundation (www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de)
on 1 June 2017 on our new website dedicated to the along with the German Cultural Heritage Committee
Awards: europeanheritageawards.eu (www.dnk.de), which is acting as the national
coordinator of the European Year of Cultural Heritage
The deadline for submissions is 1 October. in Germany (www.sharingheritage.eu).

Published by
EUROPA NOSTRA
The Voice of Cultural
Heritage in Europe
European Cultural Heritage
Review (May 2017)
ISSN:1871-417X
President
Plácido Domingo
Executive President
Denis de Kergorlay
Secretary-General
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović
Editor in Chief
Wolter Braamhorst
Concept
TV Culture
Articles written by
TV Culture (except where
noted)
Special Thanks
Europa Nostra Finland
Anna-Maija Halme
Benito Casagrande
Tapani Mustonen
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović
Proofreading
Elsa Court
Anna-Maija Halme
Photography
TV Culture
Wiki Commons
(except where noted)
Production
MYRA, Istanbul, Turkiye
myra.com.tr
Design Supervisor
Rauf Kösemen
Coordination
Damla Özlüer
Periodical Design
Tülay Demircan, Banu Y. Ocak
Page Layout
Gülderen Rençber Erbaş
Technical Controls
Harun Yılmaz
Paper and Printing
Painotalo Digital Plus
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No part of either publication may be reproduced
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T +31 (0) 70 302 40 50 The views expressed are those of the authors and
F +31 (0) 70 361 78 65 not necessarily those of Europa Nostra.
info@europanostra.org The European Commission support for the
production of this publication does not
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This publication is co-funded by reflects the views only of the authors, and the
the Creative Europe programme Commission cannot be held responsible for
of the European Union any use which may be made of the information
contained therein.
Every effort has been made to trace the copyright
Co-funded by the holders of old material.
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of the European Union copyright owners are invited to contact the editor.
The New Bertelsmann:
Higher Growth ⋅ More Digital ⋅ More International ⋅ More Diversified
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about
50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book
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 ISSN: 1871-417X
EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE REVIEW
SPRING 2017

#Heritage4Europe #Europe4Heritage

EUROPA NOSTRA
welcomes and supports the
EUROPEAN YEAR OF
CULTURAL HERITAGE 2018
EUROPA NOSTRA represents a rapidly growing citizens’ movement for the
safeguarding of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. Our pan-European
network is composed of 240 member organisations (heritage associations
and foundations with a combined membership of more than 5 million people),
140 associated organisations (governmental bodies, local authorities and
corporations) and also 1100 individual members who directly support our
mission.

TOGETHER,
• we form an important lobby for cultural heritage in Europe;
FINLAND SPECIAL
• we celebrate excellence through the European Heritage Awards organised
by Europa Nostra in partnership with the European Union; and
• we campaign to save Europe’s endangered historic monuments, sites and
cultural landscapes.

We are the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe

CASTLES, HERITAGE HOTELS AND A BURIAL CHAPEL

TURKU AND THE ARCHIPELAGO
THE STORIES OF SAUNA, SANTA CLAUS AND NOKIA
EUROPEAN LEADERS ON THE 2018 YEAR OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
100 YEARS OF FINNISH INDEPENDENCE