Vaasa

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Vaasan kaupunki - Vasa stad
Coat of Arms Location
Founded 1606
Province Western Finland
Region Ostrobothnia
Sub-region Vaasa
Area
- Of which land
- Rank		 397 km²
183 km²
ranked 345th
Population
- Density
- Rank		 57,266 (2005)
311.2 inh./km²
ranked 14th
Unemployment 9.5%
Official languages Finnish, Swedish
City Manager Markku Lumio
Home page http://www.vaasa.fi/

Vaasa, or Vasa in Swedish, (Vasa in Latin), is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden. It is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 57,266 (2005), and is part of the administrative province of Western Finland and the regional capital of Ostrobothnia.

The city is bilingual with 71.5% of the population speaking Finnish as their first language and 24.9% speaking Swedish. The city is an important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Foundation

The history of Korsholm (Mustasaari in Finnish) and also of Vaasa begins in the 14th century, when seafarers from the coastal region in central Sweden disembarked at the present Old Vaasa, and the wasteland owners from Finland Proper came to guard their land.

In the middle of the century Saint Mary's Church was built and in the 1370's the building of the fortress at Korsholm, Crysseborgh, was undertaken, and served as an administrative centre of the Vasa County. King Charles IX of Sweden founded the town of Mustasaari on October 2, 1606 around the oldest harbour and trade point around the Mustasaari church approximately seven kilometres to the southwest from the present city. In 1611 the town was chartered and renamed after the Royal House of Vasa.

Korsholm castle as a detail on a map made after 1752. The picture might depict a drawing from the 17th century, but is unreliable as a source. The detailed portal might have some equivalence with reality.
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Korsholm castle as a detail on a map made after 1752. The picture might depict a drawing from the 17th century, but is unreliable as a source. The detailed portal might have some equivalence with reality.

Thanks to the sea connections, ship building and trade, especially tar trade, Vaasa flourished in the 17th century and most of the inhabitants earned their living from it.

In 1683 the three-subject or 'trivial' school moved from Nykarleby to Vaasa and four years later a new schoolhouse was built in Vaasa. The first library in Finland was founded in Vaasa in 1794. In 1793 Vaasa had 2,178 inhabitants, and in the year of the catastrophic town fire of 1852 the number had risen to 3,200.

Old Vaasa in the 1840s by Johan Knutsson
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Old Vaasa in the 1840s by Johan Knutsson

[edit] Town fire

The mainly wooden and densely built town was almost utterly destroyed in 1852. A fire started in an outhouse belonging to district court judge J.F. Aurén on the morning of August 3. At noon the whole town was ablaze and the fire lasted for many hours. In the evening most of the town had burned to the ground. Out of 379 buildings only 24 privately owned buildings had survived, among them the Falander-Wasastjerna patrician house (built in 1780-1781) which now houses the Old Vaasa museum.

The Court of Appeal (built in 1775, nowadays the Church of Korsholm), some Russian guard-houses along with a gunpowder storage and the buildings of the Vaasa provincial hospital (nowadays a psychiatric hospital) also survived the blaze. The ruins of the greystone church, the belfry, the town hall and the trivialschool can still be found in their original places. Much of the archived material concerning Vaasa and its inhabitants was destroyed in the fire. According to popular belief the fire got started when a careless visitor fell asleep in Auréns outhouse and dropped his pipe in the dry hay.

The Court of Appeal, nowadays the Church of Korsholm, survived the fire of 1852
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The Court of Appeal, nowadays the Church of Korsholm, survived the fire of 1852

[edit] The new town

The new town of Nikolainkaupunki (Nikolaistad in Swedish, after late Tsar Nicholas I) rose in 1862 about seven kilometres to the northwest from the old town. The town's coastal location offered good conditions for seafaring. The town plan was planned by Carl Axel Setterberg in the Empire style. In the master plan the disastrous consequences of the fire were considered. Main streets in the new town were five broad avenues which divided the town into sections. Each block was divided by alleys.

The town was promptly renamed Vaasa after the Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in 1917.

Statue of Freedom in the centre of Vaasa
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Statue of Freedom in the centre of Vaasa

[edit] Site of Government

During the Finnish Civil War, Vaasa was the capital of Finland from January 29 to May 3, 1918. As a consequence of the occupation of central places and arresting of politicians in Helsinki the Senate decided to move the senators to Vaasa, where the White Guards that supported the Senate had a strong position and the contacts to the west were good.

The Senate of Finland began its work in Vaasa on February 1, 1918 and it had four members. The Senate held its sessions in the Town Hall. To express its gratitude to the town the senate gave Vaasa the right to add the cross of freedom, independent Finland's oldest mark of honour designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, to its coat of arms. Because of its role in the civil war Vaasa became known as 'The White City'.

[edit] University City

Vaasa has three universities. The largest one is the University of Vaasa, which is located in the neighbourhood of Palosaari. Palosaari is a large island near the center of Vaasa, connected to it by bridges. The other two universities are Åbo Akademi, headquartered in Turku, and the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, or Hanken, headquartered in Helsinki. University of Helsinki also has a small unit, specialized in law studies, in the same premises as Vaasa University.

The city has two Universities of Applied Sciences: Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (former Vaasa Polytechnic), located right next to the University of Vaasa, and Swedish University of Applied Sciences (former Swedish Polytechnic).

[edit] Major employers

Vaasa is generally speaking an industrial town, with several industrial parks. Industry comprises one-fourth of jobs. There is an university (University of Vaasa), faculties of Åbo Akademi and Hanken, and two Universities of Applied Sciencess in the town. Many workers commute from Korsholm (Mustasaari), Laihia, and other municipalities nearby.

Major employers, in order:

  1. City of Vaasa
  2. ABB — industrial and power electronics and automation equipment
  3. Vaasa Central Hospital
  4. State institutions
  5. Wärtsilä — diesel engines
  6. Vacon — frequency converters
  7. KWH — pipes
  8. TeliaSonera — telephony
  9. Vaasa Engineering
  10. Posti — mail
  11. VLP (Vaasa Area Telephone)
  12. Kemira Chemicals

[edit] Notable people from Vaasa

[edit] Cooperation cities

As of 2006, Vaasa has town twinning treaties or treaties of cooperation signed with 9 cities. All cities:

  1. Umeå, Sweden — twin towns since 1940.
  2. Harstad, Norway — twin towns since 1949.
  3. Helsingör , Denmark — twins towns since 1949.
  4. Kiel, Germany — twin towns since 1967.
  5. Schwerin, Germany — twin towns since 1965.
  6. Pärnu, Estonia — twin towns since 1956.
  7. Sumperk, Czech Republic — twin towns since 1984.
  8. Malmö, Sweden — godfather town since 1940.
  9. Morogoro, Tanzania — cooperation treaty signed in 1988.

[edit] Facts and Figures

  • The television programme Strömsö is made in Vaasa.
  • The television programme Falkensvärds möbler was made in Vaasa.
  • The miniseries N.D.A. (Non Disclosure Agreement) was filmed in Vaasa (known as 'Makela Mobile' on Swedish Television).
  • The television series Headhunters was filmed in Vaasa.
  • The seventeenth century ship Regalskeppet Vasa, on display in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, has no other connection with the Finnish city besides from being named after the same royal family - the House of Vasa.

[edit] References

  • Julkunen, Mikko: Vaasa - Vasa. Vaasa: Vaasa, 1982. ISBN 951-660-076-X (Photo book with English text.)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] Maps

[edit] Media

[edit] Education

Tritonia is the Academic Library of Vaasa and is shared by the citys three universities
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Tritonia is the Academic Library of Vaasa and is shared by the citys three universities

[edit] Sports


  Municipalities of Ostrobothnia Coat of arms of Ostrobothnia
Isokyrö | Jakobstad | Kaskinen | Korsholm | Korsnäs | Kristinestad | Kronoby | Laihia | Larsmo | Malax | Maxmo | Nykarleby | Närpes | Oravais | Pedersöre | Vaasa | Vähäkyrö | Vörå
Ostrobothnia Region | Western Finland | Finland

Coordinates: 63°06′N 21°36′E

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