Hämeenlinna

Hämeenlinna (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈhæme̞ːnˌlinːɑ]; Swedish: Tavastehus; Karelian: Hämienlinna; Latin: Tavastum or Croneburgum[6]) is a city and municipality of about 68,000 inhabitants[2] in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia (Häme) in the south of Finland. Hämeenlinna is the oldest inland city of Finland and was one of the most important Finnish cities until the 19th century. It still remains an important regional center.

Hämeenlinna

Tavastehus
City
Hämeenlinnan kaupunki
Tavastehus stad
Aerial view of the city centre of Hämeenlinna.
Coat of arms
Location of Hämeenlinna in Finland
Coordinates: 60°59′40″N 24°28′00″E
Country Finland
Region Tavastia Proper
Sub-regionHämeenlinna sub-region
Charter1639
Government
 • City managerTimo Kenakkala
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total2,031.53 km2 (784.38 sq mi)
 • Land1,785.76 km2 (689.49 sq mi)
 • Water245.79 km2 (94.90 sq mi)
Area rank34th largest in Finland
Population
 (2020-07-31)[2]
 • Total67,774
 • Rank14th largest in Finland
 • Density37.95/km2 (98.3/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish97.5% (official)
 • Swedish0.3%
 • Others2.2%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1415.8%
 • 15 to 6464.7%
 • 65 or older19.5%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[5]19%
Websitewww.hameenlinna.fi

Hämeenlinna is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), and before 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the province of Southern Finland. Nearby cities include the capital Helsinki (98 km or 61 mi), Tampere (73 km or 45 mi) and Lahti (72 km or 45 mi), the regional center of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme).

Hämeenlinna: Sibelius House

The medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city. The municipalities of Hauho, Kalvola, Lammi, Renko and Tuulos were consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009; with these municipal associations, the Hattula municipality is almost completely surrounded by Hämeenlinna.

History
View of Lake Vanajavesi, next to Hämeenlinna. The Tavastia Castle is visible to the right.

There was a settlement called Vanaja by the lake Vanajavesi where the city now stands since the Viking Age. The castle was built in the late 13th century to secure Swedish power in central Finland. A village was established near Häme Castle to provide services and goods to its inhabitants.

The village was granted city rights in 1639 and soon after that the King of Sweden moved it one kilometre (0.6 miles) south to the hill on which it still stands. The city is known for its schools and academies where many famous Finns have studied. Schools, government and the military have characterised the life of Hämeenlinna throughout history. Finland's first railway line, the Finnish Main Railway (Finnish: Suomen päärata, Swedish: Finlands stambanan), opened between Hämeenlinna and Helsinki in 1862.[7] The current Hämeenlinna railway station (Rautatieasema in Finnish) was built in 1921.

Demographics
People with a foreign background
Country of originPopulation (2017)
 Estonia485 (0.72%)
 Russia484 (0.72%)
 Iraq352 (0.53%)
 Poland278 (0.41%)
 Afghanistan218 (0.33%)
 Somalia208 (0.31%)
 Sweden206 (0.31%)
 Thailand141 (0.21%)
 Turkey130 (0.19%)
 DR Congo106 (0.16%)

Notable natives or residents

Economy

Largest employers (by number of employees) [8]

Culture

Food

In the 1980s, the following dishes were named Hämeenlinna's traditional cuisine: as a daily meal, smoked ham and sourdough; as a festive meal, the herring wrapped in rye dough, i.e. "fish bread", buttermilk and beer, and the riistansylttääjän lintupaisti, which means pheasant stuffed almonds with potato and apple slices.[9]

Sport

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland and Twin towns and sister cities
October sunset - Hämeenlinna

Twin towns – Sister cities
The castle

Hämeenlinna is twinned with:[10]

  • Coat of arms at sister city Celle (Germany), granite artwork below signpost

See also

References
  1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT): Väestön ennakkotilasto [verkkojulkaisu]. Heinäkuu 2020" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  4. "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. J. G. Th. Graesse: Orbis Latinus (Dresdae: Schönfeld, 1861; 1909. Brunsvici, 1972, 3 voll.) (in Latin)
  7. "Ensimmäinen Juna Hämeenlinnaan". Hämäläinen (in Finnish). 31 January 1862. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), Taskutietoa Hämeenlinnasta, a factbook published by the city of Hämeenlinna (PDF download, in Finnish)
  9. Kolmonen, Jaakko 1988. Kotomaamme ruoka-aitta: Suomen, Karjalan ja Petsamon pitäjäruoat, s. 67. Helsinki: Patakolmonen Ky. (in Finnish)
  10. "Ystävyyskaupungit" (in Finnish). City of Hämeenlinna. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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