Kangasala
Encyclopedia
Kangasala is a municipality in Finland
, next to Tampere
. It was founded in 1865. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density
is PD/km2.
It is famous for its natural beauty, as depicted by Zacharias Topelius
in his poem Kesäpäivä Kangasalla (made into a song by Gabriel Linsén). It is also known for its mansions, such as Liuksiala where Swedish queen Karin Månsdotter
lived, and Wääksy. Kangasala has a long history of tourism.
The lakes Roine
, Längelmävesi
and Vesijärvi are located in Kangasala. Of these the two first are mentioned in the famous poem, and Vesijärvi is the lake by which the scenic overlook described in the lyrics is situated.
The municipality of Sahalahti
was consolidated to Kangasala on 1 January 2005, and the municipality of Kuhmalahti
on 1 January 2011.
. It was also why the first real tourists in Kangasala came to spend their holidays there.
A spa was built by the Kuohu Spring which was a little later followed by a separate restaurant and hotel building. Even people from more distant places came to refresh themselves there, preferably at least once a year. At the same time travelers had a good chance to exchange news, discuss with each other and find out about the latest trends of fashion
. Spa tourism can probably be considered a predecessor of modern holidaymaking. At that time, however, it was primarily a pastime of the noble
and the prosperous bourgeoisie
only.
: Romanticism
. The artists of the Romantic period admired nature greatly and praised its beauty. Artists were drawn to Kangasala by good connections and the stunning landscapes. Especially the many ridges and plentiful lakes made a permanent impression on many a man. Amongst university students, wandering in their homeland's nature became a way of showing patriotic love.
Already before that had those ridge panoramas stunned people, even monarchs. In 1775 the king of Sweden
, Gustaf III became attracted to the scenery of Syrjänkorkee ridge so strongly that he believed it to have been the very place where Satan
tempted Jesus
and promised him all the wonders of the world. Syrjänkorkee also impressed the Russia
n tsar
, Grand duke of Finland, Alexander I
in 1819. Thus it was later renamed Keisarinharju (Emperor's Ridge).
In addition to Keisarinharju there are at least three other great ridges that are popular sightseeing locations because of their panoramas. The largest and highest one of these is Kirkkoharju, also called Helaamäki, stretching from Vatiala to the church of Kangasala. For centuries it has been a renowned place for spending time. Also Kuohunharju (Kuohu Ridge) and Vehoniemenharju (Vehoniemi Ridge) are well known for their views. Haralanvuori, or Haralanharju, located in Suinula, northern Kangasala, instead is a rocky hill despite its second name. Nevertheless, it has its own role in the development of Finnish national romanticism.
was diseased with a cholera
epidemy. Also Zacharias Topelius
had escaped the disease to the peaceful countryside. He visited lieutenant-colonel Aminoff's farm near Haralanvuori with his female acquaintance, Lotta Lindqvist. Topelius became fond with the views from the "Harjula's ridge" and wrote his famous poem A Summer's Day in Kangasala . Later Gabriel Linsén composed a melody for the poem. From 1995 that melody has been the provincial hymn of Pirkanmaa
region at it is for sure one of the most widely known Finnish melodies.
Since Topelius's times the Finnish national landscape has often been experienced just like in his depiction: with wild, dark forests and lakes with silver-glistening surfaces reflecting a blue, fluffy-clouded sky.
and Johan Ludvig Runeberg
. The beauty of Finnish nature was described in letters and travel accounts.
These rugged landscapes were a source for an arising sense of nationality and arts were a way of concretizing the admiration and pride directed at them. In particular, the early 19th century art of painting with its idyllic portraits of country and nature expresses the intellectual world of Romanticism. Countryside, fields, forests, hills, ridges, lakes and rivers have a central role in them. The average city-dwellers two hundred years ago were probably just as alienated from nature as their modern-day suburban counterparts.
In the 19th century Kangasala's landscapes were painted by several famous painters. Finland didn't actually have independent artistic circles in the beginning of the century. The earliest portrayers of the local landscape include Emanuel Thelning, a Swede sent to Kangasala by baron Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
after he himself had visited the healing spring of Kuohu in 1811 and the German Carl von Kügelgen, royal painter of Alexander I, who painted at least three paintings representing Kangasala. His workpiece Vues pittoresques de la Finlande which includes 15 litographies can be considered the start of Finnish landscape painting. At least the Hermitage
in St. Petersburg contains pieces of art by von Kügelgen.
Other artists who painted Kangasala were Werner Holmberg, Einar Ilmoni, Eero Järnefelt
, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm, Sigurd Wettenhovi-Aspa
and Magnus von Wright
who painted six paintings on Kangasala in the 1860s.
The invention of dry plate photography in 1882 made taking photographs easier and cheaper than before. Also landscape photography started to gain popularity. As far as is known, the first actual landscape photographs in Kangasala were taken by Gustin Lojander in 1893. His series of photographs presented the landscapes and sightseeings of Kangasala.
The increased popularity of landscape photography decreased artists' interest in the province of Tavastia
(Häme). The search for the roots of Finnishness now turned towards Karelia
(Karjala). Still, Kangasala wasn't forgotten by artists. The number of local artists – who often were landscapists of their home district – kept on growing all the time. Photographs helped in making the whole nation aware of Kangasala's landscapes. At the end of the 19th century advances in printing press made it possible to spread the pictures throughout the country in the form of affordable picture postcards.
industry's great demand for wood – the construction of observation tower
s was considered necessary to provide the multiplying tourist hordes with new experiences. All the most popular lookout spots except Kuohunharju got their own observation towers in the 1880s or 1890s. The first observation tower was built on Keisarinharju in 1881. A panoramic pavilion had been built there at the time of the visit of Alexander I but it had already vanished by the 1850s. The towers at Haralanharju and Keisarinharju were destroyed by an arsonist in 2006 and 2007. Now only the towers at Vehoniemenharju and Kirkkoharju remain but plans were already in progress for rebuilding both towers after barely a year had gone by from the first arson.
The ridges of Kangasala and Tampere
are part of the same ridge formation. Travelers often used to visit both the ridges of Kangasala and Pyynikinharju (Pyynikki Ridge) in Tampere. Together they were the most popular tourist attractions in Western Finland. In 1890 approximately 800 visitors came to Kangasala, 1,200–1,400 visited Pyynikki and Imatra
, the most popular tourist attraction in Finland that time, was a destination of about 5,000 tourists. These figures seem small but it has to be noted that there were no amusement park
s and festival
s, fair
s and other major happenings were rarely organised. Most of the travelers spent their holidays in nature. People looked for a spiritual connection with their fatherland in "the wilderness".
The idealogical conceptions created by artist had a great influence on Finnish sense of nationality but so had also such everyday-sounding things as picture postcards and the lake views from the observation towers. When the period of Russification
began at the end of the 1800s Finnish nature worked as an upbringing force for national self-esteem and as a unifier of Finnish culture. Kangasala played a great role in that development.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, next to Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
. It was founded in 1865. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
is PD/km2.
It is famous for its natural beauty, as depicted by Zacharias Topelius
Zacharias Topelius
Zachris Topelius was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history in Swedish.-Life and career:...
in his poem Kesäpäivä Kangasalla (made into a song by Gabriel Linsén). It is also known for its mansions, such as Liuksiala where Swedish queen Karin Månsdotter
Karin Månsdotter
Karin Månsdotter was Queen of Sweden, first a mistress and then the spouse of King Eric XIV of Sweden...
lived, and Wääksy. Kangasala has a long history of tourism.
The lakes Roine
Roine (Finland)
Roine is a lake in Finland. The lake is located in the Pirkanmaa region mostly in the municipality of Kangasala and for a lesser part in the municipality of Pälkäne....
, Längelmävesi
Längelmävesi
Längelmävesi is a lake in southwestern Finland. The lake is located mostly in the Pirkanmaa region at an elevation of . Längelmävesi is within the municipalities of Jämsä , Kangasala , Kuhmalahti, and Orivesi....
and Vesijärvi are located in Kangasala. Of these the two first are mentioned in the famous poem, and Vesijärvi is the lake by which the scenic overlook described in the lyrics is situated.
The municipality of Sahalahti
Sahalahti
Sahalahti is a former municipality of Finland.It was located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality had a population of 2,229 and covered an area of 171.96 km² of which 35.09 km² was water. The population density was 16.3 inhabitants per...
was consolidated to Kangasala on 1 January 2005, and the municipality of Kuhmalahti
Kuhmalahti
Kuhmalahti is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the municipality of Kangasala on January 1, 2011.It was located in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality had a population of 1,047 and covered a land area of . The population density was .The municipality was unilingually...
on 1 January 2011.
The healing springs
Kangasala was a popular destination already in the 18th century. The water of the Kuohu Spring (Kuohunlähde) was believed to have healing effects. At that time, refreshing in a health spa bathing, taking outdoor exercise and enjoying healing waters was fashionable amongst the aristocracyAristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
. It was also why the first real tourists in Kangasala came to spend their holidays there.
A spa was built by the Kuohu Spring which was a little later followed by a separate restaurant and hotel building. Even people from more distant places came to refresh themselves there, preferably at least once a year. At the same time travelers had a good chance to exchange news, discuss with each other and find out about the latest trends of fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
. Spa tourism can probably be considered a predecessor of modern holidaymaking. At that time, however, it was primarily a pastime of the noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
and the prosperous bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
only.
The spell of the ridges
The golden age of spa tourism lasted about a hundred years. The interest on health springs began declining in the 1840s. However, a new ideology had arrived from GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: Romanticism
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
. The artists of the Romantic period admired nature greatly and praised its beauty. Artists were drawn to Kangasala by good connections and the stunning landscapes. Especially the many ridges and plentiful lakes made a permanent impression on many a man. Amongst university students, wandering in their homeland's nature became a way of showing patriotic love.
Already before that had those ridge panoramas stunned people, even monarchs. In 1775 the king of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Gustaf III became attracted to the scenery of Syrjänkorkee ridge so strongly that he believed it to have been the very place where Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
tempted Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and promised him all the wonders of the world. Syrjänkorkee also impressed the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
, Grand duke of Finland, Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
in 1819. Thus it was later renamed Keisarinharju (Emperor's Ridge).
In addition to Keisarinharju there are at least three other great ridges that are popular sightseeing locations because of their panoramas. The largest and highest one of these is Kirkkoharju, also called Helaamäki, stretching from Vatiala to the church of Kangasala. For centuries it has been a renowned place for spending time. Also Kuohunharju (Kuohu Ridge) and Vehoniemenharju (Vehoniemi Ridge) are well known for their views. Haralanvuori, or Haralanharju, located in Suinula, northern Kangasala, instead is a rocky hill despite its second name. Nevertheless, it has its own role in the development of Finnish national romanticism.
A Summer's Day in Kangasala
In the summer of 1853 HelsinkiHelsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
was diseased with a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemy. Also Zacharias Topelius
Zacharias Topelius
Zachris Topelius was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history in Swedish.-Life and career:...
had escaped the disease to the peaceful countryside. He visited lieutenant-colonel Aminoff's farm near Haralanvuori with his female acquaintance, Lotta Lindqvist. Topelius became fond with the views from the "Harjula's ridge" and wrote his famous poem A Summer's Day in Kangasala . Later Gabriel Linsén composed a melody for the poem. From 1995 that melody has been the provincial hymn of Pirkanmaa
Pirkanmaa
Pirkanmaa , or the Tampere Region , is a region of Finland. It borders on the regions of Satakunta, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia, Southern Ostrobothnia and Central Finland....
region at it is for sure one of the most widely known Finnish melodies.
Since Topelius's times the Finnish national landscape has often been experienced just like in his depiction: with wild, dark forests and lakes with silver-glistening surfaces reflecting a blue, fluffy-clouded sky.
Spiritual landscapes
The landscapes of Kangasala impressed also other remarkable Finnish authors than just Topelius. Even before Topelius the natural beauty of the region was applauded by poets like Frans Mikael Franzén, Johan Jakob Nervander, Emil von QvantenEmil von Qvanten
Emil von Qvanten was a Finnish-Swedish poet, librarian, publisher and politician.Qvanten went in to exile in Stockholm, Sweden, whnce he produced anonymous political propaganda which was smuggled into Finland. In 1855 Oskar Tammelander, working for the Russian secret police went to Stockholm and...
and Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
. The beauty of Finnish nature was described in letters and travel accounts.
These rugged landscapes were a source for an arising sense of nationality and arts were a way of concretizing the admiration and pride directed at them. In particular, the early 19th century art of painting with its idyllic portraits of country and nature expresses the intellectual world of Romanticism. Countryside, fields, forests, hills, ridges, lakes and rivers have a central role in them. The average city-dwellers two hundred years ago were probably just as alienated from nature as their modern-day suburban counterparts.
In the 19th century Kangasala's landscapes were painted by several famous painters. Finland didn't actually have independent artistic circles in the beginning of the century. The earliest portrayers of the local landscape include Emanuel Thelning, a Swede sent to Kangasala by baron Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt
Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt was a Finnish and Swedish courtier and diplomat. In Finland, he is considered one of the great Finnish statesmen. Born in Tarvasjoki, Finland, he was the great grandson of Charles XII of Sweden's general, Carl Gustaf Armfeldt...
after he himself had visited the healing spring of Kuohu in 1811 and the German Carl von Kügelgen, royal painter of Alexander I, who painted at least three paintings representing Kangasala. His workpiece Vues pittoresques de la Finlande which includes 15 litographies can be considered the start of Finnish landscape painting. At least the Hermitage
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
in St. Petersburg contains pieces of art by von Kügelgen.
Other artists who painted Kangasala were Werner Holmberg, Einar Ilmoni, Eero Järnefelt
Eero Järnefelt
Eero Erik Nikolai Järnefelt was a Finnish realist painter.Eero Järnefelt was born in Viipuri, Finland. His father August Aleksander Järnefelt was an officer in the Russian army and his mother was Elisabeth Järnefelt . He studied at the St...
, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm, Sigurd Wettenhovi-Aspa
Sigurd Wettenhovi-Aspa
Georg Sigurd Wettenhovi-Aspa was a Finnish artist and amateur egyptologist. He is best known for his fantastic theories of the past of the Finnish people...
and Magnus von Wright
Magnus von Wright
Magnus von Wright was a Finnish painter and ornithologist.Born into a wealthy family in Kuopio, von Wright went to school in Turku and afterwards studied art in Stockholm under C. J. Fahlgranz and J. F. Julin...
who painted six paintings on Kangasala in the 1860s.
The invention of dry plate photography in 1882 made taking photographs easier and cheaper than before. Also landscape photography started to gain popularity. As far as is known, the first actual landscape photographs in Kangasala were taken by Gustin Lojander in 1893. His series of photographs presented the landscapes and sightseeings of Kangasala.
The increased popularity of landscape photography decreased artists' interest in the province of Tavastia
Tavastia (historical province)
Tavastia, Tavastland or Häme, Russian Emi or Yemi, is a historical province in the south of Finland. It borders Finland Proper, Satakunta, Ostrobothnia, Savonia and Uusimaa.- Administration :...
(Häme). The search for the roots of Finnishness now turned towards Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
(Karjala). Still, Kangasala wasn't forgotten by artists. The number of local artists – who often were landscapists of their home district – kept on growing all the time. Photographs helped in making the whole nation aware of Kangasala's landscapes. At the end of the 19th century advances in printing press made it possible to spread the pictures throughout the country in the form of affordable picture postcards.
Observation towers
The artists' descriptions of Kangasala lured more and more travelers to the parish. People had to climb high, even up the trees, to be able to enjoy the views. Although the ridgetops were relatively treeless at that time – because of the sawmillSawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
industry's great demand for wood – the construction of observation tower
Observation tower
An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision. They are usually at least tall and made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches...
s was considered necessary to provide the multiplying tourist hordes with new experiences. All the most popular lookout spots except Kuohunharju got their own observation towers in the 1880s or 1890s. The first observation tower was built on Keisarinharju in 1881. A panoramic pavilion had been built there at the time of the visit of Alexander I but it had already vanished by the 1850s. The towers at Haralanharju and Keisarinharju were destroyed by an arsonist in 2006 and 2007. Now only the towers at Vehoniemenharju and Kirkkoharju remain but plans were already in progress for rebuilding both towers after barely a year had gone by from the first arson.
The ridges of Kangasala and Tampere
Tampere
Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
are part of the same ridge formation. Travelers often used to visit both the ridges of Kangasala and Pyynikinharju (Pyynikki Ridge) in Tampere. Together they were the most popular tourist attractions in Western Finland. In 1890 approximately 800 visitors came to Kangasala, 1,200–1,400 visited Pyynikki and Imatra
Imatra
Imatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and...
, the most popular tourist attraction in Finland that time, was a destination of about 5,000 tourists. These figures seem small but it has to be noted that there were no amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
s and festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
s, fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
s and other major happenings were rarely organised. Most of the travelers spent their holidays in nature. People looked for a spiritual connection with their fatherland in "the wilderness".
The idealogical conceptions created by artist had a great influence on Finnish sense of nationality but so had also such everyday-sounding things as picture postcards and the lake views from the observation towers. When the period of Russification
Russification of Finland
The policy of Russification of Finland was a governmental policy of the Russian Empire aimed at limiting the special status of the Grand Duchy of Finland and possibly the termination of its political autonomy and cultural uniqueness...
began at the end of the 1800s Finnish nature worked as an upbringing force for national self-esteem and as a unifier of Finnish culture. Kangasala played a great role in that development.
Notable residents
- Karin HansdotterKarin HansdotterKarin Hansdotter was the royal mistress of King John III of Sweden in the 1550s before his marriage during his time as Prince and Duke of Finland.- Biography :...
, mistress of King John III of SwedenJohn III of Sweden-Family:John married his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland , house of Jagiello, in Vilnius on 4 October 1562. In Sweden, she is known as Katarina Jagellonica. She was the sister of king Sigismund II Augustus of Poland...
, was given the Wääksy Manor in 1561. - Finnish politician and journalist Agathon Meurman was born and lived in Kangasala, and owned the Liuksiala manor.
- Finnish author Jalmari Finne was born and lived in Kangasala.
- Finnish actor Markku PeltolaMarkku PeltolaMarkku Peltola was a Finnish actor and musician. He was born in Helsinki and grew up there. He was actively involved in founding and acting with the Telakka Theater in Tampere....
lived in Kangasala. - A Finnish Internet hit Marko Vanhanen lives in Kangasala.
External links
- Municipality of Kangasala – Official website