Svartholm fortress
Encyclopedia
Loviisa
Loviisa is a municipality and town of inhabitants on the southern coast of Finland. About 43 per cent of the population is Swedish-speaking.The municipality covers an area of of which is water...
in Southern Finland
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...
by general Augustin Ehrensvärd
Augustin Ehrensvärd
Field marshal count Augustin Ehrensvärd was a Swedish military officer, military architect, artist, creator of the Sveaborg fortress and the Swedish Archipelago fleet,...
. The fortress, which lies at the mouth of the Bay of Loviisa, along with the planned land fortress at Loviisa, would prevent invading Russian forces to enter Swedish domain in present-day Finland.
Of the six planned bastion
Bastion
A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...
s, only two were ready when the Swedish-Prussian war (1757–1762) interrupted the works in 1757.
The sea fortress of Svartholma was not ready, but was in defensible condition. The fortress was still not ready in 1808, when the Finnish War
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
erupted, and two third of the guns and mortars
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
were available. It had however been noted already in the 1760-ies, that it was not possible to place as many guns on the fortress as would be required to repulse a big attack from the sea. It had also been noted that the southern part left much to wish for.
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
(1808–1809), and the Russian main force crossed the border at Abborrfors on February 21, 1808. The Russians quickly encircled Svartholm. The Russian artillery fired sporadically at the fortress, but no serious damage was inflicted. However, the Swedish officers, led by Carl Magnus Gripenberg decided to capitulate the fortress, almost without a fight on March 18, 1808. The reasons for the capitulation are somewhat unclear but it seems like the Swedish officers didn't believe in the Swedish capability, nor the fortress' capability to withstand the Russians in this war.
As many of the other Swedish officers, Gripenberg entered Russian service after the capitulation. He was labeled a traitor in Sweden and was sentenced to death, along with other officers, for the loss of Finland. Due to a general amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
, the death penalty process was interrupted, also for him.
Svartholma lost its strategical importance during the Russian period. It was used partly as a military base, and partly as a prison for Finnish prisoners.
The castle was largely destroyed by the British during the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
on 7 July 1855, but large parts survived the war. It continued to serve as a good harbor and a goal for weekend picnics.
The Finnish National Board of Antiquities were restoring the castle since the 1960s, and the work was finally ready in 1998.