Tammerkoski is a channel of rapids in 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...

, 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...

. The city of Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi

Näsijärvi

Näsijärvi is a lake above sea level, in Pirkanmaa region, Finland. Näsijärvi is the biggest lake in the Tampere region at in size. The city of Tampere was built around the rapids of Tammerkoski, through which the lake drains into Pyhäjärvi. The water quality of the lake has improved as forest...

 and Pyhäjärvi

Lake Pyhäjärvi

Pyhäjärvi is a lake in southern Finland. Although the name means in modern Finnish "holy lake", it probably meant originally "border lake". Pyhäjärvi is shaped like the letter "C" with the cities of Tampere and Nokia on the northern end, and town of Lempäälä at the southern end.The lake is fed by...

. The difference in altitude between these two is 18 metres and the water flows from Näsijärvi to Pyhäjärvi through the Tammerkoski rapids.
The banks of the Tammerkoski are among the oldest industrial areas in Finland. There was a busy marketplace in the 17th century and Tampere was originally founded on the banks of the rapids, as the rushing water provided a great deal of power for the needs of industry.

There are currently four power stations and three dams located on the Tammerkoski. The highest in altitude is the dam between Finlayson and Tampella

Tampella

Oy Tampella Ab was a Finnish heavy industry manufacturer, a maker of paper machines, locomotives, military weaponry, as well as wood-based products such as packaging. The company was based mainly in the city of Tampere....

. From this dam, the stream is lead to the power stations of Finlayson and Tampella on either side of the rapids. In the middle, there is the city's power plant and the lowest one in terms of altitude is the dam at the Tako paperboard mill, which belongs to M-real

M-real

M-real Corporation is a Finnish paper and pulp company. It was originally established by G.A. Serlachius, and named Metsä-Serla . The brand Serla is an M-real brand. M-real's slogan is "make it real"....

. At present, the three uppermost power stations are owned by the city, while the powerstation by Tako is owned mostly by the municipal power company of Southern Savonia

Southern Savonia

Southern Savonia is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders to the regions Northern Savonia, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijänne Tavastia, and Central Finland...

.

History

The Tammerkoski has been mentioned in official documents since 1405. In the 15th century, the first dams were built on the channel. The first argument over milling plant rights happened in 1466, when Takahuhti, Messukylä

Messukylä

Messukylä is a former municipality of Finland which was annexed by the city of Tampere in 1947. The medieval stone church in Messukylä is the oldest building in Tampere. During the Civil War , Messukylä was the scene of heavy battles around both the medieval and new churches....

 and Tammerkoski argued over their shares. About a hundred years later the government noticed the possibilities in the area and tried to replace the peasant-controlled dams with their own. The attempt was unsuccessful due to opposition from the inhabitants.

In the 17th century, a popular and well-known marketplace was established in the Tammerkoski area. The permanent marketplace remained near the Tammerkosken kartano (Tammerkoski manor), west of the bridge over the channel. At the beginning of the 18th century, the main marketplace was moved to Harju.

In 1775, King Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III of Sweden

Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....

 travelled to Finland and signed the charter of foundation for Kauppala, a city later renamed to Tampere. A wooden bridge over the Tammerkoski was constructed in 1807. This was later replaced by an iron bridge in 1884 and an iron-concrete bridge named Hämeensilta in 1929. For motor vehicle use, many other bridges have since been built. These include Ratinan silta, Satakunnansilta and Paasikivensilta. For light traffic use, there are Ratinan suvannon silta and Patosilta. There is also a two-track railroad bridge.

By the beginning of the 1990s, most industry had disappeared from the banks of the Tammerkoski. The Tako paperboard mill is the only major industrial installation still operational in the area, producing mainly high-quality packaging products for luxury items such as French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

perfume. The buildings of the old factories have been turned into restaurants and museums among other uses. The waters of the Tammerkoski are rather unpolluted, belonging to the quality class II in the classification of the Finnish environmental authority and the channel is popular with fishermen.