Vyborg
- For other uses, see Vyborg (disambiguation)
Vyborg (Russian: Вы́борг; Finnish: Viipuri; Northern Sami: Viborg; German: Wiburg) is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, 130 km to the northwest of St. Petersburg, 38 km south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimensky Canal enters the Gulf of Finland. 2002 population—79,224.
History
The area where Vyborg is located used to be a trading center on the River Vuoksi's western branch, which has been dried up. The area used to be inhabited by the Karelians, a Finnic tribe which gradually came under the domination of Novgorod and Sweden.
The first castle of Vyborg was founded during the third Swedish crusade in 1293 by marshal Torkel Knutsson. The castle was fought over for centuries between Sweden and the Republic of Novgorod. By the treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 Viborg was finally recognized as a part of Sweden. It withstood a prolonged siege by Daniil Shchenya during the Russo-Swedish War, 1496-1499.
The town's trade privileges were chartered by King Eric of Pomerania in 1403. Viborg remained in Swedish hands until its capture by Peter the Great in the Great Northern War (1710). The Treaty of Nystad (1721), which concluded the war, assigned the town to Russia. After the rest of Finland was ceded to Russia in 1809, Alexander I of Russia incorporated the town and county into the newly-created Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812.
In the course of the 19th century, the town developed as the center of administration for the eastern part of Finland. The inauguration of the Saimaa Canal in 1856 benefited the local economy.
20th-century vicissitudes
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the fall of the Russian Empire, Finland declared itself independent. During the Finnish Civil War Viipuri was in the hands of the Reds, until it was captured by the Whites on 29 April 1918.
In the mid-war decades, the town, now officially known as Viipuri, was the second biggest city in Finland. In 1939 Viipuri had some 80,000 inhabitants, including sizable minorities of Russians, Germans and Swedes. During this time, Alvar Aalto built a masterpiece of modernist architecture—the Viipuri Library.
During the Winter War more than 70,000 people were evacuated from Viipuri to western Finland. The Winter War was concluded by the Peace of Moscow, which stipulated the transfer of Viipuri and the whole Karelian Isthmus - emptied of their residents - to Soviet sovereignty. As the town was still held by the Finns, the remaining Finnish population, some 10,000 people, had to be evacuated in haste. Thus, practically the whole population of Finnish Viipuri were resettled in the remaining Finland. The evacuees from Finnish Karelia came to be a vociferous political force, and their wish to return to their homes was an important incentive when Finland sought support from Germany against the Soviet threat; a support that resulted in Finland and Germany ending up on the same side in World War II.
On August 29, 1941, Viipuri was recaptured by Finnish troops. At first the Finnish Army didn't allow civilians into the town. Of the 6,287 buildings 3,807 had been destroyed. The first civilians started to arrive at the end of September and by the end of the year Viipuri had a population of about 9,700. By 1942 it has risen to 16,000. About 70% of the evacuees from Finnish Karelia returned after the re-conquest to rebuild their looted homes, but were again evacuated after the Red Army's Fourth strategic offensive, timed with the Battle of Normandy. By the time of the Soviet offensive the town had a population of nearly 28,000. The town was evacuated by June 19 and the defence of Viipuri was entrusted to the 20th Brigade. The town fell to the Red Army on 20 June 1944 but the Finns managed to stop the Soviet offensive at the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle fought in the Nordic countries.[citation needed]
Economics
Following the town's return to Russia, its name officially reverted to Vyborg. During the Soviet era, the town was settled by people from all over the Soviet Union and continued to be an important industrial producer of paper.
An HVDC back-to-back facility for the change of electricity between the Russian and Finnish power grid was completed near Vyborg in 1982. It consists of three bipolar HVDC back-to-back schemes with an operating voltage of 85 kV and a maximum transmission rate of 355 megawatts, so that the entire maximum transmission rate amounts to 1065 megawatts.
Sights
Vyborg's most prominent landmark is the Swedish castle, started in the 13th century and extensively reconstructed in 1891–1894. The Round Tower and the Rathaus Tower date from the mid-16th century.
There are also Russian fortifications, completed by 1740, a monument to Peter I (1910), and the Lenin house, where the Russian revolutionary prepared the Bolshevik revolution during his stay in Vyborg in September-October of 1917.
Sprawling along the heights adjacent to the Gulf of Finland is Mon Repos, one of the most spacious English parks in Eastern Europe. The park was laid out on behest of its owner, Baron Ludwig Heinrich von Nikolay, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of the garden structures were designed by the architect Giuseppe Antonio Martinelli. Previously, the estate belonged to the future king Frederick I of Württemberg (Maria Fyodorovna's brother), who called it Charlottendahl in honor of his second wife.
The Russian Film Festival "Window to Europe" takes place in the town each year.
External links
Photographs
- Flickr photos tagged Vyborg
- Model of Viipuri as it was on September 2nd 1939 at 10:30 a.m.
- Model of Viipuri - click the red circles for detailed views of the miniature model of Vyborg
- Winter views of Vyborg
- Mon Repos Park
