Hämeenlinna

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Template:Infobox Finnish municipality

Hämeenlinna (Swedish: Tavastehus) is a city and municipality of about Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". inhabitants[1] in the heart of the historical province of 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 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 medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city.

Hämeenlinna: Sibelius House

The municipalities of Hauho, Kalvola, Lammi, Renko and Tuulos were consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009.

History

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 Hämeenlinna's life throughout history.

Finland's first railway line opened between Hämeenlinna and Helsinki in 1862. The current Hämeenlinna railway station (Rautatieasema in Finnish) was built in 1921.

Notable persons

The composer Jean Sibelius was born and raised in Hämeenlinna. He graduated from Hämeenlinna Lyseo in 1885.

Poet Eino Leino graduated from Hämeenlinnan lyseon lukio.

Juho Kusti Paasikivi (seventh President of Finland) graduated from Hämeenlinnan lyseon lukio (Hämeenlinnan lyseon lukio is Hämeenlinna Lyseo Upper secondary school, roughly the equivalent of a US highschool).

The folk/Viking metal band Turisas was formed in Hämeenlinna in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström.

Antony Hämäläinen (vocalist for the Swedish Melodic Death Metal band Armageddon) was born in Hämeenlinna.

Strongman and actor Jouko Ahola was born in Hämeenlinna. He won the 1997 and 1999 World's Strongest Man, and now serves as one of the judges at the contest.

Former NHL player Antti Miettinen was born in Hämeenlinna in 1980 and returns there in the off-season. He won a bronze medal with Finland in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Kimi Räikkönen (Formula One driver) and Jenni Dahlman were married in 2004 in Hämeenlinna.

Economy

Largest employers (by number of employees) [2]

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:

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

Sport

References

Notes
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference population_count was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2006. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Taskutietoa Hämeenlinnasta, a factbook published by the city of Hämeenlinna (pdf download, in Finnish)
  3. ^ Hämeenlinna's official website: twin towns Archived 10 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Stadt Celle". www.celle.de. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Frederiksberg Municipality - Twin Towns" (in Danish). [[copyright|]]2007 -2009 Frederiksberg Municipality. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2009. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Miasta bliźniacze Torunia" [Toruń's twin towns]. Urząd Miasta Torunia [City of Toruń Council] (in Polish). Retrieved 22 August 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hämeenlinna.
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