History of Helsinki

The grid pattern developed during the reconstruction
(click for a larger version)

Helsinki was created in 1550 by royal decree from King Gustav Vasa of Sweden, who then ruled the territory

that is now Finland. He was attempting to compete with the Hanseatic league which was then dominating the

Baltic, and so he ordered the merchants of several other towns to build a new settlement across the Gulf of

Finland from Tallin, at the mouth of the Vantaa river. This was not a particularly favorable site due to heavy silt

buildup at the mouth, and so in 1640, Queen Catherine of Sweden allowed the town to move to the nearby

Vironniemi peninsula. In this period and following it, Helsinki was a relatively small trading center of wood-frame

houses. There was little large-scale development, because it was not a major part of the Swedish/Finnish

circulation system it belonged to. Sweden was the major power in the region, and hence the capital Turku, with its

much closer connections to Stockholm, was more powerful. It was only after war with Russia, in the late 18th and

early 19th centuries, when Finland was finally ceded to the Tsars, that Helsinki came into its own. It grew first as

a Swedish military garrison, and then because of its proximity to St. Petersburg, as Finland was integrated into

the Russian sphere of influence. As it became clear the future lay with Russia, the capital was moved to Helsinki

 in 1812.

Helsinki from the harbor- notice the towering cathedral

Helsinki was not a fitting capital at the beginning. It was a small town designed for trade, without imposing

public buildings and wide boulevards. Much of it was also destroyed by fire, and so it was decided to rebuild the

city in grand style. Helsinki native Johan Albrecht Ehrenstrom and Carl Ludwig Engel, a German, were put in

charge of a massive reconstruction project which has affected Helsinki ever since. They designed a central city of

huge squares fronted by massive public buildings and churches, graced with grandiose statuary, and connected

by wide boulevards. This corresponds almost exactly with the traditional European model of public space. Perhaps

the most famous of these areas is the Senate Square, bordered by the Lutheran Cathedral, the Senate, the

Council of State, and the University. This massive rebuilding program was not finally completed until the 1870's.

The central city, with Senate Square on the right.

Helsinki continued to expand up the peninsula and outwards throughout the first half of the 1900's. Because of

its strong Social Democrat politics, the city's urban growth has always been carefully managed. There continued to

be construction of massive public buildings, now in a recognizably socialist style. The train station, with its

massive statues, is a good example of this. The city suffered little during World War Two, and a postwar

economic boom cased inmigration, which the government dealt with by increasing the boundaries of the city and

by building new suburbs in the traditional central planning style. This expansion has continued until the present

day.

modern Helsinki

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