Vaasa

Vaasa, or Vasa in Swedish, (Wasa in Latin), is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden. It is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 57,266 (2005), and is part of the administrative province of Western Finland and the region of Ostrobothnia.

The city is bilingual with 71,5% of the population speaking Finnish as their first language and 24,9% speaking Swedish. The city is a important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.

History

Foundation

The history of Korsholm (Mustasaari) and also of Vaasa begins in the 14th century, when seafarers from the coastal region in central Sweden disembarked at the present Old Vaasa, and the wasteland owners from Finland Proper came to guard their land. In the middle of the century Saint Mary's Church was built and in the 1370's the building of the fortress at Korsholm, Crysseborgh, was undertaken, and served as an administrative centre of the Vasa County. King Charles IX of Sweden founded the town of Mustasaari on October 2, 1606 around the oldest harbour and trade point around the Mustasaari church approximately seven kilometres to the southwest from the present city. In 1611 the town was chartered and renamed after the Royal House of Vasa. Thanks to the sea connections, ship building and trade, especially tar trade, Vaasa flourished in the 17th century and most of the inhabitants earned their living from it. In 1683 the three-subject or 'trivial' school moved from Nykarleby to Vaasa and four years later a new schoolhouse was built in Vaasa. The first library in Finland was founded in Vaasa in 1794. In 1793 Vaasa had 2 178 inhabitants, and in the year of the catastrophic town fire of 1852 the number had risen to 3 200.

Old Vaasa in 1840's by Johan Knutsson

Town fire

The mainly wooden and densely built town was almost utterly destroyed in 1852. A fire started in an outhouse belonging to district court judge J.F. Aurén on the morning of August 3. At noon the whole town was ablaze and the fire lasted for many hours. In the evening most of the town had burned to the ground. Out of 379 buildings only 24 privately owned buildings had survived, among them the Falander-Wasastjerna patrician house (built in 1780-1781) which now houses the Old Vaasa museum. The Court of Appeal (built in 1786, nowadays the Church of Korsholm), some Russian guard-houses along with a gunpowder storage and the buildings of the Vaasa provincial hospital (nowadays a psychiatric hospital) also survived the blaze. The ruins of the greystone church, the belfry, the town hall and the trivialschool can still be found in their original places. Much of the archived material concerning Vaasa and its inhabitants was destroyed in the fire. According to popular belief the fire got started when a careless visitor fell asleep in Auréns outhouse and dropped his pipe in the dry hay.

The new town

The new town of Nikolainkaupunki (Nikolaistad in swedish, after late Tsar Nicholas I) rose in 1862 about seven kilometres to the northwest from the old town. The town's coastal ___location offered good conditions for seafaring. The town plan was planned by Carl Axel Setterberg in the Empire style. In the master plan the disastrous consequences of the fire were considered. Main streets in the new town were five broad avenues which divided the town into sections. Each block was divided by alleys.

The town was promptly renamed Vaasa after the Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in 1917.

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Statue of Freedom in the centre of Vaasa

Site of Government

During the Finnish Civil War, Vaasa was the capital of Finland from January 29 to May 3, 1918. As a consequence of the occupation of central places and arresting of politicians in Helsinki the Senate decided to move the senators to Vaasa, where the White Guards that supported the Senate had a strong position and the contacts to the west were good. The Senate of Finland began its work in Vaasa on February 1, 1918 and it had four members. The Senate held its sessions in the Town Hall. To express its gratitude to the town the senate gave Vaasa the right to add the cross of freedom, independent Finland's oldest mark of honour designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, to its coat of arms. Because of its role in the civil war Vaasa became known as 'The White City'.

Major employers

Vaasa is generally speaking an industrial town, with several industrial parks. Industry comprises one-fourth of jobs. There is an university (University of Vaasa), faculties of Åbo Akademi and Hanken, and two polytechnics in the town. Many workers commute from Korsholm (Mustasaari), Laihia, and other municipalities nearby.

Major employers, in order: