The church of Mäntsälä was completed in 1866.
'Mäntsälä' (
IPA: ) is a
municipality of
Finland.
It is located in the
province of
Southern Finland and is part of the
Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of 18,652
[1] and covers an area of 595.98
km² of which 15.01 km² is water. The
population density is 31.3 inhabitants per km².
Mäntsälä lies about 60 km north of
Helsinki, the capital of Finland. During the last few years, the population of Mäntsälä has been one of the most rapidly increasing in Finland. A new railroad was built between
Kerava and
Lahti with passenger traffic starting on September 4th 2006 from Mäntsälä. Helsinki will be about 40 minutes away, and Lahti even closer.
The municipality is unilingually
Finnish.
History
Mäntsälä is considered to have been founded in
1585, when the community's first church was built. The current church was completed in
1866 after delay. The
Crimean War affected also Mäntsälä: funds for building the church were spent on war efforts. All of the churches were located on Kirkonmäki at about the same spot.
The first common school was founded in
1870 by way of a testament of clergyman
Abraham Ehnroos. To his credit is the founding of a public library already in
1840. An intermediate school was not founded until
1945 with a high school following in
1954, previously facilities in
Porvoo,
Järvenpää and Helsinki were used.
In
1854 the first town hall was built on Kirkonmäki. Today a museum is operating in the building, having also served as a morgue, school kitchen and lesson space, and a dormitory. It is deteriorating severely and the museum is only opened upon request.
The second town hall was built in
1935, also on Kirkonmäki. It served until the completion of the present town hall in
1992. Now it houses an open college.
There is a total of 15 manors in Mäntsälä, 4 of which are open to the public, the rest being private residences. Russian czar
Alexander I visited as guest of Ulla Möllersvärd in
1809 in the Mäntsälä manor lying in the city center. The manors emerged in the 17th century as noblemen feoffs. Traditionally the land belonged to the manors. There were many
crofts in Mäntsälä and new legislation in
1918 enabled the crofters to claim the land for themselves. In the
1920s the manors were still a sizable land owner in the parish.
Mäntsälä is especially known for the
Mäntsälä rebellion. About 400 civil guards went shooting to a Social Democratic party rally at Ohkola community hall, interrupting it. In the course of a few days leaders of
Lapua Movement and armed civil guards from all over the country arrived to Mäntsälä. The government ordered them arrested, and after a speech by president
Svinhufvud on
March 2nd the situation gradually settled down. The movement disbanded early in spring.
World War II brought about 2000 Karelian immigrants to Mäntsälä. They came mainly from
Kirvu and
Koivisto. Land was cut from the manors again for immigrants, reducing manor estate considerably. In
1985 a museum about the Kirvu parish was opened next to the church in the city center.
In
1992 an apartment trade fair was held in Mäntsälä. The area is being expanded and since 2006, a train depot lies next to it.
Population progress
The population of Mäntsälä has stayed quite level for decades, but the building of a motorway up to Järvenpää in the
1970s and the extension to Lahti in
1999 have brought new residents from the metropolitan area. By the middle of the
2000s the new railroad to Lahti has been central in municipality population growth. Many people moved to Mäntsälä because of the railroad, that offered quick commuting to Helsinki.
★ 1749: 1 492 (unconfirmed)
★ 1898: 7 972 (unconfirmed)
★ 1920: 7 666
★ 1930: 7 844
★ 1940: 7 739
★ 1950: 11 072
★ 1960: 10 932
★ 1970: 10 166
★ 1980: 11 267
★ 1990: 14 793
★ 2000: 16 628
★ 2005: 18 226
Famous Mäntsälä dwellers
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld is considered to be originally from Mäntsälä, having spent his early youth on the family estate there, although he was born in Helsinki and lived also in Sweden. Nordenskiöld was a nineteenth century geologist and arctic explorer.
Others include member of
Lordi-band
Jussi Sydänmaa alias "Amen", and former defence minister
Elisabeth Rehn in her youth.
Center of Mäntsälä: Main road.
See also
★
Mäntsälä rebellion
External links
★
Official website of Mäntsälä municipality
★
The oldest document in the statistical archives of Statistics Finland about the population of Mäntsälä in 1749
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
