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:''For other meanings, see Vaasa (disambiguation).''
'Vaasa' (''Swedish: Vasa) is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 57,501 (July 2007)[1] , and is part of the administrative province of Western Finland and is the regional capital 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 an important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.
Over the years, Vaasa has changed its name several times, due to alternative spellings, political decisions and language condition changes. At first it was called 'Mustasaari' or 'Mussor' after the village where it was founded in 1606, but just a few years later the name was changed to 'Wasa' to honor the royal Swedish lineage. The city was known as Wasa between 1606 and 1855, 'Nikolainkaupunki' (Finnish) and 'Nikolaistad' (Swedish) between 1855 and 1917, 'Vasa' (Swedish) between 1917 and ca 1930, and finally 'Vaasa' (Finnish) and 'Vasa' (Swedish) from ca 1930 until today.
The history of Korsholm (''Mustasaari'' in Finnish) 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/Mussor on October 2, 1606 around the oldest harbour and trade point around the Korsholm 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.
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 1775, 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 of Nikolaistad (Nikolainkaupunki in Finnish, 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 Vasa after the Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in 1917.
During the Finnish Civil War, Vasa 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 Vasa, 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 Vasa 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 Vasa 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 Vasa became known as 'The White City'. The language conditions in the city shifted in the 1930s, and the majority became Finnish. Therefore the name also changed to "Vaasa", according to Finnish spelling.
Vaasa has three universities. The largest one is the University of Vaasa, which is located in the neighbourhood of Palosaari. Palosaari is a peninsula near the center of Vaasa, connected to it by bridges. The other two universities are Ã…bo Akademi, headquartered in Turku, and the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, or ''Hanken'', headquartered in Helsinki. Unique to Vaasa is the Finland-Swedish teachers training school, part of Ã…bo Akademi. University of Helsinki also has a small unit, specialized in law studies, in the same premises as Vaasa University.
The city has two Universities of Applied Sciences: Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (former Vaasa Polytechnic), located right next to the University of Vaasa, and Swedish University of Applied Sciences (former Swedish Polytechnic).
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 Ã…bo Akademi and Hanken, and two Universities of Applied Sciences in the town. Many workers commute from Korsholm (Mustasaari), Laihia, and other municipalities nearby.
Major employers, in order:
#City of Vaasa
#ABB Strömberg — industrial and power electronics and automation equipment
#Vaasa Central Hospital
#State institutions
#Wärtsilä — diesel engines
#Vacon — frequency converters
#KWH Group — plastics, abrasives and logistics services
#TeliaSonera — telephony
#Vaasa Engineering
#Posti — mail
#VLP (Vaasa Area Telephone)
#Kemira Chemicals
★ Olli Ahvenniemi - Basketball player
★ Fanny Churberg (1893 - 1944) - Painter
★ Annika Eklund - Singer
★ Seppo Evwaraye - Professional American football player
★ Marika Fingerroos (
★ 1979) - Yellow press favourite
★ Rabbe Grönblom - Businessman
★ Kenneth Haglund (
★ ?) - author of computer programme YAWC
★ Jarl Hemmer - Author
★ Edvin Hevonkoski - Sculptor
★ Mikaela Ingberg - Javelin thrower
★ Fritz Jakobsson - Painter
★ Vesa 'Vesku' Jokinen - Musician
★ Mikael Jungner - MD of Yleisradio
★ Heli Koivula-Kruger - Athlete
★ Susanna 'Suski' Korvala - Singer
★ Björn Kurtén - Paleontologist, author
★ Joachim Kurtén - Businessman, politician
★ Toivo Kuula - Composer
★ Artturi Leinonen - Newspaperman, politician, author
★ August Alexander Levón - Industrialist, businessman
★ Nandor Mikola - Painter
★ Jorma Ojaharju - Author
★ Pekka Puska - Doctor, expert on public health
★ Viljo Revell - Architect, works included Toronto City Hall in Canada.
★ Carl Axel Setterberg - Architect, creator of the new Vaasa
★ Pekka Strang - Actor
★ Jacob Tegengren - Poet
★ Jani Toivola - Actor, television host (Finnish Idols 2007, The Voice TV)
★ Allu Tuppurainen - Actor, creator of Rölli
★ Jenny Wilhelms - Musician
★ Carl Gustaf Wolff - Businessman
★ Mathilda Wrede - "Friend of the inmates"
★ Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen (Georg Zacharias Forsman) - Politician, professor, fennoman
As of 2006, Vaasa has town twinning treaties or treaties of cooperation signed with nine cities.
★ UmeÃ¥, Sweden — twin towns since 1940
★ Harstad, Norway — twin towns since 1949
★ Helsingør , Denmark — twins towns since 1949
★ Kiel, Germany — twin towns since 1967
★ Schwerin, Germany — twin towns since 1965
★ Pärnu, Estonia — twin towns since 1956
★ Sumperk, Czech Republic — twin towns since 1984
★ Malmö, Sweden — godfather town since 1940
★ Morogoro, Tanzania — cooperation treaty signed in 1988
★ Television programmes and films shot in Vaasa include ''Strömsö'', ''Falkensvärds möbler'', ''N.D.A.'' and ''Headhunters''.
★ The seventeenth century ship ''Regalskeppet Vasa'', on display in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, has no other connection with the Finnish city besides from being named after the same royal family - the House of Vasa.
★ Julkunen, Mikko: ''Vaasa - Vasa''. ''Vaasa: Vaasa'', 1982. ISBN 951-660-076-X (Photo book with English text.)
1. The current population of Vaasa
★ Vaasa official website
★ Vaasa - Official website
★ Vasa - Official website
★ /// Tourist's Vaasa
★ // Ostrobothnian Museum and Terranova Kvarken Nature Centre
★ Vaasa Pages.com Local news, views, and articles in English, plus lots of pics.
★ Map of Vaasa
★ Clickable map of Vaasa
★ Pohjalainen - local newspaper in Finnish
★ Vasabladet - local newspaper in Swedish
★ / Radio Vaasa - local radiostation
★ Pohjanmaan Radio - Regional public service radio in Finnish (part of Radio Suomi)
★ Radio Vega Österbotten - Regional public service radio in Swedish (part of Radio Vega)
★ Vaasan Ylioppilaslehti - Monthly paper for the students at Vaasa University
★ vaasalaisia.info - Local "townblock" and messageboard.
★ Townblog of Vaasa art - Local "townblog" art, paintings, images ect
★ /// University of Vaasa
★ / Ã…bo Akademi, Vasa
★ / Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration
★ // Vaasa University of Applied Sciences
★ // Swedish Polytechnic
★ // University of Helsinki, Vaasa Unit of Legal Studies
★ // Western Finland Design Center MUOVA, University of Art and Design
★ // The Tritonia Academic Library
★ // Vaasa Consortium of Higher Education
★ // The Vaasa Region Sports Academy
★ Vaasan Steinerkoulu - Vaasa Steiner School
★ Airsoft-Vaasa - the largest Airsoft club in Vaasa
★ VPS-Vaasa - the biggest football club in Vaasa
★ / Vasa IFK - footboll club
★ FC Kiisto - football club
★ / Vaasan Sport - the biggest hockey club in Vaasa
★ Vaasan Salama - basketball club
★ Vaasan Maila - Finnish baseball club
★ Vaasan Diana-57 - archery club
★ Vaasan keilailuliitto - bowling club
★ / High Sport - climbing club
★ Vasa Idrottssällskap - athletics club
★ Tennis-61 - tennis club
★ Vaasa Saints - ultimate club
'Vaasa' (''Swedish: Vasa) is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 57,501 (July 2007)[1] , and is part of the administrative province of Western Finland and is the regional capital 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 an important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.
| Contents |
| History |
| Name |
| Foundation |
| Town fire |
| The new town |
| Site of Government |
| University City |
| Major employers |
| Notable people from Vaasa |
| Cooperation cities |
| Trivia |
| References |
| External links |
| Maps |
| Media |
| Education |
| Sports |
History
Name
Over the years, Vaasa has changed its name several times, due to alternative spellings, political decisions and language condition changes. At first it was called 'Mustasaari' or 'Mussor' after the village where it was founded in 1606, but just a few years later the name was changed to 'Wasa' to honor the royal Swedish lineage. The city was known as Wasa between 1606 and 1855, 'Nikolainkaupunki' (Finnish) and 'Nikolaistad' (Swedish) between 1855 and 1917, 'Vasa' (Swedish) between 1917 and ca 1930, and finally 'Vaasa' (Finnish) and 'Vasa' (Swedish) from ca 1930 until today.
Foundation
The history of Korsholm (''Mustasaari'' in Finnish) 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/Mussor on October 2, 1606 around the oldest harbour and trade point around the Korsholm 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.
Korsholm castle as a detail on a map made after 1752. The picture might depict a drawing from the 17th century, but is unreliable as a source. The detailed portal might have some equivalence with reality.
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 the 1840s 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 1775, 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 Court of Appeal, nowadays the Church of Korsholm, survived the fire of 1852
The new town
The new town of Nikolaistad (Nikolainkaupunki in Finnish, 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 Vasa after the Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown in 1917.
Statue of Freedom in the centre of Vaasa
Site of Government
During the Finnish Civil War, Vasa 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 Vasa, 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 Vasa 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 Vasa 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 Vasa became known as 'The White City'. The language conditions in the city shifted in the 1930s, and the majority became Finnish. Therefore the name also changed to "Vaasa", according to Finnish spelling.
University City
Vaasa has three universities. The largest one is the University of Vaasa, which is located in the neighbourhood of Palosaari. Palosaari is a peninsula near the center of Vaasa, connected to it by bridges. The other two universities are Ã…bo Akademi, headquartered in Turku, and the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, or ''Hanken'', headquartered in Helsinki. Unique to Vaasa is the Finland-Swedish teachers training school, part of Ã…bo Akademi. University of Helsinki also has a small unit, specialized in law studies, in the same premises as Vaasa University.
The city has two Universities of Applied Sciences: Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (former Vaasa Polytechnic), located right next to the University of Vaasa, and Swedish University of Applied Sciences (former Swedish Polytechnic).
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 Ã…bo Akademi and Hanken, and two Universities of Applied Sciences in the town. Many workers commute from Korsholm (Mustasaari), Laihia, and other municipalities nearby.
Major employers, in order:
#City of Vaasa
#ABB Strömberg — industrial and power electronics and automation equipment
#Vaasa Central Hospital
#State institutions
#Wärtsilä — diesel engines
#Vacon — frequency converters
#KWH Group — plastics, abrasives and logistics services
#TeliaSonera — telephony
#Vaasa Engineering
#Posti — mail
#VLP (Vaasa Area Telephone)
#Kemira Chemicals
Notable people from Vaasa
★ Olli Ahvenniemi - Basketball player
★ Fanny Churberg (1893 - 1944) - Painter
★ Annika Eklund - Singer
★ Seppo Evwaraye - Professional American football player
★ Marika Fingerroos (
★ 1979) - Yellow press favourite
★ Rabbe Grönblom - Businessman
★ Kenneth Haglund (
★ ?) - author of computer programme YAWC
★ Jarl Hemmer - Author
★ Edvin Hevonkoski - Sculptor
★ Mikaela Ingberg - Javelin thrower
★ Fritz Jakobsson - Painter
★ Vesa 'Vesku' Jokinen - Musician
★ Mikael Jungner - MD of Yleisradio
★ Heli Koivula-Kruger - Athlete
★ Susanna 'Suski' Korvala - Singer
★ Björn Kurtén - Paleontologist, author
★ Joachim Kurtén - Businessman, politician
★ Toivo Kuula - Composer
★ Artturi Leinonen - Newspaperman, politician, author
★ August Alexander Levón - Industrialist, businessman
★ Nandor Mikola - Painter
★ Jorma Ojaharju - Author
★ Pekka Puska - Doctor, expert on public health
★ Viljo Revell - Architect, works included Toronto City Hall in Canada.
★ Carl Axel Setterberg - Architect, creator of the new Vaasa
★ Pekka Strang - Actor
★ Jacob Tegengren - Poet
★ Jani Toivola - Actor, television host (Finnish Idols 2007, The Voice TV)
★ Allu Tuppurainen - Actor, creator of Rölli
★ Jenny Wilhelms - Musician
★ Carl Gustaf Wolff - Businessman
★ Mathilda Wrede - "Friend of the inmates"
★ Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen (Georg Zacharias Forsman) - Politician, professor, fennoman
Cooperation cities
As of 2006, Vaasa has town twinning treaties or treaties of cooperation signed with nine cities.
★ UmeÃ¥, Sweden — twin towns since 1940
★ Harstad, Norway — twin towns since 1949
★ Helsingør , Denmark — twins towns since 1949
★ Kiel, Germany — twin towns since 1967
★ Schwerin, Germany — twin towns since 1965
★ Pärnu, Estonia — twin towns since 1956
★ Sumperk, Czech Republic — twin towns since 1984
★ Malmö, Sweden — godfather town since 1940
★ Morogoro, Tanzania — cooperation treaty signed in 1988
Trivia
★ Television programmes and films shot in Vaasa include ''Strömsö'', ''Falkensvärds möbler'', ''N.D.A.'' and ''Headhunters''.
★ The seventeenth century ship ''Regalskeppet Vasa'', on display in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, has no other connection with the Finnish city besides from being named after the same royal family - the House of Vasa.
References
★ Julkunen, Mikko: ''Vaasa - Vasa''. ''Vaasa: Vaasa'', 1982. ISBN 951-660-076-X (Photo book with English text.)
1. The current population of Vaasa
External links
★ Vaasa official website
★ Vaasa - Official website
★ Vasa - Official website
★ /// Tourist's Vaasa
★ // Ostrobothnian Museum and Terranova Kvarken Nature Centre
★ Vaasa Pages.com Local news, views, and articles in English, plus lots of pics.
Maps
★ Map of Vaasa
★ Clickable map of Vaasa
Media
★ Pohjalainen - local newspaper in Finnish
★ Vasabladet - local newspaper in Swedish
★ / Radio Vaasa - local radiostation
★ Pohjanmaan Radio - Regional public service radio in Finnish (part of Radio Suomi)
★ Radio Vega Österbotten - Regional public service radio in Swedish (part of Radio Vega)
★ Vaasan Ylioppilaslehti - Monthly paper for the students at Vaasa University
★ vaasalaisia.info - Local "townblock" and messageboard.
★ Townblog of Vaasa art - Local "townblog" art, paintings, images ect
Education
Tritonia is the Academic Library of Vaasa and is shared by the city's three universities
★ /// University of Vaasa
★ / Ã…bo Akademi, Vasa
★ / Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration
★ // Vaasa University of Applied Sciences
★ // Swedish Polytechnic
★ // University of Helsinki, Vaasa Unit of Legal Studies
★ // Western Finland Design Center MUOVA, University of Art and Design
★ // The Tritonia Academic Library
★ // Vaasa Consortium of Higher Education
★ // The Vaasa Region Sports Academy
★ Vaasan Steinerkoulu - Vaasa Steiner School
Sports
★ Airsoft-Vaasa - the largest Airsoft club in Vaasa
★ VPS-Vaasa - the biggest football club in Vaasa
★ / Vasa IFK - footboll club
★ FC Kiisto - football club
★ / Vaasan Sport - the biggest hockey club in Vaasa
★ Vaasan Salama - basketball club
★ Vaasan Maila - Finnish baseball club
★ Vaasan Diana-57 - archery club
★ Vaasan keilailuliitto - bowling club
★ / High Sport - climbing club
★ Vasa Idrottssällskap - athletics club
★ Tennis-61 - tennis club
★ Vaasa Saints - ultimate club
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psst.. try this: add to faves
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