Geta (Åland)
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| Basic data | |
| State : |
 Finland
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| Landscape : | Åland |
| Administrative community : | Åland Country |
| Geographical location | 60 ° 23 ′ N , 19 ° 51 ′ E |
| Surface: | 606.56 km² |
| of which land area: | 84.36 km² |
| of which inland waterways: | 2.86 km² |
| of which sea area: | 519.34 km² |
| Residents : | 514 (Dec. 31, 2018) |
| Population density : | 6.1 inhabitants / km² |
| Municipality number : | 065 |
| Language (s) : | Swedish |
| Website : | www.geta.aland.fi |
Geta [ ˈjeːta ] is a municipality in the autonomous Finnish province of Åland with 514 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018). As in all of Åland, Swedish is the official language.
geography
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Geta is located on a peninsula in the north of Åland's main island, Fasta Åland . The municipality also includes numerous offshore archipelagos . The inhabited islands of Danö, Österö, Andersö and Snäckö can be reached via bridges, other former islands such as Finnö have meanwhile grown firmly together with the main island of Åland due to the post-glacial uplift .
Excluding the marine areas, the municipality has an area of 87.22 square kilometers, of which 2.86 square kilometers are inland water. In the south, the Geta borders on the municipality of Finström . Geta is only separated from Hammarland in the south-west and Saltvik in the south-east by narrow estuaries.
Geta's community center is the village of Västergeta, where the community office, school, bank and grocery store are located. The municipality also includes the places Bolstaholm, Dånö, Finnö, Gräggnäs, Höckböle, Isaksö, Kandersö, Labbnäs, Möckelgräs, Olofsnäs (Olsnäs), Östergeta, Pantsarnäs, Skinnarböle and Snäckö.
history
The hills in the northern part of Getas were among the first land masses to rise from the Baltic Sea as a result of the post-glacial uplift and thus represent the oldest part of the Åland archipelago. The first settlement probably took place in the younger Iron Age around 5000 years ago.
The first written mention of Getas comes from the year 1325. The place name probably contains the Nordic verb gæta , “keep a lookout.” A first, still preserved stone church was built in the 16th century. For centuries, Geta was a chapel congregation of the Finström parish , and it was not until 1908 that it achieved communal independence.
politics
The Geta municipal council consists of nine members. Since the Åland local elections in 2003, seven of the seats have been on the Getalistan local electoral list and two in the Åland Liberal Party . In the 2007 general election, 96.1 percent of the voters in Geta voted for the common list of the Civil Alliance and 3.9 percent for the Social Democrats . Geta municipal director is Erik Brunström.
| Political party | 2003 election results | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Getalistan | 75.1% | 7th |
| Åland Liberal Party | 24.9% | 2 |
Geta's coat of arms was designed by Matts Dreijer. In the blue shield it shows an upright golden billy goat. It is a speaking coat of arms, because get means "goat" in Swedish.
Geta maintains a city partnership with the Estonian community Ruhnu . Geta and Ruhnu have in common that the Estonian community is also located on an island and was formerly inhabited by Estonian Swedes .
Culture and sights
The medieval stone church in Geta is dedicated to St. George . The nave and the sacristy probably date from the period between 1510 and 1540. The porch of brick was built 1826th The bells are housed in a freestanding stack of bells built in the 17th century . According to local tradition, the church was originally built by the cemetery in Olofsnäs. The inhabitants of the village of Vestergeta are said to not agree with the location of the church and at night tore down what the inhabitants of Olofsnäs had built during the day. Finally, the inhabitants of the two villages are said to have agreed to let go of an ox with a stone tied to it at the border between the villages. The church was to be built where the ox stopped. The ox stopped in Vestergeta, but it was finally agreed that the church should be built between the two villages.
In the village of Dånö , a local history museum was set up in 1928 in the former home of a pilot dynasty , a classic falun- red wooden house from the 19th century. The exhibition shows furniture, everyday objects and tools from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The most important attraction of Getas, however, is probably the nature of the municipality. From the lookout tower on the Getaberg, the second highest point at 107 meters, you have a wide view of the surrounding landscape.
References
- ↑ Maanmittauslaitos (Finnish land surveying office): Suomen pinta-alat kunnittain January 1, 2010 (PDF; 199 kB)
- ↑ Statistical Office Finland: Table 11ra - Key figures on population by region, 1990-2018
- ^ Matts Dreijer: The History of the Åland People. Vol. I: 1. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1986. p. 147.
- ↑ Finnish Ministry of Justice: Result of the 2007 general election
- ↑ ÅSUB (Åland Statistics Office): Lagtings- och kommunalvalet October 19, 2003 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 34 and 42.
- ↑ visitaland.com: Dånö Hembygdsmuseum ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- www.geta.ax - the municipality's website
