Raseborg
| coat of arms | map |
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| Basic data | |
| State : |
 Finland
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| Landscape : | Uusimaa |
| Administrative community : | Raseborg |
| Geographical location | 59 ° 58 ′ N , 23 ° 26 ′ E |
| Surface: | 2,354.22 km² |
| of which land area: | 1,147.72 km² |
| of which inland waterways: | 67.42 km² |
| of which sea area: | 1,139.08 km² |
| Residents : | 27,592 (Dec. 31, 2018) |
| Population density : | 24 people / km² |
| Municipality number : | 710 |
| Language (s) : | Swedish , Finnish |
| Website : | raseborg.fi |
Raseborg ( Swedish , [ ˈrɑːsəbɔrj ], Finnish Raasepori [ ˈrɑːsɛpɔri ]) is a town and municipality in southern Finland , which was created on January 1, 2009 through the merger of the towns of Ekenäs and Karis and the municipality of Pohja . It is located in the west of the Uusimaa landscape . The administrative seat and largest town is Ekenäs (Tammisaari). The city takes its name from the medieval Raseborg Castle . Two thirds of the 27,592 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) are Finland-Swedes . The city is officially bilingual with Swedish as the majority and Finnish as the minority language.
geography
Raseborg lies in the west of the Uusimaa region on the coast of the Gulf of Finland . Neighboring cities and municipalities are Hanko in the south, Kimitoön in the west, Salo in the northwest, Lohja in the northeast and Ingå in the east. The capital Helsinki is 93 kilometers to the east.
In total, Raseborg has an area of 2354.2 square kilometers. Excluding the marine areas, there are 1204.7 square kilometers, of which 57.0 square kilometers are inland water. In terms of area, Raseborg is therefore larger than Berlin or Moscow . In fact, it is not an urban structured area. Rather, the urban area consists of several settlement centers and the rural areas in between. The largest place is Ekenäs, which is located on a peninsula between two narrow sea bays. The coast of Raseborg is severely divided by numerous bays and peninsulas. Upstream is an archipelago with over a thousand islands and cliffs. Part of the archipelago is part of the Ekenäs Archipelago National Park .
The climate in Raseborg is very mild by Finnish standards due to the moderate influence of the Baltic Sea and the location protected by the offshore archipelago. The oaks , which are rare in Finland and from which the main town Ekenäs owes its name ( Ekenäs means "oak peninsula"), thrive in Raseborg .
history
In the Middle Ages, the Swedish Empire expanded its influence in the Uusimaa countryside on the south coast of what is now Finland. In the 13th century, agricultural Swedish settlers settled in Uusimaa. Previously, the inhabitants of the Häme countryside in Finland and the Estonians on the opposite side of the Gulf of Finland had used the coastal area as hunting and fishing grounds, and there was hardly any permanent settlement. Raseborg Castle was built around 1374 . The entire western Uusimaa belonged to the feudal district of the castle.
In the area of today's town of Raseborg, the six parishes Bromarv , Ekenäs , Karis , Pohja , Snappertuna and Tenala were established in the Middle Ages . In 1546 King Gustav I granted Wasa Ekenäs town charter. In the 20th century, several parishes were merged: The parish of Karis was dissolved in 1930 as an independent market town (kauppala) from the surrounding rural parish of Karis . In 1969 the rural community was again incorporated into the market town, and in 1977 Karis received town charter. In 1977 the municipality of Bromarv was dissolved and the largest part of the municipality of Tenala and a smaller part of the city of Hanko were added. In the same year the municipality of Snappertuna and the rural municipality of Ekenäs were incorporated into the city of Ekenäs. In 1993 Tenala was incorporated into Ekenäs. In 2007 the cities of Ekenäs and Karis as well as the municipality of Pohja decided to merge to form the new city of Raseborg.
population
At the beginning of 2009, Raseborg had 28,834 inhabitants. The coastal area of Uusimaa traditionally belongs to the settlement area of the Finland Swedes . Today, 66.2 percent of the city's residents speak Swedish and 31.0 percent Finnish as their mother tongue. The city is officially bilingual with Swedish as the majority and Finnish as the minority language. Of the former municipalities that merged to form the town of Raseborg, Ekenäs and Karis were mostly Swedish and Pohja mostly Finnish.
politics
administration
The strongest political force in Raseborg is the Swedish People's Party , the traditional interest group of the Finland-Swedes. In the 2012 local elections she received 45.4 percent of the vote. In the city council, the highest decision-making body in local affairs, it has 21 of 43 deputies. It is followed by the Social Democrats with 26.9 percent and twelve seats on the city council. The other two major parties in Finland, on the other hand, do not play a significant role in Raseborg: the conservative rallying party only got 6.4 percent of the vote and two MPs, the center party even failed to make it into the city council with 1.4 percent. The Green Confederation represents four MPs, the third largest faction in Raseborg. The Communist Party , the Left Alliance , the True Finns and the Christian Democrats each hold one mandate .
| Political party | Election result | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Swedish People's Party | 45.4% | 21st |
| Social democrats | 26.9% | 12 |
| Green covenant | 8.6% | 4th |
| Collection party | 6.4% | 2 |
| Communists | 3.2% | 1 |
| Left alliance | 2.9% | 1 |
| True Finns | 2.8% | 1 |
| Christian Democrats | 2.3% | 1 |
coat of arms
The coat of arms of Raseborg was designed in 2008 by Henrik Strömberg for the newly founded city. It shows eight circularly arranged in green sign Windflower . A golden crown rests on the shield . The eight flowers stand for the eight former parishes that originally existed in the area of today's town: Bromarv, town and rural municipality Ekenäs, town and rural municipality Karis, Pohja, Snappertuna and Tenala. The top of the wall symbolizes the history of the town and Raseborg Castle.
Economy and Infrastructure
economy
The Raseborg area is the cradle of the Finnish metal industry. The ironworks Antskog (1630), Billnäs (1641) and Fiskars (1649) were built in the former municipality of Pohja as early as the 17th century . The Fiskars company still exists today and now produces handicraft tools such as knives, axes and scissors. The company's headquarters are now in Helsinki, but Fiskars is still the largest private employer in Raseborg with 450 employees. Other important employers in Raseborg are the truck manufacturer Sisu Auto and the shipbuilding supplier SBA-Interior , both of which produce in Karis. In the public sector, the town of Raseborg employs 1700, the nursing district Westuusimaa 550 and a garrison of the Finnish armed forces in the town of Dragsvik 250 people.
traffic
State road 25 runs through Raseborg from Hyvinkää to Hanko . It crosses the places Karis and Raseborg. Shortly before Karis, the main road 51 branches off from state road 25 , which runs parallel to the coast via Ingå and Kirkkonummi to Helsinki. The main road 52 to Salo begins in Raseborg .
Two railway lines intersect at Karis station: the coastal railway from Helsinki to Turku and the Hyvinkää – Hanko railway line . Karis is the terminus of a local rail line in the Helsinki region and is also served by all long-distance trains between Helsinki and Turku. This means that Raseborg is well connected to the capital region . The travel time to Helsinki is just over an hour. On the Karis – Hanko line, the trains also stop at Ekenäs station. There is only freight traffic between Karis and Hyvinkää.
Attractions
Landmark and most famous monument of Raseborg is the ruins of the eponymous castle Raseborg near the village of Snappertuna. In summer, numerous events such as a midsummer festival , medieval festivals , concerts and theater performances take place in the castle . The castle is one of the best preserved medieval castles in Finland. There are only a few ruins left of Grabbacka Castle, which is also medieval . The cultural landscape between Snappertuna and Fagervik, which belongs to the neighboring municipality of Ingå, together with the Raseborg and Grabbacka castles and the Fagervik ironworks are counted among the national landscapes of Finland .
The Finnish national landscapes also include the historic ironworks Antskog , Billnäs and Fiskars , all of which date back to the 17th century, and the 19th century Åminnefors ironworks . Historic industrial buildings, workers' settlements and manor houses from the period between the 18th and 20th centuries have been preserved in all four ironworks. Another ironworks is in Svartå (Mustio) near Karis. It is particularly important because of the manor house built by the landowner in 1783–92.
Ekenäs has a well-preserved old town with wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. In the center of the old town is the Ekenäs church , built in the 17th century . Other important church buildings in Raseborg are the medieval stone churches of Karis , Pohja and Tenala . The type of wooden cruciform church is represented by the church of Snappertuna and the church of Mustio from the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. The youngest of the church buildings in Raseborg is the church of Bromarv , which was built in 1980-81 instead of a previous building that had burned down.
sons and daughters of the town
- Oliver Helander (* 1997), javelin thrower
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Tilastokeskus (Finnish Statistics Office) ( 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.
- ^ Result of the 2012 local elections
