Värtsilä
Värtsilä [ ˈværtsilæ ] is a former municipality in the Finnish countryside of North Karelia . It developed from the industrial town of Värtsilä (today Wjartsilja ), which has belonged to Russia since 1944 , and was municipal independence from 1920 to 2004.
The village of Värtsilä, on the Jänisjoki River , originally belonged to the Tohmajärvi municipality . In the 19th century it developed into an important industrial center. The beginning of industrialization in Värstilä was marked by the construction of a sawmill in 1834. The industrialist Nils Ludvig Arppe took over this two years later and founded an ironworks in 1851 . The Wärtsilä Group emerged from the estate of Arppe, which bears its name after the place and which today manufactures marine engines. Due to the industry, Värtsilä grew strongly, so that in 1920 it was dissolved as an independent municipality from Tohmajärvi. In addition to the main town of the same name, the municipality of Värtsilä also included some surrounding villages. Before the beginning of the Second World War it had an area of 302.4 km² and around 6,500 inhabitants.
After the Finnish-Soviet winter war , Finland had to cede large parts of Karelia to the Soviet Union in 1940. As a result of the new demarcation, two thirds of the municipal area including the main town Värtsilä came to the Soviet Union. In the Continuation War, the Finns recaptured Värtsilä in 1941, but had to surrender it again after the war in 1944. The main town, now on the Russian side, Värtsilä (today Wjartsilja) was burned down by the Soviet troops when they withdrew at the beginning of the Continuation War, but was rebuilt after the war and is now an urban-type settlement in Sortavala district of the Russian Republic of Karelia .
The Finnish municipality of Värtsilä, however, continued to exist on the area that remained on the Finnish side. The village of Uusikylä became the new capital and was henceforth often referred to as Värtsilä. The new church of Värtsilä, built in 1950, which replaced the previous building from 1867, which was destroyed in the war, is also located here. The place Uusi-Värtsilä ("New Värtsilä") was newly founded. The smaller municipality of Värtsilä now had an area of 135.9 km². Due to the rural exodus, the population of the municipality steadily decreased from 1,900 (1957) to recently only a little over 600. Therefore, at the beginning of 2005, Värtsilä merged with the neighboring municipality Tohmajärvi to form the new municipality Tohmajärvi.
Web links
- Website of the Värtsilä Community Association (Finnish)
- Suomen kunnat: Värtsilä (Finnish)
Coordinates: 62 ° 12 ' N , 30 ° 37' E