Verla

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Verla from the north
Verla's cardboard factory

Verla [ ˈvɛrlɑ ] is a village in southern Finland . It is located in the Kymenlaakso region about 30 km north of Kouvola and 160 km northeast of Helsinki . Since 2009 Verla belongs administratively to the city of Kouvola, before it was part of the municipality of Jaala .

The Verla cardboard factory

The factory village is in its original state from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Century preserved. The centerpiece is the paper mill , in which the wood pulp board was manufactured.

On the site of the factory there was a wood grinding shop since 1872 , which used the natural energy of the Verla rapids between the Suolajärvi and Iso- Kamponen lakes. This factory burned down in 1874.

In 1882 the Austrian engineer and paper manufacturer Gottlieb Kreidl (1850–1908) built a new factory on the same site. It was designed and built by the German-Finnish architect Carl Eduard Dippell (1855–1912) from Viipuri . Georg Kreidl's representative residence, also designed by Dippell, is still right next to the factory today.

Kreidl was also committed to his workers. As early as the 1880s, they received medical treatment and medication at the expense of the company. In 1892 a health and funeral fund was set up, and a year later a pension fund. In the early 20th century the factory already had its own nurse.

The factory owner was also interested in the education of the villagers, and in 1890 he founded a free elementary school for the children of Verla.

The factory shut down on July 18, 1964 when the last worker retired. A documentary was filmed on this last day and is shown today in the museum.

In 1995, a modern hydropower plant was put into operation right next to the old factory building, the architecture of which is closely based on that of the factory.

In 1996, the entire factory plant was on the list of UNESCO - World Heritage added.

Prehistoric rock carvings

To the north of the factory, on a steep rock in Suolajärvi, just above the surface of the water, there are prehistoric rock carvings , which are considered to be the oldest evidence of Finnish art; their age is estimated to be around 6000 years.

Web links

Commons : Verla's cardboard factory  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History. In: verla.fi. Retrieved February 25, 2020 .
  2. ↑ WORLD HERITAGE LIST: Verla No 751. (pdf) September 26, 1995, accessed on February 25, 2020 (English).

Coordinates: 61 ° 4 ′  N , 26 ° 38 ′  E