Memory trail
1
N66 30.430 E25 44.012
N66 30.426 E25 43.516
N66 30.386 E25 44.209 N66 30.381 E25 43.629
N66 30.275 E25 44.348 N66 30.232 E25 43.145
N66 30.229 E25 43.478
N66 30.190 E25 44.331
N66 30.060 E25 43.143
N66 30.095 E25 44.276
N66 30.081 E25 43.320
N66 29.968 E25 44.175
N66 29.885 E25 43.323 N66 29.862 E25 44.086
N66 29.801 E25 43.414 N66 29.757 E25 43.847
N66 29.779 E25 44.019
N66 29.698 E25 43.734
Memory trail
The Board of Recreational Services of Rovaniemi organised an open environmental art competition in spring 2010. The competition sought a piece or series of pieces that would unite the cultural attractions of Rovaniemi to form a cultural trail. The winning entry was entitled Muistojen reitti (memory trail) and submitted by Liisa Karintaus and Tiia Lepistรถ. The memory trail leads those going on foot or by bicycle to the historical sites of the city in addition to the cultural attractions of Rovaniemi. The trail that goes through the administrative and cultural centre, Korundi House of Culture, Arktikum, riverside, Ounaskoski bridge and church has 18 oval-shaped metal plates attached to lamp posts and walls of buildings. The plates show photographs of Rovaniemi taken between the 1910s and 1960s. The old photographs were taken at the same site where they are now placed along the trail. The early 20th century was a significant time for Rovaniemi. With the railway constructed, Rovaniemi grew and developed from a group of countryside villages to an active market town. It became a centre for commerce and transport, and later on also for administration. Buildings represented the Empire style, Revivalism, Jugendstil, 1930s Classicism and a few stone houses even represented Functionalism. Then came the Second World War at the end of which Rovaniemi quickly went up in flames and turned into a smoky sea of ruins. 93% of all buildings were destroyed. The visible layers of history were wiped away from the cityscape. The past is still, however, present and impacts the city that Rovaniemi is today. With the memory trail, the artists want to reinforce the experience that people walking the streets of Rovaniemi have of the city, by drawing attention to the history that is no longer visible partly because of the destruction of the war. City of Rovaniemi Board of Recreational Services 3
1 Second railway station, 7 July 1935.
The second railway station became necessary, when the train connection to Kemijärvi was constructed. The photo shows people waiting for the train transporting President Pehr Evind Svinhufvud to arrive at the station. 4
2 Workers’ hall, 1920s. Photo: LMM
Photo: LMM/Aatto Aho The hall of the local workers’ association built in part as voluntary work by loggers served as the headquarters of the Red Guards during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. In February 1918, the White Guards had a strong hold on Rovaniemi and the local workers’ association did not get the hall back for their own use until 1920. The building burnt down during the Lapland War in 1944, but a new hall was built at the site in 1949.
3 First railway station, around 1910s. Photo: LMM/Iikka Paavalniemi Rovaniemi’s first railway station was completed in 1909. Rovaniemi was enlivened by the railway; transport of goods became easier and passengers travelled. Once the new track was completed in 1934, the old station was transformed into housing for railway workers. Since the war, the building has served, among other things, as a post office, temporary railway station, women’s work house and the Provincial Museum of Lapland. Currently the building houses the Rovaniemi Art School. 5
4 Postal vehicle depot, 1940s. Photo: LMM/Eevert Hernesniemi Finland’s first postal vehicle line between Rovaniemi and Sodankylä was inaugurated in 1921. The postal vehicle depot was completed in 1931– 1933. After the Second World War, the depot was expanded and housing was also provided to depot workers who had lost their homes. Bricks collected from the city’s ruins were used as construction material. When the postal vehicle depot ended its operations, the building was renovated to provide facilities for the Rovaniemi Art Museum opened in 1986. The building was turned into Korundi House of Culture in 2011, when the art museum was expanded and the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland was assigned both rehearsal facilities and a concert hall in the building. 6
5 Lauri’s workshop, 1950s.
Photo: LMM/Mauno Mannelin
Johannes Lauri established a company called Laurin Tuotteet and a knife factory in 1924. Besides knives, products made of reindeer antlers and bone were produced by the workshop, for example, as souvenirs. The original production building was destroyed during the Lapland War and a new one was built at its site. The current workshop and shop operate in a house built in the late 19th century that was transferred from the village of Namma to the workshop’s courtyard in the 1970s.
6 Ahon Auto, late 1950s.
Photo: LMM/Lauri Alanärä
The current Kukkola company building was built in 1939 to serve as facilities for the Ahon Auto car shop. The building housed also a service station. The building is one of the few pre-war buildings representing functionalism in Rovaniemi. 7
7 Marttiini 9 December 1955.
Photo: LMM/Lauri Alanärä
Janne Marttiini established the Marttiini Knife Factory in 1928. As the operations of the factory grew, a functionalist factory building was completed in Vartiokatu street in 1940. The building was partly destroyed in the war, but was repaired right after the war. It is the sole industrial building of Rovaniemi to have survived the war. In 1969, the Marttiini Knife Factory was transferred to the Rovaniemi industrial area. The old factory building was renovated and opened to the public to celebrate Marttiini’s 70th anniversary in 1998. The building comprises office premises, housing and the Marttiini factory shop.
8 Pitkäniemi Sawmill, 1910s.
Photo: Totto/Iikka Paavalniemi
The sawmill industry grew in Northern Finland in the latter half of the 19th century. The first steam sawmill of Rovaniemi, Pitkäniemi steam sawmill, was established in Sahanperä by River Ounasjoki in 1901. During the depression of the 1930s, the difficulties of the Pitkäniemi steam sawmill grew unbearable and it ended its operations in 1934.
9 Wiiri boat, 1910s. Photo: Totto/Iikka Paavalniemi Although Rovaniemi was accessible by rail in the 1910s, northbound road connections from Rovaniemi were still rather modest. Steamboats Wiiri and Wanttaus transported passengers upstream from Lainaanranta along rivers Kemijoki and Ounasjoki in the 1910s. When cars became more frequent, the boat connections were considered slow and were terminated at the end of the 1920s. 9
10 Maantiekatu street, late 1910s.
Photo: LMM/Iikka Paavalniemi
Maantiekatu that ran in the place of the current Valtakatu ended at the old market place and the wholesale and retail shop of Robert Saastamoinen. The shop was established in 1916 and, at the time, was the largest privately owned shop in Lapland. The first electric streetlights of Rovaniemi were lit up on Maantiekatu in 1914. The street also served as an event location for the legendary Rovaniemi markets three times a year: in February, Midsummer and autumn around Michaelmas.
11 Log floating on River Kemijoki, 1960.
Photo: LMM/Arvo Ruonaniemi
The log floating on River Kemijoki began in the 1860s. Felling usually ended in March and then the logs were stored upstream, marked and measured. In the spring, the logs were debarked and, once the river had thawed, the floating of the logs along rivers to steam sawmills of the south began. The fall log floating started after salmon fishing ended on 15 August. Log floating marked the summer time of Rovaniemi until 1991, but since then logs have been transported by road and rail. 10
12 Castrèn’s trestle bridge, late 1940s. Photo: Totto The bridges crossing River Kemijoki were destroyed in the Second World War. A temporary trestle bridge was constructed every spring between 1946 and 1951 after the ice had broken at the site of the current Jätkänkynttilä Bridge. For a few winters, the Kemijärvi trains crossed the river on rails that were installed on the ice. A ferry boat also crossed the rivers Kemijoki and Ounasjoki. 11
13 Beer factory, 1930s.
Photo: LMM
Before the war, the Tornio porter and beer factory operated in Rovaniemi along the current Koskikatu street. The factory building was completely destroyed in the war. After the war, the company considered transferring all beer manufacturing operations to Rovaniemi, but the new town plan did not allow for the factory site to be expanded. The factory was, however, rebuilt at the previous site and operated until 1972.
14 Tuisku’s house, around the 1910s.
Photo: LMM/Iikka Paavalniemi
Shopkeeper A. E. Tuisku had a shop along Maantiekatu and a house on the shore of River Kemijoki. Tuisku being a local force served as a municipal foreman in municipal administration in 1897–1899 and as the foreman of the municipal board in 1912. He was also a founding member of Rovaniemen Kirjapaino Oy that published Rovaniemi’s first newspaper and its managing director until 1927.
15 Konttinen, 1910s.
Photo: Totto/Iikka Paavalniemi
The Konttinen Manor depicted from across River Kemijoki. The Konttinen Manor was commissioned by Norwegian timber businessman Terje Olsen in late 19th century. As of 1900, the manor housed the forest division of the Kemi company operating in the wood processing industry. The building was destroyed in the air raids of Rovaniemi in 1940. 13
16 Ounaskoski bridge, 1930s.
Photo: LMM/Pekka Parviainen
The railway from Rovaniemi to Kemijärvi was completed in 1934. On the first part of the route, large and expensive bridges needed to be built, such as the Ounaskoski bridge. The old bridge in the photograph was used only for about 10 years, because the German troops blew it up when withdrawing from Lapland in October 1944. The current bridge was completed in 1951.
17 View of Maantiekatu, around the 1910s.
Photo: LMM/Iikka Paavalniemi
Maantiekatu used to be the main road of Rovaniemi. Over 30 shops varying from hardware shops to delicatessens were located along the street in the 1910s, not to mention the Rovaniemi markets. This photograph taken from the old church’s tower shows buildings on Maantiekatu; at the front are the post office and Ida Hannula’s book and paper shop, the Konttinen Manor is visible in the background. 14
18 Old Church, 16–17 July 1932.
Photo: LMM/Hellin Ruokanen/Rovaniemen uusi valokuvaamo
The photograph shows the Old Church of Rovaniemi at the time of the parish’s 300th anniversary on 16–17 July 1932. The old wooden cruciform church seated 1,200 people, and was located close to the current church. Just before their northbound withdrawal, the German troops set the church on fire with petrol bombs. The new, current church was completed in August 1950.
About the artists Liisa Karintaus (b. 1977, Rovaniemi) graduated from the University of Lapland as Master of Arts in 2006. She has held private exhibitions since 2002 and has participated in several joint exhibitions since 2000 both in Finland and abroad. The text in the brochure is based on an article written by Liisa Karintaus with the support of the Arts Council of Lapland. Tiia Lepistö (b. 1977, Espoo) is Bachelor of Culture and Arts (TTVO 2003) and Bachelor of Arts (Lay 2009). She has held private exhibitions and participated in several joint exhibitions since 2000.
Implementation The old photographs of the work are from the collections of the Provincial Museum of Lapland (LMM) and the Local Heritage Association Rovaniemen Totto. The old photographs have been carved into oval-shaped metal plates. The materials of the work are brass, aluminium and stainless steel. The plates were carved by Versaali Oy. 15
City of Rovaniemi, Board of Recreational Services Hallituskatu 7, FI-96100 Rovaniemi Rovaniemi 2015
Text: Advertising Kioski & Liisa Karintaus
Photography & design: Advertising Kioski