Saturday, September 5, 2009

TAMPERE. FINLAND - HOCKEY HALL OF FAME AND MUCH MORE TO EXPLORE


Have you ever heard about Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame? No? But there is one located in Tampere, the second large town of Finland.


Tampere. Sity Theatre

Tampere is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres (59 ft), the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms using that such as Manserock.

The Tampere region, called Pirkanmaa, which includes outlying municipalities, had around 470,000 residents, of which 230,000 were employed, and a turnover of 25 billion euros in 2007.


Tampere. Sity Cathederal

Tampere is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of 209,748, with close to 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in Finland, after the Greater Helsinki municipalities of Helsinki and Espoo. Helsinki can be reached in 1.5 hours by train and 2 hours by car. The distance to Turku is approximately the same. Tampere airport is the second-busiest international airport in Finland, with 800,000 passengers annually.

Tampere was founded as a market place on the banks of the Tammerkoski channel in 1775 by Gustav III of Sweden and four years later, 1779, Tampere was granted full city rights in 1779. At this time, it was a rather small town, consisting of only a few square kilometers of land around the Tammerkoski.

Tampere grew as a major market town and industrial centre in the 19th century. During the latter half of 19th century Tampere had almost half of Finland's industrial labour. The town's industrial nature in the 19th and 20th centuries gave it the nickname "Manchester of the North", Manse for short (in Finnish).


Tampere. Finlayson Works

Tampere was the centre of many important political events of Finland in the early 20th century. On November 1, 1905, during the general strike, the famous Red Declaration was proclaimed on the Keskustori, the central square of Tampere, subsequently leading to universal suffrage in Finland and the Tsar of Russia granting larger freedoms to Finns. In 1918, when Finland had recently gained independence, Tampere also played a major role, being one of the strategically important scenes during the Civil War in Finland (January 28–May 15, 1918). Tampere was a red stronghold during the war, with Hugo Salmela in command. White forces captured Tampere, seizing about 10,000 Red prisoners on April 6

Prevalent in Tampere's post-World War II municipal politics was the so called Brothers-in-Arms Axis (aseveliakseli), the alliance of conservatives and social democrats against the communists and Agrarian party. During this era some of the most renowned city managers of Tampere were Erkki Napoleon Lindfors (who was responsible for many ambitious construction projects such as the Näsinneula tower and the construction of the suburb of Hervanta, Tampere's "daughter town"), Pekka Paavola (who gained some notoriety in corruption scandals) and Jarmo Rantanen. From 2007 on, Tampere switched to a new model of having a mayor and four deputy mayors, chosen for a periods of two years. Timo P. Nieminen was elected as the first mayor of Tampere for the years 2007–2009.


Tampere. Daytime

After World War II, Tampere was enlarged by joining some neighbouring areas. Messukylä was incorporated in 1947, Lielahti in 1950, Aitolahti in 1966 and finally Teisko in 1972. Tampere was known for its textile and metal industries, but these have been largely replaced by information technology and telecommunications during the 1990s. The technology centre Hermia in Hervanta is home to many companies in these fields.

Tampere is known for its active cultural life. Some of the most popular writers in Finland, such as Väinö Linna, Kalle Päätalo and Hannu Salama, hail from Tampere. These are all known as writers depicting the lives of working class people. Also from a working class background was the famous poet Lauri Viita of the Pispala district (which is the original home of Hannu Salama too). Tampere also has old theatre traditions, with such established institutions as Tampereen Työväen Teatteri, Tampereen Teatteri and Pyynikin Kesäteatteri, which is an open-air theatre with the oldest revolving auditorium in Europe. Tampereen Teatterikesä or Tampere Theatre Festival is an international theatre festival held in Tampere every August.

Tampere is also known for its Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland which featured American artist Richard Humann in 2004, for his exhibition entitled, Delicate Monster.

Tampere Film Festival, an international short film festival, is held every March. Tammerfest is Tampere's urban rock festival held every July.

Tampere Music Festivals organises three international music events: Tampere Jazz Happening each November, and in alternate years Tampere Vocal Music Festival and Tampere Biennale.

Tampere is home to the television channel YLE TV2, with its studios in the Tohloppi district, known among all for such popular TV comedies as Tankki täyteen, Reinikainen and Kummeli.

A local food speciality is mustamakkara, which resembles black pudding of northern England.


Tampere. Ilves Banners

Tampere's sporting scene is driven by two sports, ice hockey and football. As the first ice hockey match was played in Tampere, on the ice of Näsijärvi, between Ilves and Pyrintö, Tampere is nicknamed the hometown of Finnish hockey. Two notably exceptional ice hockey teams exist in Tampere—Ilves and Tappara. They both have had a great impact on Finnish ice hockey culture and are among the most successful teams in Finland. The Finnish ice hockey museum, and the first ice hockey arena to be built in Finland, the Hakametsä arena, are both located in Tampere. Football, however, is the number one sport in Tampere. Only Ilves have over 4,000 players in their football teams, while Tampere boasts over 100 football teams alone. Tampere United play at the highest level in Finland. The city also hosted two flatwater canoeing world championships, in 1973 and 1983. In 1977, Tampere hosted the Junior World Rowing Championships.


Tampere. Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame

So, back to the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame - the exhibition objects and video clips bring many memorable moments of the Finnish hockey back to the visitor's mind. Also all championship medals won by Team Finland as well as the World Championship Trophy from 1995 are on display in the Museum.

The Museum receives the objects mainly through donations. Admission costs are -Adults: 7 €, Children 7 to 16 and students: 2 €, Children under 7: Free of charge

I hope you will enjoy this trip.

The sources are: Wikipedia and Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame

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