Dragsvikin kasarmit (Dragsvik kaserner)

English translation (from the Finnish)

The text above is the record as published by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), in Finnish. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto); it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

The Dragsvik barracks area is one of our most significant barracks areas from the 1910s, where the original town-planning and architectural objectives of the Russian designers have survived well.

Built as part of a military building programme that extended across the whole Russian Empire, the Dragsvik barracks area consists of almost thirty red-brick, mostly two-storey brick barracks. They are grouped mainly along three streets running parallel to the shore. The barracks represent the same Russian barracks architecture as, for example, the Riihimäki barracks and Hennala in Lahti. They are unrendered and have dentil friezes and decorative gables. The building stock is for the most part in use corresponding to the original use.

The barracks area is linked to the Tammiharju hospital area, which was separated from it in the 1920s and includes some twenty buildings from the 1910-1970s. The oldest are former brick barracks buildings. The three-storey main building of the district mental hospital dates from the building phase designed by architect Axel Mörne at the end of the 1920s. Staff housing was built in the area in the 1940s and 1950s. The hospital is still in operation.

History

The construction of the Dragsvik barracks in the 1910s was part of a military building project carried out by the Russian Empire on the eve of the First World War, which resulted in about ten so-called red-brick barracks in Finland and a chain of sea and land fortifications. By concentrating troops in southern Finland, preparations were made to repel German landing attempts and, among other things, to secure the railway connections, ultimately to safeguard the northern flank of Pietari.

Land was compulsorily purchased from the town of Tammisaari in 1910 for the barracks of the troops to be stationed near Hankoniemi, which is strategically significant. At the eastern end of the area stood the official residence of the commander of the Karjaa company of the Uusimaa Infantry Regiment, which had been formed at the end of the 17th century. The Puustelli residential building was built in 1802-1803.

The foundation stone of the barracks was laid in 1911, and the main phase of construction continued until the latter part of 1912. A garrison was stationed there: a sharpshooter regiment and artillery. In 1918-1919 the barracks area housed one of the largest prison camps in the country, after which a forced labour institution that was established there operated until the end of the 1930s. In the easternmost part of the prison area, an alcoholics' sanatorium operated from 1938. During the Second World War, the area initially served as a camp for political prisoners. Under the Interim Peace Treaty of 1940, part of Hankoniemi with its nearby islands was leased to the Soviet Union, after which Dragsvik reverted to the Finnish Defence Forces. After the war, Swedish-speaking units have been stationed in the area.

The western part of the barracks area, the artillery area, was set aside as a hospital in 1921, and operations of the Tammiharju District Mental Hospital began in 1924. About ten barracks were renovated for hospital use according to plans by architect E.A. Kranck. The main building was completed in 1930. Residential buildings for the hospital's use were completed in the 1940s and 1950s, an administration building in the 1950s, and maintenance buildings from the 1970s.

Outside the site, to the east, in addition to the old captain's official residence, there are residential buildings of the Finnish Defence Forces built after the wars. These include buildings from the 1950s, constructed to standard type drawings designed by architect Heidi Vähäkallio-Hirvelä.