Karhulan teollisuusympäristö

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 Karhula industrial environment is a significant part of the industry that grew up along the Kymijoki river. The industrial plants, the residential areas of different ages that took shape around them for workers, and the factory manor together form a varied community that developed at different times.

The culturally most significant part of the industrial plant consists of the old production buildings, as well as the residential areas of different ages built for office staff and workers, designed in a uniform manner, and the factory manor.

The oldest buildings on the factory site date from the end of the 19th century: the former clay house of the glassworks, the brick repair workshop, and the iron mould foundry, as well as the brick repair workshop situated on the riverbank. The so-called old office dates from 1903. The central warehouse, the boiler house and the former assembly hall date from 1916-1917. In the 1920s the glass warehouse and the export groundwood mill were built to designs by architect Karl Lindahl.

The oldest workers' residential buildings from the 1880s are located on the west side of William Ruthin katu, which forms the backbone of the industrial area. The two-storey board-clad workers' barracks Kalliopytinki, Suopytinki, Verstaspytinki and Metsäpytinki, built in the 1890s along Karhulantie and Sudenkatu, are unique in their architecture and building technology.

The four-family residential houses on Sudenkatu, Karhunkatu and Kokkolankatu date from the 1920s and were designed by architect Karl Lindahl. Of the master craftsmen's houses on Karhunkatu and Ahmankatu, two date from 1936 and four from 1946 (G. Aspelin).

Architect Alvar Aalto was the designer of the Karhula factories in the 1940s. From this period date the large office and machine shop building and the single-storey glass warehouse, as well as the commercial and residential block on Karhunkatu and the so-called Tennistalo group of apartment blocks.

North of the industrial area, on the Kymijoki river, in the middle of a large park, lies Karhula manor. The main building of the manor, with its octagonal corner towers and verandas, received its present appearance in 1892 to the plans of architect Ricardo Björnberg. The manor's stone cowshed is located near the main building, on the other side of the road.

Remains of timber-floating installations have survived in the Kymijoki river at the location of the industrial area.

History

Industrialisation at Karhulanniemi began in 1874, when a sawmill was established on this easternmost river mouth branch of the Kymijoki. By the end of the century, the area had, alongside the sawmill, a groundwood mill, a glass factory that used the mill's waste wood as fuel, and a machine shop. These works, founded by William Ruth, were merged in 1902 into Karhula Oy and were incorporated into the A. Ahlström yhtiö in 1915.

The busiest building period was 1888-1893, when the machine shop, five-frame sawmill, brick factory and foundry, among others, were completed. During the same period, 48 workers' dwellings, a kansakoulu and the director's residence, located at Karhula manor, were completed. In the 1920s, the factory plants were extended, and a power plant and residential buildings were built. The factory buildings were extended further from the 1930s onwards. In the 1940s, Alvar Aalto worked as the designer of the factories.

Together with the Kymi industrial communities, Karhula formed its own market town in 1951, until it was merged into Kotka in 1977.