Hietaniemen hautausmaat (Sandudds begravningsplatser)

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

Lapinlahti, Hietaniemi and Taivallahti are home to an extensive and unique cemetery complex serving different religious denominations. The cemeteries reflect the development of Helsinki's urban history and the ideals of cemetery, memorial and park design from the early 19th century to the present day. Hietaniemi Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery is maintained as a national cemetery, and it is the burial place of prominent figures in science and the arts, in cultural and economic life, and in state administration.

The oldest part of the cemeteries is the Lapinlahti Cemetery in the south. Here, side by side, are the Orthodox, Islamic and Jewish cemeteries, established in the first half of the 19th century because of the large multinational military garrison of the Suomenlinna fortress (Viapori). The oldest of the Lapinlahti cemeteries is the Orthodox cemetery, where, among others, officers of Viapori and members of the Orthodox parish are buried. To the west of the Lapinlahti Orthodox cemetery are the cemeteries of the Finnish Army and the Islam congregation, as well as the old Jewish cemetery.

Helsinki's oldest cemetery still in use, the Evangelical Lutheran cemetery of almost 30 hectares, was built in three main phases. The oldest section, the dense so-called Lapinlahti Cemetery, lies immediately north of the Orthodox cemetery and dates from the early 19th century. Next, the so-called new area was established, extending to the shore of Lapinlahti and to Hietaniemenkatu. Its horticulturally varied layout developed on either side of the straight central road, "Stora gången". The youngest area is the Hietaniemi area at the tip of Hietaniemi, established in the 1930s in the formal garden style, where the war heroes' graves are also located and where the central avenue ends at a blessing chapel with a columbarium.

The Evangelical Lutheran cemetery complex at Hietaniemi was formed gradually, with new burial blocks planned and brought into use as needed. Practical burial considerations, and on the other hand architectural and garden-design aims, have influenced the appearance of the blocks established at different times. The gravestones and memorials of the cemeteries reflect burial culture and its development. Many headstones feature works of art, reliefs carved into the stone or sculptures; for example, on the grave slab of Sakari Topelius stands an angel designed by Walter Runeberg. In the oldest part of the cemetery, the Lapinlahti Cemetery, is the Artists' Hill, where, among others, Alvar Aalto, Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Mika Waltari are buried.

In the Hietaniemi area are buried, among others, all deceased presidents of the Republic of Finland except P.E. Svinhufvud and Kyösti Kallio. The war heroes' burial area in the Hietaniemi area, from the last wars, is the largest in Finland. Among the public sculptures in the cemetery is the Sankariristi (Hero's Cross) by sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen. The war heroes' graves and the memorial to Commander-in-Chief Marshal Mannerheim are the objects of ceremonial tributes.

In Taivallahti, north of Hietaniemenkatu, is a dense cemetery area containing the Evangelical Lutheran Hietaniemi urn grove, the New Jewish Cemetery, the cemetery of the private Orthodox parish of Pyhän Nikolauksen seurakunta, and the chapel with columbarium maintained by the Krematoriosäätiö foundation. The Orthodox military cemetery, established at the beginning of the 19th century for Russian soldiers, was in use on the shore of Taivallahti until the early years of independence; its gravestones now stand in an open park area.

History

Before the Hietaniemi cemeteries were established, the dead of the Viapori fortress were buried from 1809 in a Russian military cemetery situated along Bulevardi, which was in use until the mid-1810s.

The Lapinlahti cemeteries, among the oldest of the Hietaniemi cemeteries, consist of adjoining cemeteries for different denominations, originally established for the needs of the Viapori fortress. The Orthodox cemetery, brought into use in 1815, was established for officers and other commissioned personnel as well as Orthodox clergy and civilians. The Helsinki Orthodox parish was founded in 1827. The dead of Viapori were buried on the eastern side of the area and parish members on the western side. The Pyhän Eliaan kappeli (1851) was built in the cemetery, as was the Profeetta Eliaan kirkko (1954), designed by Ivan Kudrjavzev. West of the Lapinlahti Orthodox cemetery, an Evangelical Lutheran cemetery for the Finnish units of the Russian army was established in 1833. After the Kaartin seurakunta was dissolved in 1914, descendants of its members as well as jäkärit (Jägers) began to be buried in the area. The adjoining Muslim cemetery was established in the 1830s for the Turkic-origin Tatars of Viapori. The Islamic cemetery was officially brought into use in 1871. After the Uskonnonvapauslaki of 1922, Muslims founded the Islam parish in 1925, and the cemetery is used by the Turkic-origin Tatar community. Next to the Islamic cemetery is the old Jewish cemetery established for the Jews of Viapori.

Orthodox soldiers, enlisted men and non-commissioned officers were buried separately in the military cemetery established on the shore of Taivallahti in 1826. The cemetery, assigned to the Russian army and the Töölön sotasairaala, remained in use until the early years of independence.

In 1828 the Helsingin maistraatti assigned a cemetery next to the Orthodox cemetery to "the local confessors of the Christian Lutheran religion". The cemetery replaced the Kampi cemetery, which was located in what is now the Vanhan kirkon puisto and had become full.

The chapel in Lapinlahti, completed in 1872, was designed by architect Theodor Höijer. The brick caretaker's residence on Mechelininkatu (Höijer), completed in 1901, was extended in 1916 (architect Waldemar Aspelin).

In 1858 the magistrate granted land on the northern shore of Lapinlahti for enlarging the Evangelical Lutheran cemetery. The new cemetery was consecrated for use in 1864. The first burials took place in 1866, when the cemetery, built in many places on bare shoreline rock, was ready. Until the end of the 1870s, the new cemetery was used mainly to bury townspeople who had died in poorhouses and hospitals, in common graves. Wealthier residents began burying their dead there in the 1880s.

The new Jewish cemetery, near the Russian military cemetery at Taivallahti, was handed over to the "Charitable Society for the Blessed Dead Jews" in 1895. The Jewish congregation of Helsinki was registered as a religious community in 1918.

The Suomen Ruumiinpolttoyhdistys was founded in 1889, and the country's first crematorium was completed in 1926 on the north side of Hietaniemi cemetery, on land leased to the society from 1915. A columbarium was established next to the chapel designed by architect Bertel Liljeqvist.

As the city's population grew, the Evangelical Lutheran church council petitioned the city in 1929 for additional land between the Uusi hautausmaa and Taivallahti. Construction of the 6-hectare extension began in 1930. The design was the responsibility of architect Albert Nyberg, and garden architect Paul Olsson also took part in the work; his father, Svante Olsson, had drawn up the garden plan for an earlier extension in 1902. The rock was quarried, and in places a wall almost ten metres high was built around the area. The fill sand for the interior was brought from off Pihlajasaari. The Hietaniemi area was consecrated for use in 1931, and the funeral chapel, to the plan of architect Albert Nyberg, in 1933. The service building, completed in 1967, was by architect Erkki Heloma. The design of the Sankarihauta area was the responsibility of architect Arvo Muroma and, after him, architect Matti Siitonen. A total of 3164 Finnish and 121 German soldiers were buried in the Sankarihauta graves. The Sankarihauta area also includes the Kadonneitten muuri, on which are engraved the names of 734 Helsinki men who were lost at the front.

The cemetery in Taivallahti belonging to the private Orthodox parish was brought into use in 1934.

The urn hall brought into use in 1949 was designed by Ola Mannström, inspector of Helsinki cemeteries.