Turun rautatieympäristöt (Järnvägsmiljöer i Åbo)

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

Turku railway station is one of the most significant station building projects in Finland during the interwar period. Turku's varied and chronologically layered railway environment includes a functionalist station building from the 1930s, residential buildings for railway workers from two centuries, the railway workshop area, and the station park built by the town in 1894. The station building was the last major station project before the Second World War. The railway workshop preserved in the railyard dates in its oldest parts from the 1870s and is thus among the oldest of its type in Finland.

Turku railway station is located on the western edge of the grid-plan area laid out after the Great Fire of Turku. The façades of the station building are clad in yellow clay brick. The town-side façade is dominated by a large window that lets light into the two-storey main hall and restaurant. The tall central section is flanked by lower wings. A small station park continues the main axis of the railway station across Ratapihankatu. The station park was designed by Turku town gardener O.R. Gauffin, but it was later altered, among others, according to plans by A. Hellemaa, former railway gardener and then town gardener.

On Ratapihankatu, west of the station building, there are railway workers' residential buildings of various ages in a park-like setting. Closest to the station is the station master's house from 1922. The oldest surviving residential building dates from the 1870s, and along Köydenpunojankatu there are also two apartment blocks built in the 1940s and 1950s.

North of the railyard extends a large depot and workshop area. Dating from the 1870s are the core of the workshop's main building, which is the oldest surviving of its type in Finland, the oldest part of the locomotive shed, and the former forge. Several buildings in the station area have been demolished. Preparation of a partial master plan for the railyard area began in 2005. If implemented, the plan would mean extensive new construction in the eastern part of the railyard area.

The track continues to the Port of Turku. At the junction of Linnankatu and the track stand a double guardhouse built when the line was completed, and a second residential building belonging to the State Railways, dating from the second half of the 19th century. The buildings stand side by side on either side of the track, near Turku Castle, in a location of significance to the town's history.

History

Railway construction to Turku was planned from the 1860s onward, but the first railway connection to Turku was not completed until 1876, when the line from Tampere opened. The line connected the city and port of Turku with the Tavastia market area and its forests. From the city station, rail traffic was directed to the port of Turku at the mouth of Aurajoki.

The Rantarata line from Turku in the direction of the capital was completed as far as Karjaa in 1899 and to Helsinki in 1903. The most recent expansion of the rail network took place in 1925, when the coastal line to Uusikaupunki, which had been planned for a long time and had gone through various alignment options, and its branch line to Naantali were completed.

The railway engineering workshop was established in Turku in 1876. It received new premises in the 1920s, when the goods station and the entire rail yard were also extended westward.

Turku's first station building was completed in connection with the opening of the Tampere line. With the 1940 Olympics in mind, plans for a new station building in Turku began to be considered, and the designs were completed in 1939. Unlike the other 1930s stations, no architectural competition was held for the Turku station; instead, the building was exceptionally designed by architects Väinö Vähäkallio and Martti Välikangas of the rakennushallitus rather than the rautatiehallitus. Turku was the last major station building project before the Second World War.