Lahden suurradioasema

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 Lahti high-power radio station is the first of its kind in the country, and its radio masts and station buildings reflect the strong development of the nation's public broadcasting in the 1920s and 1930s.

On the Salpausselkä esker, which runs south of the town centre, there are two steel lattice masts, each 150 metres high, located 310 metres apart. The masts, which have carried a large T-antenna, dominate the townscape of Lahti along with the ski jumps, and as landmarks they form one of the emblems of the city of Lahti.

Between the masts are the station buildings from 1928 and 1935. The architecture of the younger of the classicist buildings is more austere. The newer radio station, where a wealth of technical equipment survives, houses a radio and TV museum.

The radio station's building stock was supplemented and renewed in the 1930s and 1940s. Radiomäki also has a water tank designed in 1909 by city engineer Kaarlo Tavasti, and trenches from the 1918 war.

History

Public broadcasting began to be developed in Finland in the 1920s. It was decided in 1927 to locate the long-wave station of Oy Suomen Yleisradio, founded in 1926, at Lahti, which had a favourable location, so that national radio broadcasts could achieve the widest possible coverage. The alternative would have been to set up several smaller local stations.

The procurement, construction and maintenance of the transmitting station and other equipment was handled by the Ministry of Communications and Public Works and its subordinate telegraph administration. The radio masts were erected in 1927 by the Berlin firm Lehmann & c:o, and the first radio station was completed the following year. The station building was designed by architect Georg Wigström of the Board of Public Buildings.

The construction of the Lahti high-power station greatly improved listening conditions in various parts of Finland. The radio station, from which the first official broadcast was transmitted on 22 April 1928, was among the most powerful in Europe when completed. At the opening celebrations, the station was reported to be well audible as far as Kuopio and Sortavala. Reception also reached Rovaniemi and Petsamo.

The station building of the new, more powerful radio station was completed in 1935 to the drawings of Lahti city architect Kaarlo Könönen. During the Continuation War, a guardhouse was built on Radiomäki to Könönen's drawings; it was extended in 1945 and later used as the office of the radio station's head. The radio station head's residence and the voltage regulation station designed by Könönen were completed in 1945.