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Vyborg

Town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This article is about the Russian city near the Finnish border. For other uses, see Vyborg (disambiguation).
"Viipuri" redirects here. For other uses, see Viipuri (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Viborg.

Vyborg (/ˈviːbɔːrɡ, ˈviːbərk/;[10] Russian: Выборг, IPA: [ˈvɨbərk];[11] Finnish: Viipuri, IPA: [ˈʋiːpuri];[12] Swedish: Viborg, IPA: [ˈvǐːbɔrj] ⓘ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, 130 km (81 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg, 245 km (152 miles) east of the Finnish capital Helsinki, and 38 km (24 miles) south of Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland. The most recent census population of Vyborg is 72,530 (2021 Census).[13]

Quick facts ВыборгViipuri / Viborg (Finnish / Swedish), Other transcription(s) ...

Vyborg was founded as a medieval fortress in Finland under Swedish rule during the Third Swedish Crusade. After numerous wars between the Russians and Swedes, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 defined the border of eastern Finland, and would separate the two cultures.[14] Vyborg remained under Swedish rule until it was captured by the Russians during the Great Northern War. Under Russian rule, Vyborg was the seat of Vyborg Governorate until it was incorporated into the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Finland declared its independence from Russia in 1917, and Vyborg kept its status,[15] and represented internationally as its most multicultural city.[16][17][18] During World War II, Vyborg's population was evacuated and the town was ceded to the Soviet Union.[14] In 2010, Vyborg was conferred the status of "City of Military Glory" by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.[19]

The city hosts the Russian end of the 1,222 km (759 mi) Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, laid in 2011 and operated by a consortium led by Russia's Gazprom state hydrocarbons enterprise to pump 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas a year under the Baltic Sea to Lubmin, Germany.[20]

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Etymology

The name Viborg is a compound of vi, meaning “holy,” and borg, meaning “fortification,” thus “holy fortification". Torkel Knutsson established Vyborg Castle on an existing marketplace called Suomenvedenpohja.[21]

History

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Early history

See also: Fief of Viborg

According to archeological research, the area of what is now Vyborg used to be a trading center on the Vuoksi River's western branch, which has since dried up. The region was inhabited by the Karelians, a Balto-Finnic tribe which gradually came under the domination of Novgorod and Sweden.[22][23] It has been claimed that Vyborg appeared in the 11th–12th centuries as a mixed Karelian-Russian settlement,[24] although there is no archeological proof of any East Slavic settlement of that time in the area,[25] and it is not mentioned in any of the earliest historical documents, such as the Novgorod First Chronicle or the Primary Chronicle. Wider settlement in the area of Vyborg is generally regarded to date from 13th century onwards when Hanseatic traders began traveling to Novgorod.[26]

The Kingdom of Sweden 1293-1721

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Vyborg Castle

Vyborg Castle was founded during the Third Swedish Crusade in 1293 by marsk Torkel Knutsson[24][27] on the site of an older Karelian fort which was burned.[28] The castle, which was the first centre for the spread of Christianity in Karelia,[29] was fought over for decades between Sweden and the Republic of Novgorod. As a result of the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 between the Novgorod Republic and Sweden, Vyborg was finally recognized as a part of Sweden.[14] The town's trade privileges were chartered by the Pan-Scandinavian King Eric of Pomerania in 1403. It withstood a prolonged siege by Daniil Shchenya during the Russo-Swedish War of 1496–1497.

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Karl Knutson Bonde leaving Vyborg Castle for the Royal Election in Stockholm, 1448. He was elected as the King of Sweden.

Under Swedish rule, Vyborg was closely associated with the noble family of Bååt, originally from Småland. The late-medieval commanders and fief holders of Vyborg were (almost always) descended from or married to the Bååt family. In practice, though not having this as their formal title, they functioned as Margraves, had feudal privileges, and kept all the crown's incomes from the fief to use for the defense of the realm's eastern border.

Viipuri's internationalisation began at an early stage. In the Middle Ages, alongside Finns and Swedes, there was a growing presence of Germans among the burghers. At that time, long-distance trade was largely in their hands.[30]

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A copper engraving of the Swedish Vyborg in 1709.

The merchants of Viipuri consisted mostly of Finns, Swedes, and Germans. Within the city's burgher class there were a few families of Dutch and French origin, but they did not form groups as prominent as the Finnish, Swedish and German communities.[31]

In the 17th century, merchants of Scottish origin also operated in Vyborg. However, they did not form as prominent a burgher group as the Germans.[32]

Viipuri's status changed as the 17th century began, when, following the Treaty of Stolbova, it was left inland and no longer served as a border town or the easternmost fortress in the Swedish Empire. The city developed into an increasingly important harbour and commercial centre. In the 1640s, a town plan was drawn up, traces of which remain visible in the old town to this day. Beyond the walls, suburban areas such as Siikaniemi, Tervaniemi and Pantsarlahti began to emerge.[33]

European awareness of Vyborg as an international trading town grew during the 16th century. The city oriented its exports westwards, and from the reign of King Gustav Vasa onwards, tar became its principal export commodity. Vyborg ranked among the largest tar exporters of the Swedish realm until the end of the 17th century. Within Sweden, Vyborg belonged to the group of prominent trading towns alongside Stockholm, Gothenburg, Norrköping, Kalmar, Tallinn, and Riga. In commercial importance it even surpassed Turku.[34]

In the 17th century, Vyborg’s leading patrician families included the Tesche, Boisman, Schemedeman, Barckhusen, Winter, and Sutthoff lineages. Education in the city placed greater emphasis on secular subjects, practical knowledge, and economic needs than in most other Finnish towns. During the Swedish period, the citizens of Vyborg did not esteem the church-dominated instruction that was largely confined to religious purposes. Instead, they recruited private tutors directly from Germany and established a German-language school for the use of the burgher class towards the end of the 17th century. This institution focused on practical subjects such as the German language, reading, writing, and arithmetic, and may be regarded as an early stage of professional education. It was also progressive in that a few girls were admitted among its primarily male pupils.[34]

The notion of a “distinctive Vyborg culture” during Swedish rule referred above all to the weight attached to economic activity in contrast to intellectual and religious pursuits. In the 17th century Vyborg was considered an unusually tranquil and, by the standards of the age, a relatively safe town.[34]

Around the year 1640, Viipuri was the largest commercial city in Finland, with approximately 3,500 inhabitants. Its marketplace was Lappeenranta, through which tar from the Saimaa lake district was transported to Viipuri. At that time, Uuras had already become the city's outer harbour. In the latter part of the 17th century, however, Viipuri suffered from the competition of Nevanlinna, located at the site of present-day Saint Petersburg, as the Swedish state favoured the latter through its customs policy.[30]

Vyborg Castle and its adjoining town served as a frontier outpost from the perspective of the Swedish realm. Particularly during the 17th century and into the early 18th century, this strategic position was variously referred to as the Key of Karelia, the Key of Finland, or even the Key of Sweden, depending on the vantage point and period. Vyborg was one of three fortified cities within Sweden, the others being Kalmar, which also functioned as a longstanding border town, and Stockholm, the capital. The city held an indisputable position as the economic and political centre of the eastern part of the Swedish Empire until the early 18th century. However, certain details, based on existing research, remain more challenging to verify conclusively.[31]

Vyborg Province 1721-1811 (Russian Empire)

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A model of Vyborg in the early 18th century

Vyborg remained in Swedish hands until its capture in 1710 after the Siege of Vyborg by Tsar Peter the Great in the Great Northern War. Russia needed Vyborg in order to defend the empire's new capital Saint Petersburg against attackers sailing in from the Gulf of Finland. In the course of Peter's second administrative reform, Vyborg became the seat of the Vyborg Province of St. Petersburg Governorate.[24][14][35]

The 1721 Treaty of Nystad, which concluded the war with Sweden, finalized the transfer of the town and a part of Old Finland to Russia. The loss of Vyborg led Sweden to develop Fredrikshamn as a substitute port town. Another result of the loss of Vyborg was that its diocese was moved to Borgå, transforming the town into an important learning centre.[36][24][14][36]

During the era of the Vyborg Province, the city developed into a garrison town. A fortress was constructed around it with the purpose of safeguarding the settlement. Under Russian rule, the city lost its significance as a commercial hub but it became an important city for Karelians who traded with Saint Petersburg. In the 1700s, the city's bourgeoisie became German. Baltic Germans moved to the city and held control over the city's economy. The German dominance weakened in the 1800s.[30][37]

During the eighteenth century, the number of German speakers in Vyborg increased significantly. German had been established as the official administrative language in the Russian Baltic provinces, including the Province of Vyborg, during the 1720s. An administrative reform in the 1780s further introduced a new influx of German-speaking officials to the city, who also dominated the export trade operations there.[37]

The social circles in Vyborg were characterised by a cosmopolitan mode of life. The city’s proximity to Saint Petersburg, together with the local elite’s strong connections to the bourgeois culture of German-speaking Europe, rendered Vyborg exceptionally international in the Finnish context.[37]

These social milieus comprised local civil servants, clergy, the wealthiest merchants, officers of the imperial army, as well as members of the nobility residing in or visiting the area. Among these families, some had relocated from Nyenschantz in the early eighteenth century, others were of German descent, and an important number belonged to the Baltic German aristocracy.[37]

The closeness to Saint Petersburg enabled Vyborg’s nobility to acquire numerous objects that were otherwise unknown in Finland at that time. The provenance and stylistic characteristics of these items indicate that the city followed the fashions of Saint Petersburg in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Nonetheless, material influences also entered Vyborg’s social life directly from wider Europe, reflecting the nobility’s extensive family, friendship, and commercial ties across several countries. For the requirements of social clubs and festive occasions, furnishing accessories, tableware, beverages, and foodstuffs were procured from Germany, the Netherlands, and Great Britain, among other places.[37]

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, both the quantity and availability of goods increased considerably. This development is exemplified in the procurement records of the Hackman merchant family, where, by the transition to the nineteenth century, their account books reveal a significant presence of industrially manufactured items originating from Great Britain. A typical example among these were tea sets produced by the Wedgwood manufactory in England, which the Vyborg aristocracy acquired either directly from Britain or through the Wedgwood store operating in Saint Petersburg.[37]

History of the Vyborg Governorate

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Vyborg's fortifications in the 1750s.

Sweden lost Vyborg after the Great Northern War in 1721. Under the peace treaty, the southern and central parts of the Käkisalmi Province as well as the main part of the Vyborg Province were ceded to Russia. Administratively, this area formed the Vyborg and Käkisalmi Province, which was part of the Saint Petersburg Governorate.[38]

In 1741, Sweden launched a war against Russia, which ended in Swedish defeat in 1743. Following the Treaty of Turku, the newly incorporated territory initially constituted the Kymenkartano Province of the Saint Petersburg Governorate. In 1744, it was combined with the Vyborg and Käkisalmi Provinces to form the separate Vyborg Governorate. This merged area included, in addition to Savonlinna, the towns of Hamina and Lappeenranta, along with the Swedish border fortifications located in these towns.[38]

In the late eighteenth century, the autonomy of Old Finland, like many other parts of the empire, began to be curtailed under the Russification program initiated by Empress Catherine the Great. Russia aimed to create a uniformly governed empire.[38]

Although Old Finland did not actually decline under Russian rule - as is sometimes supposed - it lagged behind the more rapid social development of Swedish Finland during the eighteenth century. Arbitrary actions by the Russian nobility towards the peasantry contributed to an apathetic economic climate that came to characterize the region.[38]

One of the largest naval battles in history, the Battle of Vyborg Bay, was fought in Vyborg Bay on 4 July 1790.[38]

Between 1784 and 1796, the area of the governorate formed the Viipuri Commandancy. From 1803 onwards, the governorate was known as the Governorate of Finland.[38]

The Grand Duchy of Finland 1811-1917 (Russian Empire)

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Hackman merchant family's palace in Viipuri.

Sweden lost rest of Finland to Russia during the Finnish War in the years 1808–1809. After the rest of Finland was ceded to Russia in 1809, Emperor Alexander I incorporated the town and the governorate into the newly created Grand Duchy of Finland in 1811.[14][39]

During Finland's era of autonomy, Viipuri too was able to develop “under the protection of Western laws.” On the other hand, in the early 19th century, the city's overall progress stagnated: its population did not increase, and much of Eastern Finland conducted trade with Saint Petersburg via Lake Ladoga, bypassing Viipuri.[30]

In the 19th century, Vyborg's economic elite consisted of the city's old German merchant families, known as die Alten und Echten, whose business operations were based on the merchant house model. This model combined foreign trade with diversified industrial investments and wholesale or retail trade.[31]

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Hôtel d'Europe in Viipuri.

Viipuri's cultural life was already more varied in the early 19th century than elsewhere in Finland. The development of its distinctive urban culture was encouraged by long-standing German traditions and by the dominant position held in the city by a strong and self-assured German-Swedish merchant class. As late as 1846, the linguist Herman Kellgren, who travelled through Viipuri, wrote that the city did not resemble Finnish towns at all, nor did it appear Russian or Swedish - instead, it evoked associations with Lübeck and northern Germany. Germanness had long been a central element of the city's cultural life and burgher identity. The Baltic German urban culture was maintained in Viipuri until the 1840s primarily by the German-speaking merchant elite, which dominated municipal autonomy and largely defined the self-image of the local burgher class.[31]

Viipuri's status changed significantly in the second half of the 19th century. The Saimaa Canal opened in 1856, connecting Viipuri to the Lake Saimaa. Freight transport from the Saimaa coastal areas was directed to Viipuri, which increased the city's port activities. Also, coastal cities of Finland and international merchant shipping from the Gulf of Finland headed towards Viipuri, naturally boosting port operations even further.[40][41]

The railway between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg was completed in 1870. The Karelian railway opened in 1894.[40]

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Custom House.

Now Viipuri was located at a busy logistical crossroads, which brought freight traffic from all directions. Viipuri became an important commercial city as business oriented towards Saint Petersburg. Viipuri became a key center for trade with the East, but also a hub for export and import activities to the West.[40]

Viipuri industrialised especially from the late 1800s onward. The city had many industrial facilities, such as glass factories, chemical industry companies (e.g., Havi's candle and soap factory), and steam mills. Viipuri was a significant industrial center before World War II, and its industry was also connected to mills, sawmills, and chemical industry companies based on the nearby rapids.[42]

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Viipuri in 1892.
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The Old Market Hall in Viipuri was constructed in 1906 by architect Karl Hård af Segerstad.

In the late 19th century, Viipuri at one point grew larger as a commercial city than Helsinki. Viipuri's economy comprised a quarter of the entire Finnish economy. The harbour of Uuras was one of the largest in Finland. Important business clubs were established in Viipuri, such as the Swedish-speaking Handelsgillet i Wyborg and the Finnish-speaking Pamaus Society.[40]

From the 1830s onward, Vyborg developed into a favoured venue for German-language theatre and opera, owing to the city's relatively advanced theatre facilities. Touring companies active in the Baltic region frequently appeared there, with the most prominent being the troupe led by J. A. Schultz, which introduced to Vyborg new works of early Romanticism. Performances were commonly scheduled in the weeks preceding Easter, and the spring season became a regular feature of Vyborg's cultural calendar. This was facilitated by the fact that theatres in Saint Petersburg remained closed during the Orthodox Great Lent, while in Lutheran Vyborg no such restrictions applied.[31]

Viipuri's growing prosperity gave rise to a group of wealthy benefactors who supported education, culture, art, and science. The Viipuri Art Society was founded in 1890, which also established Finland's third drawing school, the Viipuri Drawing School. One of the achievements of the Viipuri Art Association was the founding of the Viipuri Art Museum.[43]

Owing to the establishment of the Drawing School, by the 1910s Viipuri had cultivated a distinct local artistic community, characterised by its receptiveness to new influences, to modernist expression, and, in due course, to cubism.[31]

Among the best-known theatre enthusiasts and patrons in Viipuri during the latter half of the 19th century were, for example, businessman and consul Eugène Wolff (1851–1937), paper and art dealer Conrad Oldenburg (1854–1927), and commercial counsellor Juho Lallukka (1852–1913), all of whom shared a strong interest in social issues.[31]

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Hotel Seurahuone.

The most prominent social event in Vyborg's high society was the so-called Sjunde januari soirée. Originating in the 1830s, this annual charity gala was organised by the Ladies' Association to support the local orphanage. Initially conceived as masquerade balls and lotteries, the celebrations expanded significantly over the years. By the 1890s, the festivities began on January 6 with children's dances, followed the next day by performances at the city theatre, including tableaux, music, ballet, and plays. The event culminated in evening dances and a grand lottery held at the hotel Seurahuone.[31]

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The City Theatre of Viipuri in the 19th century.

Vyborg was a natural stop on the Stockholm–Helsinki–St. Petersburg route, and its concert audiences were exceptionally well acquainted with music by Finnish standards. Renowned foreign and Finnish musicians and singers were keen to perform in the city during the late 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century.[31]

In Vyborg there was no shortage of theatrical performances, nor, it appears, of audiences. Among the Swedish ensembles that appeared were the Fröberg Troupe (1886, 1892), Carlsberg's Opera and Operetta Company (1894), and the Swedish Operetta Company (1894). The city's proximity to St. Petersburg and its position on major travel routes also contributed to visits by foreign groups, including a French operetta troupe (1889), an Italian-Russian company (1889, 1890, 1897), a Viennese operetta troupe (1900), and several others. This circumstance further explains why the very first Finnish-language operettas were staged in Vyborg.[31]

In a large city, there was of course a need for many different types of schools. In addition to ordinary basic institutions - folk schools and grammar schools (of various languages and orientations) - Viipuri also had vocational and commercial colleges, an industrial school, the Finnish School of Sawmilling, and the Viipuri Nautical College. There were also the Drawing School of the Friends of Art in Viipuri, an art school, and several music institutes.[30]

Viipuri’s merchants maintained a long-standing tradition of sending young shop assistants abroad for training. Many of these apprentices travelled to Germany to acquire practical knowledge of trade and commerce, often remaining there for several years. With aspirations to create a formal framework for commercial education, the city’s merchant community took steps towards founding their own school. In 1887 a private commercial school was established in Viipuri, offering a one-year programme. This institution was replaced in 1905 with a two-year commercial school. In 1926 the Viipuri School of Commerce was founded, continuing the city’s commitment to structured training in business education.[44]

Trams in Vyborg started in 1912.

In cosmopolitan and populous Viipuri, in addition to the aforementioned Lutheran communities, there were also an Ingrian refugee congregation, Swedish and German parishes, three Orthodox congregations, a Roman Catholic parish, a Free Church congregation, a Jewish congregation, three small Methodist congregations, and an Orthodox ecclesiastical community. The city was also home to an Orthodox episcopal see from 1891, while the equivalent Lutheran see was transferred there in 1925.[30]

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Krepostnaja 37 by architect Leander Ikonen.

The cultural life of Viipuri in the 19th century was profoundly shaped by the merchant bourgeoisie's openness to the wider world and by the natural interaction between economic and intellectual capital. The city's cosmopolitan and cultivated mercantile elite, thanks to its commerce, networks, travels, and erudition, was well acquainted with European cultural currents. A lifestyle marked by curiosity, cosmopolitanism, and refined social skills closely resembled that of elites in other medium-sized cities of Western and Northern Europe.[31]

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The new Wiklund's House in 1910.

Intellectual engagement and sociability fostered a seamless interaction between the merchant class and those producing intellectual capital, and there was no strict divide between artistic or literary circles and the amateur pursuits of the economic elite. The practice or patronage of music, literature, theatre, dance, and the visual arts was regarded as a natural part of social life, on a par with good manners or proper dress. Receptiveness to international influences, especially those from Western Europe, and a genuine interest in aesthetic and philosophical questions were evident not only in art collections but also in the keen awareness of the latest stylistic movements, whether in the form of literary modernism, national romanticism, or cubism.[31]

Until Finland's independence, it was equally natural for Viipuri's business elite to look towards the broad markets offered by Saint Petersburg. The close ties maintained by Viipuri's patrician families with the city were most clearly reflected in their way of life.[31]

The Republic of Finland 1917-1944

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The town hall in Viipuri.

The First World War began in 1914. The commandant of Viipuri ordered local inhabitants to leave the city, as there were fears that German forces might attempt a landing on its shores. Extensive fortification works were undertaken along the Viipuri coastline, continuing until 1917.[45]

The war had an adverse effect on trade in Viipuri due to the activity of the German navy in the Baltic Sea. Nevertheless, the city was able to deliver essential goods to Saint Petersburg and other parts of Russia.[45]

In February 1917, Saint Petersburg was shaken by strikes and demonstrations, leading Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne in March of that year. Demonstrations and mass meetings were likewise organised in Viipuri, where Russian soldiers even turned their weapons against one another. In June 1917, Viipuri hosted a convention of ethnic Polish military men stationed throughout Finland, at which it was decided to form the Polish Legion in Finland to fight for Finnish independence from Russia (see also Finland–Poland relations). The 1,700-strong Legion was then stationed in Viipuri. The Russian bourgeois revolution did not, however, interrupt trade between Viipuri and Russia, though it was conducted in an atmosphere of uncertainty.[46][45]

Everyday life in Viipuri remained relatively calm until the situation escalated following the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917. The Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin lived in the town for a period between the February Revolution and October Revolution of 1917. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the fall of the Russian Empire, Finland declared itself independent. The city served as the starting point of the civil war, which later spread to the rest of Finland. During the Finnish Civil War, Viipuri was in the hands of the Finnish Red Guards until it was captured by the White Guard in the Battle of Vyborg, on 29 April 1918. In April to May 1918, 360 to 420 civilians were murdered by White Guards during the Vyborg massacre.[17][18][45]

For the White side it was incomprehensible that the working class of Vyborg, once so strongly inclined toward national independence, should after the October Revolution of 1917 suddenly align itself with the Russians. The shift was in many respects a mystery, perhaps even to the workers themselves. The interpretation of the subsequent events of the Civil War has been further complicated by the fact that the background of the mass killing carried out against Vyborg's Russian population - whether Red, neutral, or White - at the end of April 1918 was never fully clarified. The massacre was executed by White forces that had arrived from outside the city.[31]

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Viipuri Art Museum and Drawing School.

During the First World War, inflation rose significantly, delaying the establishment of the Viipuri Art Museum. The collapse of the Russian Empire and the unrest of Finland's early years of independence postponed the project by several years. The undertaking also required additional funding, which further delayed its progress. At the instigation of the Viipuri Art Society, the City Council resolved in 1928 to construct an art museum together with an affiliated drawing school. The museum's paintings were acquired both through private donations and from the collections of the city and the association.[31]

The museum building, designed by Uno Ullberg, was completed in 1930. Transferred to the museum were the Viipuri City Art Collection, the collection of William Grommé, and that of the Friends of Art. William Tillmann Grommé (1836–1900) was the son of a St Petersburg banker who maintained strong family and business ties to Viipuri. His father was a cousin of Wilhelm Hackman; the families shared ancestral roots in Bremen, and Grommé himself had received schooling in Viipuri. Upon his death, Grommé bequeathed his entire estate to the City of Viipuri in his will. The donation included, among other possessions, the well-known Baroque château of Maisons-Laffitte near Paris, which Grommé had purchased from a French businessman. The City of Viipuri sold the property, but its furnishings and artworks were transferred to Viipuri. These included, for instance, Chinese vases, Dutch Baroque cabinets, antique weapons, and tapestries. The collections of the Viipuri Art Museum, encompassing these works and objects, were evacuated in October 1939.[31]

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The New York-based Moore-McCormack company's ship S/S Argosy receives bales of cellulose in the 1930s. The United States flag waves on the ship's deck. Beside the ship there are loaders, cellulose bales, and railway wagons.

Many businessmen of Vyborg were known not only for their entrepreneurial activity but also for their engagement with cultural life as collectors and patrons of the arts. While Finnish art history frequently designates the 1890s and the opening decades of the 20th century as the so‑called golden age of domestic art and collecting, the stimulus for collecting in Vyborg cannot be reduced solely to this national context. Interest in the arts was often first awakened during journeys abroad or through encounters with private collections outside Finland. In consequence, the art collections of Vyborg's bourgeoisie reflected an international outlook, balancing acquisitions of Finnish works with paintings, sculptures, and decorative art sourced from foreign centres.[31]

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The Vyborg City Library designed by architect Alvar Aalto.

The Viipuri City Library was completed in 1935. It was constructed with funds bequeathed by the widow of Commercial Counsellor Juho Lallukka. The library was designed by Alvar Aalto.[31]

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Market life in the 1930s. The Round Tower (Viipurin pyöreä torni) was transformed into a famous restaurant.

The inhabitants of Vyborg were well aware of their city's history and recognised that its great value lay in its age and the richness of its heritage. As late as the 1890s, proposals had even been made to demolish the Round Tower, yet the decision was ultimately taken to restore it in 1923. Until the outbreak of war the building housed a restaurant. In 1933 the Torkkeli Guild was founded with the purpose of safeguarding the city's historical legacy.[31]

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Vyborg School of Commerce and Maritime 1926-1939.

Vyborg served as the seat of Viipuri Province. In the 1930 census, the administrative area of the city of Vyborg had 52,253 inhabitants. There were a total of 19,986 inhabitants in the rural areas of Vyborg and in Uura, which was located outside the borders of Vyborg but was included in the census, and so the total population of the census area was 72,239.[47] Of the total inhabitants in the census area, 67,609 spoke Finnish, 2,103 Swedish, 1,807 Russian and 439 German.[48] In 1939, the population was slightly less than 75,000 and was Finland's second-largest (Population Register) or fourth-largest (Church and Civil Register) city, depending on the census data.[49] Vyborg had sizable minorities of Swedes, Germans, Russians, Romani, Tatars and Jews. During that time, Alvar Aalto built the Vyborg Library, an icon of functionalist architecture.

The vitality of Viipuri's cultural life, from the 19th century through to the late 1930s, was sustained by a cosmopolitan atmosphere unparalleled elsewhere in Finland and by the commanding presence of private capital. In cosmopolitan families, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, German, French, and English were both spoken and studied.[31]

The Economic Society of Vyborg was founded in 1919. Its goal was to obtain the rights to establish a university-level school of economics in Vyborg. The project was maintained even during and after the Second World War. Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT was established in 1969, and the university’s School of Business was founded in 1991. The society supports the activities of Lappeenranta University.[50]

Winter and Continuation Wars

See also: Karelian offensive

During the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–1940, over 70,000 people were evacuated from Vyborg to other parts of Finland. The Winter War was concluded by the Moscow Peace Treaty, which stipulated the transfer of Vyborg to Soviet control, and the whole Karelian Isthmus, and those places were emptied of their residents, to Soviet control. It was incorporated into the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic on 31 March 1940. As the town was still held by the Finns, the remaining Finnish population, some 10,000 people, had to be evacuated in haste before the handover. Thus, practically the whole population of Finnish Vyborg was resettled elsewhere in Finland. The town became the administrative center of Vyborgsky District.

The evacuees from Finnish Karelia came to be a vociferous political force, and their wish to return to their homes was an important motive when Finland sought support from Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union. As a result, Finland fought with Nazi Germany as a co-belligerent during the Second World War.

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Finnish soldiers marching in Vyborg on 31 August 1941

On 29 August 1941, Vyborg was captured by Finnish troops. At first, the Finnish Army did not allow civilians into the town. Of the 6,287 buildings, 3,807 had been destroyed. The first civilians started to arrive in late September, and by the end of the year, Vyborg had a population of about 9,700. In December 1941, the Finnish government formally annexed the town, along with the other areas that had been lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty.[14] However, the annexation was not recognized by any foreign state, even Finland's ally, Germany[citation needed]. By 1942, the population had risen to 16,000. About 70% of the evacuees from Finnish Karelia returned after the reconquest to rebuild their looted homes but were again evacuated after the Red Army's Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, timed to coincide with the Battle of Normandy. By the time of the Soviet offensive, the town had a population of nearly 28,000. The town was captured by the Red Army on 20 June 1944, but the Finnish forces, using war material provided by Germany, managed to halt the Soviet offensive at the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle fought by any of the Nordic countries, in Viipuri Rural Municipality, which surrounded the town, during which the town was seriously damaged.

In the subsequent Moscow Armistice on 19 September 1944, Finland returned to the borders set by the Moscow Peace Treaty and ceded more land than the treaty originally demanded. In the Paris Peace Treaties (1947), Finland relinquished all claims to Vyborg.[14]

The first time in the entire history of the city, the people of Vyborg left their city behind. Families who had lived there for centuries saw their time in the city come to an end. The Soviet Union resettled Vyborg with new inhabitants.[51]

The Soviet Union and the Russian Federation 1944-

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The statue of Vladimir Lenin in Vyborg.

After the Second World War, Leningrad Oblast wanted to incorporate the area of Vyborg, but it took until November 1944 for the area to be finally transferred from the Karelo-Finnish SSR.[39] During the Soviet era, the town was settled by people from all over the Soviet Union. The naval air bases of Pribylovo and Veshchevo were built nearby.

In 1940s and the 1950s, new factories were built: shipbuilding (1948), instrumentational (1953). In 1960, a local history museum was opened.

In the course of constructing the new Soviet Vyborg, elements of the old Finnish city, regarded as bourgeois heritage, were destroyed. Architecturally and culturally significant buildings were demolished, and impressive interiors eliminated, as they were deemed incompatible with the Soviet urban image, or with the image that was intended to represent it.[31]

The Soviet poet Anna Akhmatova visited Vyborg in the early 1960s, when she characterised Vyborg as a medium-sized settlement. The urban landscape retained its grey and official aspect until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[31]

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Administrative and municipal status

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Vyborg's former Finnish coat of arms

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Vyborg serves as the administrative center of Vyborgsky District.[1] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Vyborgsky District as Vyborgskoye Settlement Municipal Formation.[1] As a municipal division, Vyborgskoye Settlement Municipal Formation is incorporated within Vyborg Municipal District as Vyborgskoye Urban Settlement.[6]

Geography

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The town lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, 130 km (81 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg, 245 km (152 miles) east of the Finnish capital Helsinki, and 38 km (24 miles) south of Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland.

Climate

Similar to many other areas along the Baltic Sea, Vyborg has a humid continental climate (Dfb).[52] The climate is characterised by a fairly cloudy beginning of winter, but an increasing share of sunshine from February. Winter temperatures are being somewhat moderated by maritime effects compared to Russian cities further inland even on more southerly latitudes, but still cold enough compared to areas that are nearer the Gulf Stream. The beginning of spring is generally sunny and rather low in precipitation. Summer is moderately warm. Autumn is generally cloudy and rainy. On average, daytime insolation on a horizontal surface is 2.79 kW/m². The most dominant are the south-west and south winds.

More information Climate data for Vyborg (1991–2020, extremes 1884–present), Month ...
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Demographics

More information Year, Pop. ...

Economy and culture

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Transfiguration Cathedral

Vyborg continues to be an important industrial producer of paper. Tourism is increasingly important, and the Russian film festival Window to Europe takes place in the town each year.

An HVDC back-to-back facility for the exchange of electricity between the Russian and Finnish power grids was completed near Vyborg in 1982. It consists of three bipolar HVDC back-to-back schemes with an operating voltage of 85 kV and a maximum transmission rate of 355 MW, so that the entire maximum transmission rate amounts to 1,420 MW.[citation needed]

The Nord Stream 1 offshore pipeline runs from Vyborg compressor station at Portovaya Bay along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Lubmin in Germany. It started operating in September 2011, enabling Russia to export gas directly to Western Europe. The feeding pipeline in Russia (Gryazovets–Vyborg gas pipeline) is operated by Gazprom and is a part of the integrated gas transport network of Russia connecting existing grid in Gryazovets with the coastal compressor station at Vyborg.[58]

Finnish singing culture

Before the war, Vyborg was a major Finnish town of culture. Even today, a few choirs cherish Vyborg singing traditions. These are, for example, the Wiipurilaisen osakunnan kuoro of the University of Helsinki and the Viipurin Lauluveikot male choir,[59][60] with the latter founded in Vyborg in 1897.[61]

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Local government

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City Council of Deputies building [ru]

Vyborg is a municipal entity within the Vyborgsky District of the Leningrad Oblast. Its official name is the municipal formation "City of Vyborg" of the Vyborg district of the Leningrad region; the abbreviated name is the municipal entity "City of Vyborg".

Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the decision of the Council of Deputies of Vyborg dated 16 June 2010 No. 63.[62]

The representative body of local self-government is the Council of Deputies, consisting of 20 deputies elected in municipal elections in single-member constituencies[63] for a period of five years. Per the results of the elections on 11 October 2009, all 20 seats were occupied by members of the United Russia party. The Council of Deputies is headed by the head of the municipality, who is elected by deputies from among its members, also for a period of five years. On 20 October 2009, Gennady Alekseyevich Orlov was elected as head of the municipality.[64] Since September 2014, the position of head of the Vyborg District Municipal District of the Leningrad Oblast has been occupied by Alexander Petrovich Lysov. Also in September 2014, Gennady Alekseyevich Orlov assumed the position of head of the administration of the municipal formation "Vyborg District" of the Leningrad Oblast.[65]

The executive and administrative body of local self-government is the administration. It is formed and headed by the head of the administration, who is appointed under a contract concluded based on the results of a competition for a period of five years.[66] From 2 August 2011, the head of the administration was Alexander Aleksandrovich Buyanov.[67] On 24 September 2014, the post of head of the Municipal Municipality "City of Vyborg" was taken by Alexander Petrovich Lysov. His candidacy was supported unanimously.[68]

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Sights

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Old Town Hall and Torkel Knutsson Monument
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Town Hall Tower (c. 1500)

Vyborg's most prominent landmark is its Swedish-built castle, founded in the 13th century and extensively reconstructed in 1891–1894. The Round Tower and the Rathaus Tower date from the mid-16th century and are parts of the medieval Vyborg town wall. Many of the buildings in the historic old town of Vyborg are still in poor condition today.[69][70]

The Viipuri Library by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and the Hermitage-Vyborg Center are a reference point in the history of modern architecture. There are also Russian fortifications of Annenkrone, completed by 1740, as well as the monuments to Peter the Great (1910) and Torkel Knutsson. Tourists can also visit the house where the founder of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin prepared the Bolshevik revolution during his stay in Vyborg from 24 September to 7 October 1917. The main street in Vyborg is called Prospekt Lenina (Russian: проспект Ленина; literally "Lenin Avenue"), formerly also known as Torkkelinkatu,[71] and along it, there is popular Lenin Park [ru].

Sprawling along the heights adjacent to the Gulf of Finland is Monrepos Park, one of the most spacious English landscape gardens in Eastern Europe. The garden was laid out on behest of its owner, Baron Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay, at the turn of the 19th century. Most of its structures were designed by the architect Giuseppe Antonio Martinelli. Previously, the estate belonged to the future king Frederick I (Maria Fyodorovna's brother), who called it Charlottendahl in honor of his second wife.

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Notable people

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See also: Category:People from Vyborg

Born before 1917

See also: Viipuri Province § Notable people

for people born in Viipuri Province between 1812 and 1917, when it was part of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

Born 1917–1945

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Larry Thorne, 1960s
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Riitta Uosukainen, 2013
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Martti Ahtisaari, 2012
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Viatcheslav Ekimov, 2006

Born after 1945

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Twin towns and sister cities

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia

Vyborg is twinned with:[citation needed]

See also

References

External links

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