Lapua (Swedish: Lappo) is a Finnish city located in the province of
South Ostrobothnia. 14,112 people live in the city. The area of the
municipality is 750.78 km², of which 13.62 km² are water bodies. The
population density is 19.1 inhabitants/km². Lapua's neighboring
municipalities are Alajärvi, Kauhava, Kuortane, Lappajärvi and
Seinäjoki. Former neighboring municipalities are Nurmo and Ylistaro
connected to Seinäjoki and Ylihärmä connected to Kauhava.
Lapua
is perhaps best known for the Lapua movement, the explosion of the Lapua
Cartridge Factory (1976) and Körtti. Lapua is Finland's smallest city
with a bishop's seat and a cathedral. Ministers from Lapua have included
Kustaa Tiitu, Jalo Lahdensuo, Niilo Kosola, Orvokki Kangas and Finland's
first female prime minister, Anneli Jäätteenmäki. Olympic-level athletes
such as Harri Koskela, Tapio Korjus and Mikko Huhtala have also made the
city famous. Lapua Virkiä's women's super baseball team has won the
Finnish baseball championship 11 times, won the championship silver six
times and bronze seven times.
Today, the city is also known for
its rich cultural life. Culture got its own house when the former Lapua
Cartridge Factory building was renovated into the city's cultural
center. The place is now known as Culture Center Vanha Paukku, and it is
home to the Lapua Music College, the city library, the Lapua Civic
College, the Lapua Theater, the Lapua Art Museum, the Lapua Movement
Museum, the Lapua Cartridge Factory Museum, the Cartridge Gallery, the
Pyhälahti Photographic Museum, the Ostrobothnia Photography Center and
the Bio Marilyn cinema.
In Old Pauku, e.g. music event Vanhan
Paukku Festival and Vanhan Paukku Philosophy Days. In addition, the
locality organizes e.g. Lapuan Päivä celebration, Ritafest rock festival
and every other year the international organ music event Lapuan
Urkufestivalit.
Well-known cultural figures born in Lapua are
e.g. artist Teemu Mäki, founder of the band Miljoonasade: musician
Heikki Salo, dialect writer Harri Harju, late actor Esko Nikkari and
dancer Jukka Haapalainen.
The local newspaper Lapuan Sanomat is
published in Lapua.
Several large Christian summer events have been organized in Lapua.
Revival celebrations have been organized in Lapua eight times: 1901 in
Sinnemäki, 1911 in Liuhtari, 1917 in Karhumäki and in 1930, 1943, 1958,
1984 and 2014. The Evangelical Gospel Festival was organized in Lapua in
1987.
Other events:
Old Paukku Festival
Lapua Organ
Festival
Vanhan Paukku's Philosophy Days
Traditional play days at
the Ränkimäki House Museum
Ritafest
Lapuan Day
Vanhan Pauku cultural center, which is located in the former
environment of the Lapua Patruunatehtaa
Lapua Art Museum
Museum of
the Lapuan shop
Lapua Cartridge Factory Museum
Lapua Cathedral,
with Finland's largest organ, 85 + 6 sounds
Jokilaakso tourist garden
Vihtori Kosola's home
Dance center Latosaari
Ränkimäki House
Museum
Lapuanjoki field plain, Alajoki
The river landscape of the
confluence of Lapuanjoki and Nurmonjoki in the very center of the city
The monument of the Battle of Lapua on July 14, 1808 on the Kiviristi,
erected in 1864
Lapua Cartridge Factory explosion memorials in the
factory area and Lapua cemetery
Simpsiö, observation tower, Digita TV
mast and downhill skiing center
Körtti Museum
Finland's first
Körtti folk high school Wanha Karhunmäki.
Food
In the 1980s,
Lapua's broth, similar to dumplings, was named Lapua's traditional dish.
Sport
Athletes from Lapua have represented Finland in several
sports in important competitions up to and including the Olympic Games.
There are several sports clubs in Lapua, such as Lapuan Virki, Lapuan
Ponnistus and Korikobra. Places for sports in Lapua include the
athletics and soccer field Lapua Central Field, as well as the nearby
baseball stadium, swimming hall, sports hall and ice rink.
Training
Lapua has 11 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high
school, 1 Vocational school as well as a civic college, a music college,
STEP education and an art school.
In the 14th century, there were some Lapland people in Lapua, who had to live in their wilderness area. The name Lapuan was probably given by coastal Swedes precisely because of the Lapps who lived in the area.
Prehistory and settlement formation
Back in the period of the
Stone Age comb ceramic culture, the water level of the Baltic Sea
was 56–58 meters higher than the current water level. In that case,
Lapua was located right next to the seashore, where the conditions
for human habitation were most favorable. A lot of Stone Age
discoveries have been made in Lapua, including 14 residences from
the period of the comb ceramic culture. Even later in prehistoric
times, Lapua's location was advantageous. The region was located
along the dog sled route that led from Laatoka Karelia to South
Ostrobothnia and further to the mouth of the Oulu River.
In
the early 14th century, permanent settlement began to spread to the
Lapuanjoki valley as well. Residents came, for example, from the
Suur-Sastamala settlement center in Ylä-Satakunta, which had good
land and water connections to the north. In the early stages, the
center of population of Ostrobothnia formed in the lower reaches of
Kyrönjoki. The area of Merenkurku, which is rich in natural
resources, attracted people to settle near the sea. At that time,
there were some Lapps in the area, who had to live in their remote
area.
Along the Kyrönjoki river in Kyrönmaa, as the settlement expanded in
the 15th century, new wilderness and meadow areas began to be acquired
from the east, along the Lapuanjoki river. The cheapest place to live
was found at the point where Nurmonjoki joins Lapuajoki. The current
center of Lapua is also located in the same location. The place soon
began to be called Isokylä. Of the other villages in the 15th century,
only Haapakoski was known, which is located a little higher along the
Lapuanjoki river. Isokylä, at the confluence of the rivers, was a
central place in terms of traffic. It was also easy to take advantage of
the region's rich fishing waters. Vast areas with plenty of game still
started from the river banks. At the time of 1413, there were about 10
houses in Lapua. Hunting and fishing remained important livelihoods
until the 17th century.
In the middle of the 16th century, when
Lapua had about 70 houses, the settlement slowly began to spread from
Isostakylä to more and more distant areas. The new villages Tiistenjoki
and Kauhajärvi also began to receive permanent settlements. 1555 Kustaa
Vaasa gave a person named Mikael Andreas a power of attorney for the
post of priest in Lapua's chapel parish. However, a priest with this
name probably never arrived in Lapua. However, the event was
significant, because after this Lapua began to break away more and more
from its parent region, the great holder of Kyrö. Tradition says that
around this time Lapua had already built its own church. Lapua became an
independent churchwarden in 1581. A priest living permanently in the
region had already been obtained five years earlier. At the beginning of
the 1590s, Lapua became an independent administrator and locally
important assemblies were held in December 1590. When Kauhava was joined
to Lapua in 1608, Suur-Lapua included the chapels of Kauhava, Härmä,
Kuortanee, Nurmo and Töysä.
Animal husbandry, tar burning and
farming (16th–18th centuries)
In the 16th and 17th centuries, only
narrow strips along the Lapuanjoki River were used for farming. However,
arable farming was hampered by frequent floods. Areas plagued by
excessive humidity were usually considered pastures, in which case
livestock farming was also profitable. When the peasants' livelihood was
taxed by frequent floods and frosts, tar burning provided important
additional income. With the sale of tar, we already moved into the
monetary economy. The forest was valuable, and numerous border visits
had to be held to find out the rights to use it. At the same time, the
keeper got his boundaries and the boundaries of the villages also began
to take shape.
Lapuajoki was an export route for tar. The tar was
transported to Uuteenkaarletovy, where it was also customary to pay
taxes. Thanks to the sea route, a solid connection with the Swedish
capital, Stockholm, was created. It was common for the people of Lapua
to turn directly to the king in case of problems, bypassing the local
authorities. After the founding of the town of Uudenkaarlepy in the
1560s, it became relevant to build a road from Uudenkaarlepy to inland
Ruovede, where Uudenkaarlepy's trade seems to have extended. The people
of Lapua were ordered to build a sky from Lapua to Ruovede. The task
seemed pointless. Waterways were more important to Pitäjä residents. In
1695, the road to Ruovede was mostly completed. In the 17th century,
there was also a road connection from Lapua to Ilmajoki.
Hunting
and fishing were allowed to give way to farming in the 18th century.
There seemed to be endless work in draining and drying. The big
redistribution implemented after the middle of the century improved land
ownership conditions, which encouraged hard work. The numerous
farmsteads established especially at the end of the century increased
the number of farms considerably. The population also grew rapidly. In
1590 Lapua had 530 inhabitants, in 1680 595 and in 1793 already 2,438.
Rye and barley were the most popular crops, peas were also known.
Potatoes were only cultivated at the end of the 18th century, and oats
were cultivated in the 19th century.
In 1808, Lapua became one of the battlefields of the Finnish War
(1808–1809). Carl Johan Adlercreutz and Georg Carl von Döbeln won a
valuable victory over the Russians at Lapua, which is now known as the
Battle of Lapua (July 14, 1808). However, the Finnish field army was not
able to take advantage of the victory.
The Lapuanjoki branch was
known for its knife junkers. The turning point in the rough life came at
the beginning of the 19th century, when Niilo Kustaa Malmberg was named
assistant chaplain of Lapua. This ardent preacher considerably improved
the manners of the population. He was also instrumental in influencing
the fact that awakening later became a significant spiritual movement.
Malmberg also creditably promoted local school conditions. In 1838, he
offered to run a circuit school. The task itself was heavy and
thankless. Malmberg's work in Lapua was continued by, among others,
Justiina Rautakorpi, Arvi Logren and Malmberg's son Wilhelm Malmivaara.
The first folk school in Lapua began its operations in 1869. The opening
ceremony of the first rural secondary school in the province and in the
whole of northern Finland was held in Lapua in 1904. The popular folk
school experiment began in 1890, and as a sign of the national
educational effort, the Lapua Youth Society was founded in 1892. The
inner mission club Herättäjä was founded in Lapua in 1912. Finland's
first Christian folk school began its operations in Lapua's Karhunmäki
in 1913.
Between 1881 and 1930, as many as 5,306 people from
Lapland immigrated mainly to North America. Migration significantly
slowed down the growth of the municipality's population, as in 1880
Lapua had only 9,115 inhabitants. They dared to go on the trip in such
large numbers, among other things, because the residents of the region
had a fair amount of knowledge about foreign countries. In addition to
trade trips, he had gone on military expeditions to, for example, the
Baltics and Germany.
The political activity of the people of
Lapua, already inherited from the times of the Mace War (1596–1597),
came to the fore again at the beginning of the 20th century. From 1915,
Lapua served as an important Jaeger hub, through which the Jaegers
traveled to Sweden and further to Germany. The anti-communist Lapua
Movement (1929–1932) got its name from the tearing of the red shirts of
communist youths that took place in Lapua from November 23 to November
24, 1929, and the right-wing radical activity led by Lapua that started
from this. An organization called Suomen Lukko was founded in Lapua in
1930, but they could not reach a consensus on the principles of
operation. Its members who supported direct action founded an
organization called Lapua Liike under the leadership of Vihtori Kosola,
a farmer from Lapua, in the same year. On July 7, 1930, the Lapuan
movement organized the largest demonstration ever seen in Finland: more
than 12,000 men called peasant march to Helsinki. At first, the movement
received wide support, but gradually its hard grips, including the
relocations, alienated many from it. The Lapua movement was abolished
after the Mäntsälä rebellion of February 27 – March 3, 1932.
Already at the end of the 19th century, the church village of Lapua
resembled a small town with its large peasant houses. In addition, it
was located in a very central location, railway traffic had already
started in 1885. Lapua's population grew quite steadily in the first
half of the 20th century, and at the beginning of the 20th century,
plans began to be made for Lapua to become a densely populated
community, which was realized in 1915. In 1960, Lapua already had 16,282
inhabitants. In 1964, Lapua became one of the first townships in Finland
to include not only a small-town-like downtown, but also a large
scattered settlement area. Agricultural exhibitions have been organized
in Lapua in 1938, 1948 and 1968.
The parish of Lapua reached its
most significant turning point when the Diocese of Lapua started
operating on July 1, 1956. It was precisely the Christian traditions of
the locality that influenced Lapua to get a diocese. On the other hand,
the people of Lapua themselves were actively driving the project. In
this context and also at other times, Kustaa Tiitu, who was, among other
things, a member of parliament in the years 1945–1958 and 1965–1970,
acted as a powerful developer of Lapua.
At the end of the 1960s,
Lapua's population began to decrease due to emigration. In 1977, the
township system was abolished and Lapua was named a city along with all
the other townships at the time (except Karhula, which was connected to
Kotka).
One of the worst peacetime accidents happened in Lapua in
1976, the explosion of the Lapua cartridge factory. In the accident, 40
factory workers lost their lives and several were seriously injured.
From 1977, the Pentecostal evangelist Niilo Yli-Vainio organized revival
meetings in the Lapua sports hall that received wide attention, which
led to the growth of the popularity of the Pentecostal revival.
After that, the city's population began to gradually increase, and in
1985 Lapua had 14,728 inhabitants. By 2011, the city's population had
grown to 14,504.
On Independence Day in 1986, the special express
train Lapponia derailed at Lapua station. The 1979 and 2007 Jukola
relays were organized in Lapua. Lapua also has Finland's second oldest
youth council, which was founded in 1995. The predecessor of Lapua High
School, Lapua Yhteislyseo, was the oldest secondary school in Southern
Ostrobothnia. In 2001, Lapua made national headlines thanks to the Lapua
Opera performed by Lapua Amateur Actors. The wake-up party was organized
in Lapua in 2014.
Lapua is located along the Lapuanjoki river. The landscape of Lapua,
which is located in the middle of the expanse of South Ostrobothnia, is
dominated by wide riverside plains and in some places hills clearly
rising above their surroundings. The town has the Lapua railway station
of the Ostrobothnia line.
Nature
Lapua is located in the zone
where the slate zone of Western Finland changes into a uniform granite
zone of the coast. The bedrock is usually gneiss (migmatic biotite
plagioclase gneiss or plagioclase gneiss), granite or quartzite. The
most common soil types are peat and moraine. There is slightly less
clay. There are few coarser types of mineral soil such as grit and sand.
Usually, they occur in broad, rather thin layers or clay is layered on
top of them.
The terrain is fairly flat, but gradually rises in
Lapua from northwest to southeast. While the lowest parts of the
cultivated plain in Hellanmaa are at an altitude of 26 m, the marsh
plains in the Pettuvuori region are considerable in places. Lapua's
highest hill Simpsiö mountain rises 132 m above sea level and more than
100 m higher than its surroundings. The mountain's height is due to its
wear-resistant rock type, quartzite.
Water bodies
Lapuajoki is
the most significant of Lapua's water bodies. it originates in the
Suomenselkä area and flows into Pohjanlahti at Uudenkaarlepyi. The
length of the river is about 165 km and its watershed area is 2,995m².
Since there are few lakes in the watershed and they are also small, the
river reacts quite sensitively to the amount of rain. Because the banks
of Lapuanjoki are shallow and the shores are flat, floods affected very
large areas in the past. At the time of the flood, the landscape could
resemble an archipelago, where forested hummocks and watery swamps
alternated. In particular, a lot of flood protection work has been done
in the river downstream from the center of Lapua. In Lapua, the
Mäkelänkoski and Hourunkoski hydropower plants have been built in the
river. Nurmonjoki originates from Seinäjoki's Nurmo area and joins
Lapuajoki near the center of Lapua. Other rivers are Kauhavanjoki,
Tiistenjoki, Lakaluoma, Tiisipuro and Löyhingiluoma.
Hirvijärvi
artificial lake, the largest of the lakes, only part of which is in the
Lapua city area. The area of Tekojärvi at mean water level is 1,530
hectares and it was built as part of the flood protection arrangements
of Lapuanjoki. A power plant has also been built in connection with the
artificial pool. The largest of the natural lakes is Kauhajärvi in the
northeast corner of the city. Other lakes are Lake Tiisijärvi. The lakes
are quite shallow.
Landscape
The landscape of Lapua is
dominated by the vast agricultural plains of the river valleys. Towards
the east and southeast towards Suomenselkä, the proportion of the forest
in the landscape increases. The marshes of Lapua are for the most part
primarily swampy, i.e. the land exposed under the ice and water
immediately began to swamp. Swamps are usually curds. The bog has been
taken by plowing it in abundance for cultivation. By burning the raw
curd peat layer on the surface, layers with more nutrients were reached.
At the same time, part of the surface layer material was made available
to crops. Crop farming was common in Lapua, especially at the end of the
19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
Districts and
villages
Alahella, Alanurmo, Haapakoski, Hellanmaa, Hirvijoki,
Honkimäki, Hyyppä, Härsilä, Karhunmäki, Kauhajärvi, Kirkonkylä,
Kiviristi, Koskikylä, Lakaluoma, Liuhtari, Länskilä, Mustamaa,
Myllykylä, Männikkö, Ojutkangas, Paavola, Pouttu, Bible, Rautakorpi,
Ritakallio, Ritamäki, Ruha, Saarenkangas, Siirilä, Tamppari, Teora,
Tiistenjoki, Toijanniemi, Välä, Ylikylä.