Everything about Vyborg totally explained
Vyborg (; ; ; ) is a
town in
Leningrad Oblast,
Russia, situated on the
Karelian Isthmus near the head of the
Bay of Vyborg, 130 km to the northwest of
St. Petersburg, 38 km south from Russia's border with
Finland, where the
Saimaa Canal enters the
Gulf of Finland. Population: 79,224 (
2002 Census); 80,924 (
1989 Census).
History
The area where Vyborg is located used to be a trading center on the
River Vuoksi's western branch, which has dried up. The area was inhabited by the
Karelians, a
Finnish tribe which gradually came under the domination of
Novgorod and
Sweden.
According to a Russian archaeologist V. Tyulenev, a wooden Karelian fort existed there already in the 11th and 12th centuries.
The first
castle of Vyborg was founded during the so-called "
Third Swedish Crusade" in 1293 by
marshal Torkel Knutsson. The castle was fought over for decades between Sweden and the
Republic of Novgorod. By the
Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, Viborg was finally recognized as a part of
Sweden. It withstood a prolonged siege by
Daniil Shchenya during the
Russo–Swedish War of 1496–1499.
The town's trade privileges were
chartered by King
Eric of Pomerania in 1403.
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 they functioned as
Margraves (though not having this as their formal title), having feudal privileges and keeping all the crown's incomes from the fief to use for the defense of the realm's eastern border.
For Medieval Swedish history see also:
Fief of Viborg.
Viborg remained in Swedish hands until its capture by
Peter the Great in the
Great Northern War (1710). The
Treaty of Nystad (1721), which concluded the war, assigned the town and a part of
Old Finland to Russia.
One of the largest naval battles in history was fought off shore in the Viipuri Bay on
July 4,
1790.
After the rest of Finland
was ceded to Russia in
1809,
Alexander I of Russia incorporated the town and
its province into the newly-created
Grand Duchy of Finland in
1812.
In the course of the 19th century, the town developed as the center of administration and trade for the eastern part of Finland. The inauguration of the
Saimaa Canal in 1856 benefited the local economy as it opened the vast waterways of Eastern Finland to the sea. Viipuri was never a major industrial center, and lacked large production facilities, but due to its location it served as a focal point of transports of all industries on the Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia and South-Eastern Finland.
Following the
Russian Revolution of 1917 and the fall of the
Russian Empire, Finland declared itself independent. During the
Finnish Civil War Viipuri was in the hands of the
Reds until it was captured by the
Whites on
29 April 1918.
In the inter-war decades, the town, then officially known as Viipuri, was the second biggest city in Finland and center of
Viipuri province. In
1939 Viipuri had some 80,000 inhabitants, including sizable minorities of
Swedes,
Germans,
Russians and
Jews. During this time,
Alvar Aalto built a masterpiece of
modernist architecture — the
Viipuri Library.
During the
Winter War more than 70,000 people were evacuated from Viipuri to western Finland. The Winter War was concluded by the
Peace of Moscow, which stipulated the transfer of Viipuri and the whole
Karelian Isthmus — emptied of their residents — to Soviet sovereignty, where it was incorporated in to the
Karelo Finnish SSR,
March 31,
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 Viipuri was resettled in the remaining Finland.
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
Germany against the Soviet threat; a support that resulted in Finland and Germany fighting on the same side in
World War II.
On
August 29,
1941, Viipuri was recaptured by Finnish troops and, soon after, the Government of Finland formally annexed it along with the other areas lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty. At first the Finnish Army didn't allow civilians into the town. Of the 6,287 buildings, 3,807 had been destroyed. The first civilians started to arrive at the end of September and by the end of the year Viipuri had a population of about 9,700. By
1942 it has risen to 16,000. About 70% of the evacuees from Finnish Karelia returned after the re-conquest to rebuild their looted homes, but were again evacuated after the
Red Army's
Fourth strategic offensive, timed with the
Battle of Normandy. By the time of the Soviet offensive, the town had a population of nearly 28,000. The town was evacuated by
June 19 and the defence of Viipuri was entrusted to the
20th Brigade. The town fell to the Red Army on
20 June 1944, but the Finns 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 city.
In the following
Moscow Armistice September 19, 1944, Finland returned to the borders set by the Moscow Peace treaty (and had to cede even more land than what the Moscow Peace treaty originally demanded), and in the
Paris Peace treaties (1947) Finland relinquished all claims to Viipuri.
After the Winter War, Leningrad had wanted to incorporate the area of Viipuri, but it took until September 1944 for it to be finally transferred from the
Karelo-Finnish SSR to
Leningrad Oblast, and the name of the town was changed to Vyborg. During the Soviet era, the town was settled by people from all over the Soviet Union. The naval air bases of
Pribilovo and
Veshchevo were built nearby.
Economics
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 grid 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 megawatts, so that the entire maximum transmission rate amounts to 1065 megawatts.
Sights
Vyborg's most prominent landmark is the
Swedish built castle, started in the 13th century and extensively reconstructed in 1891–1894. The Round Tower and the Rathaus Tower date from the mid-16th century. The
Viipuri Library by Finnish architect
Alvar Aalto is a reference point in the history of modern architecture.
There are also Russian fortifications, completed by
1740, as well as the monuments to Peter I (1910) and Torkel Knutsson. Tourists are shown the "
Lenin house", where the Russian revolutionary prepared the Bolshevik revolution during his stay in Viipuri in September-October
1917.
Sprawling along the heights adjacent to the
Gulf of Finland is
Mon Repos, one of
the most spacious
English parks in Eastern Europe. The park was laid out on behest of its owner, Baron Ludwig Heinrich von Nikolay, at the turn of the 19th centuries. Most of the garden structures were designed by the architect
Giuseppe Antonio Martinelli. Previously, the estate belonged to the future king
Frederick I of Württemberg (
Maria Fyodorovna's brother), who called it Charlottendahl in honor of his second wife.
Sister Cities
Further Information
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