Degerby is a former Finnish municipality located in

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...

region in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Degerby was founded in 1867 after it gained its independence from the municipality of

Ingå Ingå (; fi, Inkoo) is a municipality of Finland. Ingå is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density ...

. The municipality ceased to exist in 1945 after major part of it became a part of the Soviet naval base

Porkkala Porkkalanniemi ( sv, Porkala udd) is a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, located at Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) in Southern Finland. The peninsula had great strategic value, as coastal artillery based there would be able to shoot more than half ...

. In 1940 there were 1 490 people living in Degerby with majority of people speaking

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

as their mother tongue. The church village of Degerby, which was also the administrative centre of the municipality, is listed as a Built cultural heritage site of national significance by the

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a ...

. The neighbouring municipalities of Degerby were

Siuntio Siuntio (; sv, Sjundeå) is a municipality of Finland located in the Uusimaa region in the province of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi, to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the nor ...

and

. Nowadays Degerby is part of the municipality of Ingå.

History

The area of Degerby was populated during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

when the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

passed through the village. In 1560s there were only four houses in Degerby. There are also

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

burial sites on the cliffs that surround the Degerby church village.

As an independent municipality

Degerby gained its independence from Ingå in 1867. Ecclesiastically Degerby was still under Ingå's rule and the parish was run by chaplain from Ingå. Degerby parish gained its independence from Ingå in 1923. The municipality had seven schools, a town hall, a library, a midwife, a nurse, a fire inspector, a post office and a church all located in the administrative centre in the church village. Degerby also had a railway station in Solberg village which was the second largest village in the municipality. Mail and goods were transported to and from Degerby via the Solberg railway station.

The Soviet Naval Base Porkkala

In 1944

area was leased to

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

for 50 years as a consequence of the demands of the armistice. Majority of Degerby's area was included in the lease of Porkkala and altogether over 1 200 inhabitants of the total of about 1 400 inhabitants of Degerby were evacuated in 1944. As from 1 January 1946 the remaining parts of the Degerby were joined with

and the Degerby municipality ceased to exist. The parish of Degerby was joined with the parish of Ingå in the beginning of 1950. As the municipality was disestablished before rural municipalities were allowed to have coats of arms, Degerby never had one. The heraldist Tapani Talari has designed an unofficial coat of arms for Degerby, which is now used by the village's council.

Demographics

Population

Geography

Degerby is located in the middle of large fields surrounded by rocky hills.

Villages

Degerby church village, Degerö, Flyt, Kopparnäs, Solberg, Strand, Västersolberg

Traffic

The

Finnish national road 51 The Finnish national road 51 ( fi, Kantatie 51; sv, Stamväg 51) is the 2nd class main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Raseborg in southern Finland. It runs from Ruoholahti in Helsinki and passes through Espoo to Kirkkonummi as a ...

goes through Degerby south of the church village. There is a railway station in Solberg but no active traffic is maintained nowadays. Torbacka airport for small aircraft is also located in Degerby.

Sights

List of sights in Degerby: * Degerby church * Degerby Igor museum * Soviet bunker of Grefvas * Gutsåker cemetery * Torbacka airport * Kopparnäs open air nature area * Lomamäen lemmikkipuisto domestic animal park

References

{{Uusimaa Municipalities of Uusimaa