Klaukkala (; sv, Klövskog , ) is the southern-most

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

( fi, taajama) of the

Nurmijärvi Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...

municipality 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 ...

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 ...

, located near Lake Valkjärvi. It is the largest urban area in Nurmijärvi, and despite the fact that it officially has the status of a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, it's often mistakenly thought to be a separate

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

due to its size and structure. In the 2010s, Klaukkala's urban area grew to be part of the larger

Helsinki urban area The Helsinki urban area (, sv, Helsingfors centraltätort), is the largest ''taajama'' in Finland. and is the fastest-growing area of Nurmijärvi; almost half of the total population of the municipality lives in Klaukkala. Its population began to rise in the 1960s, when it surpassed the church village of Nurmijärvi. In the 1970s, Klaukkala also grew larger than Rajamäki, which until then was the largest of Nurmijärvi's villages. At that time, Klaukkala's population was over 2,500. Klaukkala has significant

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

mainly from the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

; being a rural village a half-hour's drive away from the Helsinki centre, it especially attracts families with children. Unfortunately, due to the enormous population growth, the village is also infamous for its growing traffic, which causes local problems at the mornings and afternoons. In the early 2000s, many detached houses were built in Klaukkala, but the situation has changed as up to three-quarters of the new houses are apartment, terraced and semi-detached houses.

Etymology

The name of Klaukkala in Finnish is based on the name of the house, which in turn includes the name of the early host of the house, a variant of the name of

Nikolaus Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

, as well as

Klaus Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

, Klavus and Klåvus in Swedish. The name of the house is originally Finnish and its host is called "Klaukka". The names of the village used in history include Klöckeskoogh in 1527, Klockskoby in 1540, Klöckeskoby in 1544, Klauko in 1710 and Klaukala Hemmi in 1835. The name Klaukkala was officially established in 1866. In the present-day Swedish name, Klövskog, the first part ''klöv'' means

hoof The hoof (plural: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits, yet the rum ...

and the second part ''skog'' means forest.

History

Early history

The earliest references to Klaukkala date back to the 16th century, at which time the village was part of the Helsinki parish ( fi, Helsingin pitäjä). The earliest inhabitants were mainly

tavastians Tavastians ( fi, Hämäläiset, sv, Tavaster, russian: Емь, Yem, Yam) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in areas of the historical province of Tavastia (historical province), Tavastia (Häme) ...

. In the 1540s there were as many as 11 houses in Klaukkala, which together constituted five full taxes: Viiri, Tilkka, Gunnari, Olli, Huitti, Seppälä and Klaukka, which was the oldest house in the village. In 1592, a part of Klaukka's estate was created by dividing the Mylläri house according to its host,

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

Erkki Niilonpoika. Thus, in 1600 there were 10 farms in Klaukkala and one desert farm (one of the houses in Viiri). Klaukkala is mentioned in the 1500s as the prosperous village of the parish. The population of Klaukkala remained unstable between the mid-16th century and the 18th century. In the 16th century, the population remained fairly constant through the early 17th century, but then began to decline due to superpower wars, until the Great Famine years of the 1690s reduced the population by about 20%. The population grew momentarily before the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

, which again caused the population to decline. By the mid-18th century, however, the population had grown considerably. The fluctuations in house numbers in the villages followed the boom and bust until the late 17th century, after which the number of deserts remained the same. The reason for this was that the rapid population growth was mainly due to the stateless population, while the old farm numbers remained the same and more resources were needed to maintain them. In the latter part of the 18th century, the homeless population created a need for colonization and the establishment of farmhouses.

Axe murders and the civil war

In the late 19th century, Klaukkala became infamous for the

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

that took place on May 10, 1899 in Simola's

croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

. At that time

Karl Emil Malmelin Karl Emil Malmelin (16 January 1872 – 26 February 1944) was a Finnish farmworker and mass murderer. Malmelin was born 1872 in Espoo as the illegitimate child of Helena Gustava Malmelin, a maid at a Lahnus croft. As an adult, Malmelin became ...

, the croft's farmworker, killed the entire seven-member household with an axe. All in all, the incident was so terrible that it resulted in one of the most notable manhunts in Finnish history, folk tales, and at least two well-known and surviving

broadside ballad A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between th ...

s. The incident affected the entire Nurmijärvi's reputation for a long time, giving the parish a nickname such as ''Murhajärvi'' (literally "murder lake"). At that time, the incident was the worst massacre in Finland since the

Åbo Bloodbath The Åbo Bloodbath ( sv, Åbo blodbad; fi, Turun verilöyly) of 10 November 1599 was a public execution in the Finland, Finnish town of Turku (Åbo), then part of the Kingdom of Sweden, in the context of the War against Sigismund and the Club War. ...

in 1599, almost 300 years earlier. During the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

, after the

Battle of Helsinki The Battle of Helsinki was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in 12–13 April between the German troops and Finnish Whites against the Finnish Reds in Helsinki, Finland. Together with the battles of Tampere and Vyborg, it was one of the ...

, German troops who cooperated with the

Whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

in the fight against the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

, conquered Klaukkala on April 19, 1918 from the Reds with the aim of getting the troops from Helsinki to

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

. According to the Germans, the conquest of Klaukkala was a strict operation. The Red Guards defended the hill of the village in the "frustration of despair". They had good positions on the hill, but only four machine guns, possibly against the fourteen machine guns of the Whites. German sources recall that Klaukkala was captured by an assault in an hour and a half, which caught a total of 55 red prisoners. TA8799

Improvement of the market area

The most significant shopping center in Klaukkala are the Viirintori

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

and Viirinlaakso areas. The history of Viirintori dates back to the 19th century and the handed over to Karelia through family business. Kaarlo Narinen and his wife Anna founded the Kilpeenjoki's general merchandise store in the

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...

village in 1897. The Narinen family fled the Russian invasion during the war as far as Klaukkala and founded the economic store Klaukkalan Talouskauppa in the early 1950s. The next generation to lead it, Kaarlo and Anna's son Sakeus Narinen, along with wife Helmi. Their son Jouko Narinen is the originator of the Klaukkala's Viirintori and Viirinlaakso

commercial center Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

. He has been a merchant and developer of initiative and diligence for five decades. The area of Viirintori has increased significant commercial activity in Viirinlaakso and Klaukkala. The continuous development of the Klaukkalan Talouskauppa, which began in the 1960s, has now led to a situation where the municipality of Nurmijärvi plans to make Viirinlaakso a commercial center for Klaukkala. Jouko Narinen and his wife Ritva took over the Klaukkalan Talouskauppa in 1961. Since then, Jouko Narinen has been developing and growing the trade and the commercial real estate surrounding it throughout his career. Every ten years a new one was built and later the old one was also renovated. The first phase of growth began immediately after the last generation change. In 1963, Narinen built a new commercial building, which, among other things, was rented by a post office. The commercial building was renovated again in 1970. In 1976 an iron hall was erected on the fields and in 1982 Kiinteistö Oy Viirintori was completed. At the same time, Klaukkalan Talouskauppa became Viiri-Market Ky, which also included a commercial car circling the area. Viiri-Market employed 25 people at its best, a