Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the south of Finland, about north of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

and southeast of

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to Helsinki, Tampere and

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

. Several businesses also operate in Riihimäki. Notably, Würth Oy has its Finnish headquarters and logistics center in Riihimäki.

Valio Valio Ltd ( fi, Valio Oy) is a Finnish manufacturer of dairy products and one of the largest companies in Finland. Valio's products include cheese, powdered ingredients, butter, yogurt and milk. It is Finland's largest milk processor, producing 8 ...

has a major dairy in the Herajoki part of Riihimäki. The famous

Sako Sako or SAKO may refer to: People with the surname * Bakary Sako (born 1988), French-born Malian footballer * Hygerta Sako, Albanian beauty pageant contestant * Louis Raphaël I Sako (born 1948), Iraqi cleric, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church * ...

rifles are also produced in Riihimäki. Riihimäki also has the second-highest flagpole in Finland. Riihimäen matkakeskus

The town is located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Southern Finland and is part of the

Tavastia Proper Tavastia or Tavastland may refer to: * Häme (Swedish: ''Tavastland'', Latin: ''Tavastia'') * Tavastia (historical province), a historical province of the kingdom of Sweden, located in modern-day Finland * Tavastia (constituency), formerly Tavas ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is . The municipality is unilingually

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Riihimäki is home to the Riihimäki Prison, which is, alongside Turku Prison, one of the prisons in the country with the highest security rating (A+), and is home to the country's most dangerous prisoners.IL: Tältä näyttää Suomen korkeimman turvaluokituksen vankila - elinkautisvanki: ”Kai sitä ihminen tottuu joka paikkaan”
(in Finnish)

History

Riihimäki was established around the

Riihimäki railway station Riihimäki railway station (, ) is a railway station located in the town of Riihimäki, Finland. History The Riihimäki railway station is one of the original stations on the main railway track from Helsinki to Hämeenlinna, opened in 1862 (see ...

by the

Helsinki–Riihimäki railway Helsinki–Riihimäki railway is a railway running between the Helsinki Central railway station and the Riihimäki railway station in Finland, and it is part of the Finnish Main Line. It was opened in 1862 as a part of the Finland's first railway b ...

, and is one of the original stations on Finland's first railway between

and

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 ...

, which opened in 1862. It became the first railway junction in Finland when the Riihimäki – Saint Petersburg track's first section from Riihimäki to

was opened in 1869. In 1907-1952 a narrow-gauge railway also operated between Riihimäki and

Loppi Loppi (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region, located about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of the city of Hämeenlinna. Loppi was founded ...

. Today, the quickest way to travel between Riihimäki and Loppi is by car along the national road 54, which runs between Tammela and

Hollola Hollola () is a municipality of Finland, located in the western part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. The municipality is unilingually Finnish and has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density Pop ...

. In 1910, a cavalry regiment was also established in the city. In 1922, Riihimäki separated from Hausjärvi and became an independent market-town. Riihimäki got its city rights in 1960. It was home to the reputed Riihimäki Glass company that remained in business from 1910 through 1990. The Finnish Glass Museum with its permanent display created by famous designer

Tapio Wirkkala Tapio Veli Ilmari Wirkkala (2 June 1915 – 19 May 1985) was a Finnish designer and sculptor, a major figure of post-war design. Life and work Wirkkala was born in Hanko in 1915. He attended the Töölö co-educational school in Helsinki. His fa ...

was opened in 1981. Höyryveturi Hv-1 nro 554 IM6229 C

Sports

* Peltosaaren Nikkarit & Kiekko-Nikkarit (

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

) * Riihimäen Taitoluistelijat (

Figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

) * Riihimäen Jäätaiturit (

Synchronized skating Synchronized skating is an ice skating sport where between 8 to 16 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork. This complex sport originated in 1956 and was ...

) * Kolmoskori (

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

) * Riihimäen Ilves, formerly RIPS ( Soccer) * SC Top ( Floorball) * Cocks ( Handball) * Riihi-Pesis, formerly RPL ( Finnish baseball) * Riihimäen Kisko (

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

) * Riihimäen Uimaseura (

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

)

Notable individuals

Athletes

* Aki Seitsonen, ice hockey player * Arri Munnukka, football player * Daniel O'Shaughnessy, football player * Janne Lahti,

SM-Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

ice hockey player *

Jukka Jalonen Jukka Pertti Juhani Jalonen (born November 2, 1962 in Riihimäki, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. In 2011, 2019 and 2022, he led the Finnish national team to the gold medal in the II ...

, national ice hockey coach and ice hockey player * Jukka Vanninen, football player *

Jussi Veikkanen Jussi Veikkanen (born 29 March 1981) is a Finnish former road racing cyclist, who rode as a professional between 2005 and 2015 for the and teams. He won the Finnish National Road Race Championships seven times between 2003 and 2014. Career B ...

, professional road racing cyclist * Kari Tiainen, motorcycle enduro world champion * Kasper Kenig, ice hockey player * Lauri Toivonen, basketball player * Max Kenig, ice hockey player * Olli Korkeavuori, ice hockey player * Patrick O'Shaughnessy, football player *

Pekka Vasala Pekka Antero Vasala (born 17 April 1948) is a retired Finnish middle-distance athlete who won an Olympic gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City he failed to advance from the first round of he ...

, middle and long-distance runner; Olympic champion (1972) in the 1,500 metres * Sami Lähteenmäki,

ice hockey player * Tero Arkiomaa, ice hockey player * Tuomas Viertola, basketball player

Politicians

* Aino-Kaisa Pekonen, Member of Parliament * Arto Lapiolahti, Member of Parliament * Efraim Kronqvist, politician and Riihimäki Red Guard leader in 1918 * Helge Sirén, Member of Parliament *

Iiro Viinanen Iiro Viinanen (born 27 September 1944, in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish politician. Viinanen graduated as an engineer from a Tampere institute in 1967 and as a M.Sc. Tech. from Helsinki University of Technology in 1974 . He was a Member of the ...

, politician * Päivi Räsänen, politician

The arts

* Liisa Akimof, musician * Pekka Autiovuori, actor * Torsten Brander, music contributor *

Tommi Hakala Tommi Hakala (born 9 August 1970) is a Finnish operatic baritone and winner of the 2003 BBC Singer of the World Competition in Cardiff. He was born in Riihimäki, Finland. Sources *BBC News BBC News is an operational business division o ...

, singer *

Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Hollywood and China. His best-known films include '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fai ...

, film director and film producer *

Aku Hirviniemi Aku-Heikki Ilmari Hirviniemi (born 5 December 1983, in Riihimäki) is a Finnish actor. Theatre and television Hirviniemi has worked for several theatres around Finland, including Helsinki, Riihimäki, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Hämeenlinna, whi ...

, actor * Anita Hirvonen, pop singer *

Maija Isola Maija Sofia Isola (15 March 1927 – 3 March 2001) was a Finnish designer of printed textiles, and the creator of over 500 patterns, including ''Unikko'' ("Poppy"). The bold, colourful prints she created as the head designer of Marimekko made t ...

, designer * Erkki Junkkarinen, singer * Janne Kataja, actor * Jukka Koskinen, musician * Niina Lahtinen, actor * Sinikka Laine, writer * Emilia Linnavuori, visual artist *

Nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

, music group * Lauren Okadigbo, actress * Samuli Paronen, writer *

Veikko Sinisalo Veikko Sinisalo (30 September 1926 – 16 December 2003) was a Finnish actor. He appeared in 24 films and television shows between 1954 and 2002. He starred in '' Sven Tuuva the Hero'', which was entered into the 9th Berlin International Fil ...

, actor *

Skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

, music group * Seppo Tamminen, artist * Jann Wilde, musician and songwriter

Other

Arvi Paloheimo Arvi may refer to: * Arvi, Wardha, a city in the Wardha district of Maharashtra, India ** Arvi (Vidhan Sabha constituency) * An ancient Hebrew word for inhabitants of Arabia; see Etymology of the word Arab The proper name ''Arab'' or ''Arabian ...

, industrialist * Olli Paloheimo, forester, minister and Jäger *

Ragnar Granit Ragnar Arthur Granit (30 October 1900 – 12 March 1991) was a Finnish-Swedish scientist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1967 along with Haldan Keffer Hartline and George Wald "for their discoveries concerning the ...

, physician who won the 1967

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

* Veikko Löyttyniemi, journalist

Twin towns – sister cities

Riihimäki is twinned with: *

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by other #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A City with county rights, city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, i ...

, Hungary *

Skedsmo Skedsmo was a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality was the town of Lillestrøm. About one third of the municipal population lived in Lillestrøm. ...

, Norway *

Húsavík Húsavík () is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,307 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík i ...

, Iceland * Gus-Khrustalny, Russia *

Karlskoga Karlskoga () is a locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality, Sweden. Located within Örebro County, 45 km (28 mi) west of Örebro, and 10 km (6 mi) north of Degerfors. With a 2020 population of 27,386 distributed over 10.55 square miles (2 ...

, Sweden * Aalborg, Denmark * Bad Segeberg, Germany

References

;Notes

External links

Town of Riihimäki
– Official website
Hyrinet – Hyvinkää–Riihimäki area portal

Finnish Glass Museum - Riihimäki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riihimaki Cities and towns in Finland Municipalities of Kanta-Häme Populated places established in 1922 1922 establishments in Finland