Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

, an autonomous territory under Finnish

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

. Mariehamn is the seat of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and

Parliament of Åland The Parliament of Åland (''Ålands lagting'') is the unicameral legislature of Åland, an autonomous, Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The Lagting has 30 members who make laws for Åland and oversee its government. Committees Most parli ...

, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded by

Jomala Jomala is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. In terms of population, it is the next largest after Mariehamn, the capital of Åland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...

, the second-largest municipality in Åland in terms of population; to the east, it is bordered by

Lemland Lemland is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish. The Lemström ch ...

. Like the rest of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around of the inhabitants speak it as their native language. The theme of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Mariehamn refers to the city's main livelihood,

maritime transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it pr ...

, and the city's parks, which are typically lined with

linden trees ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Britain and Irelan ...

. The coat of arms was designed by Nils Byman and confirmed in 1951. Due to its central location in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, Mariehamn has become a major summer

resort town A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

for global

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

; as many as 1.5 million tourists visit annually.

History

The town was named after the Russian empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824–1880), literally meaning "Marie's Port". Mariehamn was founded on 21 February 1861 around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of

. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. Mariehamn was built according to a very regular scheme which is well-preserved. One of the oldest streets is ''Södragatan'' where many wooden houses dating from the 19th century can be seen. In the mid 1800s, the business of cargo shipping started to catch on, and many important shipowners and shipyards took their residence in the developing city. Following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Mariehamn was home to the Mariehamn Grain Fleet. On 8 November 1963, a

plane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

occurred in Mariehamn, in which 22 out of 25 people died, which made it the second-deadliest aviation accident in the history of Finland.

Transport

Harbours

The city is located on a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

. It has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore, which are ice-free for nearly the whole year, and have no tides. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and mainland

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Åland and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The Flying P-Liner ''

Pommern Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian, Pomeranian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian voivodesh ...

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

(part of the

Åland Maritime Museum The Åland Maritime Museum () is a museum in Mariehamn in Åland, Finland. It is located in the western part of the town on the sea on Hamngatan, about at the other end of Storagatan. Along with Ålands Museum, it is the most important museum in ...

) is anchored in the Western Harbour. The Eastern Harbour features one of the largest marinas in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. The famous Dutch steamer ''Jan Nieveen'' (now called '' F.P. von Knorring'', after Åland teacher and vicar Frans Peter von Knorring) can also be found here.

Airport

Mariehamn Airport Mariehamn Airport (, , ) is located in Jomala, Åland, Finland. The airport lies approximately north-west of the Mariehamn town centre. The state-owned Finavia operates the airport. Facilities The airport features a duty-free shop. Because ...

serves the city; it has scheduled flights on two airlines including

Finnair Finnair Plc (, ) is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its airline hub, hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...

Roads

At three of Åland's four highways, Mariehamn serves as a starting point for Main Road 1 to

Eckerö Eckerö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish an ...

, Main Road 2 to

Sund Sund may refer to: Places In northern Europe, there are more than a hundred straits named ''Sund'', see: Sound (geography). *Sund, Åland, a municipality in Finland * Sund, Norway, a former municipality in Vestland county, Norway * Sund, Flakstad, ...

and Main Road 3 to

Lumparland Lumparland is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. It is the smallest municipality on mainland Åland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mu ...

Culture

The city is an important centre for Åland media; both of the local newspapers (

Ålandstidningen ''Ålandstidningen'' or ''Tidningen Åland'' is a Swedish language, Swedish-language newspaper in Åland, an autonomous region in Finland. It is published six times a week with a circulation of 8,392, and is the largest local newspaper on Åland, ...

and

Nya Åland ''Nya Åland'' is a Swedish language newspaper in Åland, an autonomous region in Finland. It is the second largest local newspaper on Åland, following Ålandstidningen. History and profile ''Nya Åland'' was founded in 1981 as a cooperative mo ...

), several radio stations and the local TV channels ( TV Åland and

Åland24 Åland24 is a privately owned local television channel broadcasting mainly online and in the urban areas of Åland, an autonomous province of Finland. Åland24 began its operations during the fall of 2007, with its first broadcast occurring in Octo ...

) operate out of the city. The islanders are traditionally fond of reading, and had public libraries before 1920. A printing works was established in the town in 1891. The municipal library, which was built in 1989, is one of the most interesting modern buildings.

Museums

Åland Museum The Cultural History Museum of Åland and Åland Islands Art Museum are two museums under the same roof in Mariehamn in Åland (Finland). The building houses even other collections and staff of Ålands Museum, which was formerly the name of the Cul ...

* ''Pommern'' (ship) * Övernässtugan * Sjökvarteret

Architecture

Architects

Mariehamn features several buildings drawn by Finnish architect

Lars Sonck Lars Eliel Sonck (10 August 1870 – 14 March 1956) was a Finnish architect. He was a prominent figure in early 20th-century Finnish architecture, known for his role in developing the National Romantic and later Nordic Classicism movements in ...

, who moved to Åland as a child. Buildings drawn by him include the church of Mariehamn (1927), the main building of the Åland Maritime College (1927) and the town hall (1939). Hilda Hongell also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.

The Church of St George

The main parish church of Mariehamn was opened in 1927 and has been expanded in 1959 and renovated in 1972. when the pews were painted blue. The visible decorations include painted wooden ceiling panels, one for each of the followers of Christ. The unnamed panel is that representing Judas Iscariot. The church paintings and decorations are the work of Finnish artist Bruno Tuukkanen. These include the golden mosaics behind the altar which show the life of Christ. Gifts to the church include the font and the ship that hangs from the ceiling. This is the ''Tjerimaj''. The church houses a 37 stop organ built in stages (1969, 1982).

Demographics

Historical population

Mariehamn’s population has gradually increased over time. Based on data from ÅSUB (Statistics and Research Åland), the city’s population by year was: * 1987: 9,966 * 1990: 10,263 * 1997: 10,408 * 2000: 10,488 * 2002: 10,632 * 2004: 10,712 * 2006: 10,824 * 2008: 11,005 * 2009: 11,123 * 2010: 11,190 * 2011: 11,262 * 2012: 11,346 * 2013: 11,393 * 2014: 11,480 * 2015: 11,461 * 2016: 11,565 * 2017: 11,677 * 2018: 11,743

Foreign-born residents (2018)

As of 2018, the largest groups of foreign-born residents in Mariehamn came from the following countries: * : 1,093 people (9.55%) * : 173 (1.51%) * : 163 (1.42%) * : 101 (0.85%) * : 92 (0.80%) * : 86 (0.75%) * : 86 (0.75%) * : 73 (0.64%) * : 55 (0.48%) * : 45 (0.39%)

Geography

Climate

Mariehamn has a transitional climate between a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

) and an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

( Cfb) as a result of the strong maritime moderation from being an island in the Baltic Sea. This causes summers to be cooler than both the Swedish and Finnish mainlands, with winters being similar in cold to the adjacent coastal part of Sweden but milder than Finland's mainland. The lowest temperature at Mariehamn airport was in February 1979, and the highest temperature on record was in July 2022 and July 1941.

Twin towns and sister cities

Mariehamn is twinned with the following cities: *

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...

, Iceland *

Kragerø Kragerø () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø. Villages in Kragerø include H ...

, Norway *

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a populated places in Estonia, town on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Municipality and the seat of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded popul ...

, Estonia *

Lomonosov, Russia Lomonosov (; before 1948: Oranienbaum, ) is a administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the southern coast of th ...

(cooperation paused since the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

) *

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Ka ...

, Denmark *

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...

, Faroe Islands *

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region. The municipality has ...

, Finland *

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

, Sweden

Notable people

Gustaf Erikson Gustaf Adolf Mauritz Erikson (1872 in Lemland – 1947 in Mariehamn) was a ship-owner from the Åland islands. He was famous for the fleet of windjammers he operated to the end of his life, mainly on the grain trade from Australia to Europe. ...

(1872–1947), ship-owner who operated a fleet of

windjammers A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts, however rigged. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Steam-powered vessel, Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English ...

* Maggie Gripenberg (1881–1976), dancer and choreographer *

Georg Kåhre George Kåhre (26 August 1899, in Mariehamn – 12 December 1969) was a teacher and author in Åland, Finland. He wrote poetry and prose, as well as factual books. Kåhre debuted in 1928 with the poetry anthology ''Staden med de tusen lindarna'', ...

(1899–1969), teacher and author of poetry and prose *

Henrik Klingenberg Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg (born 21 October 1978) is a Finnish keyboardist, keytarist and singer. He joined the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica in late 2002 and currently resides in Kemi, Finland, when not on tour. Keyboardists he has ...

(born 1978), keyboardist, keytarist, and singer with

Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup c ...

Stefan Lindfors Erik Stefan Lindfors, known as Stefan Lindfors (born 3 May 1962, Mariehamn) is a Finnish industrial designer, interior designer, film-maker and sculptor. He attended high school at the Åbo Cathedral School in Turku in 1982, and then went on to s ...

(born 1962), industrial and interior designer, filmmaker, and sculptor *

Ville Salminen Veikko Oskari Ville Salminen (2 October 1908, Mariehamn – 28 November 1992, Quarteira) was a Finland, Finnish film actor, director, writer and producer. He was the father of comedic actor Ville-Veikko Salminen and cinematographer Timo Salminen. ...

(1908–1992), film actor and director

Sports

Adelina Engman Adelina Viktoria Engman (born 11 October 1994) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A Femminile club Como and the Finland national team. Club career Engman made her debut for Åland United in NIG 2009. I ...

(born 1984), footballer * Olivia Ulenius (born 2007), footballer

Gallery

References

External links

*
Official Tourist Gateway of Mariehamn - Maarianhamina
*
Map of Mariehamn

Mariehamn. Tourist route
{{portalbar, Geography, Europe, Finland Cities and towns in Finland Populated coastal places in Finland Municipalities of Åland Grand Duchy of Finland Populated places established in 1861 Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea Seaside resorts in Finland 1861 establishments in Finland