Sääksmäki is a village and a former municipality, currently part of

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

in the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and ...

region of

Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. T ...

. A past president of Finland,

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (; 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major role in the ...

, the Finnish film producer and director

Veikko Aaltonen Veikko Aaltonen (born 1 December 1955 in Sääksmäki, Finland) is a Finnish director, editor, sound editor, production manager and film and television writer and actor. Aaltonen began his career in the mid-1970s working as a sound editor on v ...

, eminent Finnish historian

Eino Jutikkala Eino Kaarlo Ilmari Jutikkala (24 October 1907 – 22 December 2006), until 1931 Rinne, was a Finnish historian, and professor of history at the University of Helsinki from 1950 to 1974. He had an exceptionally long and prolific career, and is cons ...

, and actress

Pirkko Mannola Pirkko Mannola (born 27 December 1938) is a Finnish actress and singer. Career Mannola has appeared in more than 50 films and television shows since 1959. She starred in the film '' Kaks' tavallista Lahtista'', which was entered into the 10th Be ...

, were born there. Sääksmäki's most famous building is the medieval stone Sääksmäki Church, built at the end of the 15th century. It is one of the oldest buildings in Finland. It features wooden sculptures that were created by an anonymous artist, known as the "Master of Sääksmäki". Sääksmäki's architecture also includes manor houses that date back hundreds of years.

History

The name ''Sääksmäki'' means "

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

hill". It was mentioned in 1340 in a papal bull by

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful ...

, in which he excommunicated 25 peasants from Sääksmäki as they had not paid their taxes. The excommunication was requested by the Bishop of Turku,

Henricus Hartmanni The "Citie of Henricus"—also known as Henricopolis, Henrico Town or Henrico—was a settlement in Virginia founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamestow ...

. This letter provides some information on contemporary Finnish names, though their written forms do not accurately represent their actual pronunciations.

Saarioispuoli

The southern part of Sääksmäki, divided from the main part of Sääksmäki by the lake Vanajavesi, is known as Saarioispuoli. The area was ecclesiastically subordinate to Sääksmäki, but has been an administrative unit called ''Saarioinen'' since the 14th century.

Akaa Akaa ( sv, Ackas) is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on January 1, 2007 when the town of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala were united into a single town. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated wi ...

(with Toijala and Kylmäkoski) was originally a division of Saarioinen and the Akaa parish established in 1483 was sometimes called ''Saarioinen'', even though the two did not have the exact same territory. Some parts of

Punkalaidun Punkalaidun ( sv, Punkalaidun, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

were also included in the Saarioinen division. Viiala, despite being subordinate to the Akaa parish, was not administratively a part of Saarioinen, but a part of

Lempäälä Lempäälä (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland with inhabitants (). Lempäälä is located south of the city of Tampere. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...

instead. The people of Saarioinen also had hunting grounds in what is now

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The cit ...

. The first settlers of Palokka, originally a village and now a district of

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capit ...

, came from Saarioinen.

Modern history

was separated from Sääksmäki in 1923, while Sääksmäki was consolidated with Valkeakoski in 1973.

People born in Sääksmäki

* Johan Ulrik Sebastian Gripenberg (1795 – 1869) * Carl Fabian Langenskiöld (1810 - 1863) *

(1861 – 1944) * Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (1804 – 1866) * Frans Rapola (1862 – 1910) * Emil Aaltonen (1869-1949) *

Kalle Kustaa Paasia Kaarlo Kustaa "Kalle" Paasia (28 August 1883 – 19 December 1961) was a Finnish gymnast who won bronze in the 1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an Intern ...

(1883 – 1961) *

August Syrjänen Kustaa August Syrjänen (5 December 1883, in Sääksmäki – 31 December 1956) was a Finnish schoolteacher and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1933 to 1945, representing the Social Democratic Party of Finland The S ...

(1883 – 1956) * Julius Nurminen (1887 – 1918) *

Tuomas Saikku Tuomas Veikko Saikku (22 December 1906 - 19 September 1963) was a Finnish agronomist, farmer and politician, born in Sääksmäki. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1956 to 1958, representing the National Coalition Party. Refere ...

(1906 – 1963) *

(1907 – 2006) * Eino Raunio (1909 – 1979) *

Kauko Tamminen Kauko Mikael Tamminen (14 September 1920 - 29 November 1989) was a Finnish paper mill worker and politician, born in Sääksmäki. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1958 to 1966 and again from 1967 to 1983, representing the Finni ...

(1920 – 1989) *

Olavi Nikkilä Olavi Allan Nikkilä (12 April 1922, Sääksmäki - 15 June 2014) was a Finnish agronomist, farmer and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1966 to 1975 and again from 1979 to 1983, representing the National Coalition Pa ...

(1922 – 2014) *

Anita Välkki Anita Välkki (25 October 1926 – 27 April 2011) was a Finnish dramatic soprano who had an international career in major roles at leading opera houses. Training and career Välkki was born in Sääksmäki. She trained in Helsinki and began her ...

(1926 - 2011) *

(1938 – ) *

(1955 – )

References

External links