
Sörnäinen (; ''Sörkkä'' or ''Sörkka'' in
Helsinki slang
Helsinki slang or ('Helsinki's slang', from Swedish , 'city'; see etymology) is a local dialect and a sociolect of the Finnish language mainly used in the capital city of Helsinki. It is characterized by its abundance of foreign loan words not ...
) is a
neighbourhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...
in the city of
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
,
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, ...
.
Sörnäinen is located a little more than one kilometre north from the coastal centre of Helsinki, near the district of
Hakaniemi. The east side of Sörnäinen borders the sea.
Sörnäinen used to be primarily an industrial district with many shipping companies and warehouses, however, nowadays it is a thriving urban area divided into four districts: Vilhonvuori, Kalasatama, Sompasaari and Hanasaari. It also has two metro stations:
Sörnäinen metro station
Sörnäinen metro station (, ) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the central Helsinki districts of Sörnäinen and Kallio. Sörnäinen is the easternmost station on the system to be located underground.
The station was opened on 1 Sep ...
and
Kalasatama metro station in the
Kalasatama
Kalasatama (; ; literally translated "fish port") is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The area is officially part of the Sörnäinen district; and like Sörnäinen, Kalasatama is located a little more than one kilometre north fro ...
quarter.
The headquarters of
Senate Properties (''Senaatti-kiinteistöt'') is located in Sörnäinen. Also the
Helsinki Prison is located there.
Etymology
The name "Sörnäinen" comes from the Swedish name "''Södernäs''" ("Southern cape") and was first mentioned in the foundation document for the New Helsinki in 1639, although the name is probably much older. At the time, there were plans to relocate the city to the area of present-day Sörnäinen. In the end, the city was relocated to
Vironniemi instead. Already in the 18th century the name ''Södernäs'' had changed to the dialectical form ''Sörnäs'' on maps. In Finnish, the name was first used as "Sörnäsi" in the late 19th century and then as "Söörnäinen" in the early 20th century. In 1928 it was officially established as Sörnäinen - Sörnäs.
In
Helsinki slang
Helsinki slang or ('Helsinki's slang', from Swedish , 'city'; see etymology) is a local dialect and a sociolect of the Finnish language mainly used in the capital city of Helsinki. It is characterized by its abundance of foreign loan words not ...
the area is known by the names Sörkka and Sörkkä. These names probably come from the Swedish language slang name ''Sörckan''.
History
Birth of the harbour

In the early 19th century the area of present-day Sörnäinen consisted of countryside, although there was already a brick factory in Lintulahti at the time. Sörnäinen began to industrialise in 1825, when the city ordered factories and workspaces to be located on the edges of the city because of danger of fires.
[Kalasatama - Historia](_blank)
''Uutta Helsinkiä'' 8 September 2017. City of Helsinki. Accessed on 1 June 2021. Building the street Itäinen Viertotie (now known as
Hämeentie) from
Siltasaari to
Kumpula in the 1850s was important for the development of the eastern part of the city proper. Factories rose on the eastern side of the street and residential buildings on the western side. The largest continuous industrial area formed on the Sörnäinen shore when the
Sörnäinen Harbour was built there. Finland's first harbour track, the
Sörnäinen harbour rail, was built in 1863. The track led from
Pasila
Pasila (; , ) is a part of Helsinki, Finland, that is both a central-northern Subdivisions of Helsinki, neighbourhood and district, bordering the areas of Alppila to the south, the Central Park (Keskuspuisto) to the west, and Vallila to the east ...
to the Sörnäinen harbour along
Teollisuuskatu. This started the rapid growth of Sörnäinen.
The harbour was expanded by the growth of exports in the 1860s and 1870s. In 1889 Finland's first oil harbour was built in the area, but it was later moved to
Herttoniemi
Herttoniemi () is an East Helsinki Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, neighbourhood and a suburb of Helsinki, the Finland, Finnish capital.
Geography
Located about east of the city centre, Herttoniemi can be reached by the Helsinki Metro i ...
because of fire security reasons in 1938. The harbour switched from export to import in the late 19th century, when the forestry export started to travel via
Kotka
Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...
and
Vyborg
Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...
.
Other industry
Sörnäinen has been a central area in electricity production. The
Suvilahti power plant was taken into use in 1909. The A plant of the
Hanasaari Power Plant was built in 1960 and the B plant was built in 1974. The A plant was dismantled in 2008, and the B plant was shut down on April 1, 2023.
Near the former Sörnäinen Harbour, along both sides of
Sörnäisten rantatie, there have been many factories, for example
Kone- ja Siltarakennus and the Elanto factories. Early industrial facilities of the area include the
Kokos factory built in 1911, which represented the same architectural age and style as the Suvilahti power plant. The factory made
soap
Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...
and
margarine
Margarine (, also , ) is a Spread (food), spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The ...
from
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
fat. In 1926 the premises were bought by
Kone, which used them to make elevators. Kone moved away from the premises in 1967. The logistically outdated premises were left empty and were bought by the working class oriented building company Haka to be dismantled, but the youth of the city
squatted
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
the premises in 1990. After the squat the Kokos factory was closed down, and the
Helsinki Theatre Academy
The Theatre Academy (, ) is one of the three academies of the University of the Arts Helsinki and offers education in theatre and dance. It is Finland's largest education provider in its field and, with the exception of acting, the only one in th ...
has worked at the premises since 2000. The economic activity of the working class was concentrated on Sörnäinen for a long time: premises located in the area included OTK-EKA's and
Elanto's red brick headquarters designed by
Väinö Vähäkallio in the 1920s as well as storehouses, logistics, Elanto's main bakery, the main mill of OTK, a coffee roaster and other activities. The premises have since been converted into apartments, offices and academic premises. After the industry moved away, the
Partek headquarters were built on Sörnäisten rantatie, whose exhibition space has been converted to the library of the working class movement.
Urban construction spread from Sörnäinen to
Kallio
Kallio (; ; literally " the rock") is a district and a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located on the eastern side of the Helsinki peninsula about one kilometre north from the city centre. It is one of the most densely pop ...
, when a group of industrialists founded a
joint-stock company
A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...
to house their workers, which caused a row of "corporate villas" to be built. Large numbers of workers lived in the villas. Many of the apartments lacked a toilet and entire families of four people could live in a single small room. These
proletariat
The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...
conditions gave rise to the
Helsinki slang
Helsinki slang or ('Helsinki's slang', from Swedish , 'city'; see etymology) is a local dialect and a sociolect of the Finnish language mainly used in the capital city of Helsinki. It is characterized by its abundance of foreign loan words not ...
in the early 20th century.
Residential use
The city proper gradually grew too tight for industrial activities, which moved away to the suburbs. Converting old industrial premises to residential areas started in
Merihaka in the 1970s and is still ongoing. A new
Lintulahti residential area has been built on the old industrial area of Sörnäinen, as well as jobs, cultural services and the
Helsinki Theatre Academy
The Theatre Academy (, ) is one of the three academies of the University of the Arts Helsinki and offers education in theatre and dance. It is Finland's largest education provider in its field and, with the exception of acting, the only one in th ...
. The Sörnäinen harbour, which had been in use for over a century, was shut down in November 2008 after the completion of the
Vuosaari Harbour. The immediate surroundings are being developed in accordance of the changed nature of the area.
Along with the rest of the city proper, Sörnäinen,
Alppiharju and Kallio are among the most tightly-built areas in Helsinki and in the whole of Finland. The percentage of small apartments is the largest in Helsinki: a whole 80 percent. Because of the small size of the apartments, most of the residents are young adults living alone, or elder or childless couples.
[Helsinki alueittain 2008](_blank)
pp. 84 - 87. Information bureau of the city of Helsinki. Accessed on 23 January 2010.
A new marine
Kalasatama
Kalasatama (; ; literally translated "fish port") is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The area is officially part of the Sörnäinen district; and like Sörnäinen, Kalasatama is located a little more than one kilometre north fro ...
area is being built as part of the eastern part of the city proper in the Sörnäinen harbour area and its surroundings from the 2010s to the 2030s. It will house 25 thousand inhabitants and 10 thousand jobs.
Kalasatama - Uutta Helsinkiä
''uuttahelsinkia.fi''. City of Helsinki. Accessed on 3 July 2019. The old harbour areas of Sompasaari and Nihti are also being converted into residential areas.
Traffic
In the eastern part of the city proper, the number of cars in proportion to the population is the smallest in the entire city of Helsinki. The area is well served with basic services which are often close by. The Sörnäinen area is served by almost all bus lines going from the city centre to northeastern and eastern Helsinki as well as eastern Vantaa
Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...
, along with several through-city lines. Particularly the so-called Sörnäinen curve is a traffic hub for many public transport lines. Many Helsinki tram
Trams in Helsinki form part of the Public transport in Helsinki, public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd (, ) in Finland's capital city of Helsinki. The trams are ...
lines run along Hämeentie, and the Sörnäinen metro station
Sörnäinen metro station (, ) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the central Helsinki districts of Sörnäinen and Kallio. Sörnäinen is the easternmost station on the system to be located underground.
The station was opened on 1 Sep ...
was taken into use and the Kalasatama metro station in 2007. The public transport connections from the area to all around the capital region are excellent.
See also
* Hermanni (Helsinki)
* Kalasatama
Kalasatama (; ; literally translated "fish port") is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The area is officially part of the Sörnäinen district; and like Sörnäinen, Kalasatama is located a little more than one kilometre north fro ...
* Merihaka
* Suvilahti
References
External links
Image:Sörnäisten metroasema, Helsinki (helmikuu 2023) 3.jpg, Sörnäinen metro station
Sörnäinen metro station (, ) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the central Helsinki districts of Sörnäinen and Kallio. Sörnäinen is the easternmost station on the system to be located underground.
The station was opened on 1 Sep ...
Image:Sörnäisten rantatie in Helsinki, Finland, 2018 February.jpg, Sörnäisten rantatie
Image:Tram stop at Sörnäinen curve in July.jpg, Sörnäinen curve
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