The Sörnäinen curve ( Finnish: ''Sörnäisten kurvi'',

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Sörnäskurvan''), also known as ''Sörkän kurvi'' or just ''Kurvi'', is an area in the eastern part of the

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 ...

city proper in

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, ...

, at the intersection point of the neighbourhoods of

Sörnäinen Sörnäinen (; ''Sörkkä'' or ''Sörkka'' in Helsinki slang) is a Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. Sörnäinen is located a little more than one kilometre north from the coastal centre of ...

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 ...

and

Alppiharju Alppiharju () is a district of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the eastern part of the Central major district of Helsinki, Finland. It consists of sub-districts Alppila and Harju, and is bordered by Kallio in the south, Taka-Töölö in the ...

. The area is located around the point where the street

Hämeentie Hämeentie () is the second longest street in Helsinki, Finland, and among its major thoroughfares. Hämeentie is a multi-lane street beginning at the Hakaniemi square in Siltasaari, and ending near Vanhankaupunginkoski on Koskelantie. Old stre ...

curves to the right going north and the street

Helsinginkatu Helsinginkatu (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Helsingegatan'', literally meaning "Helsinki street"; also called "Hesari" in Helsinki slang, which is also used as a nickname for ''Helsingin Sanomat'') is a two-kilometre-long east-west-running street ...

branches off it to the west. The curve area covers the whole area on the intersection of Helsinginkatu and Hämeentie. The curve serves as a hub for many public transport connections, including 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 ...

. One of the former landmarks of the curve was the building of the insurance company Kansa and the light tower located on top of it. After the war, Finnish magazines perpetuated the traditionally bad reputation of the area around the curve, Vaasankatu and

Linjat Linjat ( Finnish), Linjerna ( Swedish) is a neighborhood of the Kallio district of Helsinki, Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the n ...

. At the time, the restless reputation of the curve mostly resulted from the thousands of children and youth of the residential area taking control of the streets unaware of their own "dangerousness". The homeless shelters and

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

in the area also contributed to the restlessness. '' Apu'' magazine published provocative reports of the Sörkka underworld in the 1950s, but this fell out of use in the 1960s, and only the moonshine smugglers on Vaasankatu attracted media attention. "The restless Helsinki" began to concentrate more around the

Helsinki central railway station Helsinki Central Station (, ) (List of IATA-indexed railway stations, HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. About 200,000 people "pass through the station" every day, half of whom ar ...

. The

Vaasanpuistikko Vaasanpuistikko (Swedish: ''Vasaskvären'', unofficial name Vaasanaukio), meaning "Vaasa park", is an area in Helsinki, Finland, surrounded by the streets of Helsinginkatu, Vaasanpolku and Pengerpolku around the western entrance to the Sörnäin ...

square near the curve has had a restless reputation up to the 2010s. It has been called ''Piritori'' ("Amphetamine Square") in colloquial speech. Slightly to the south, around the Itäinen Viertotie street (now known as

), a group of working-class quarters called ''Suruttomien villat'' ("The villas of the carefree"), which were mostly dismantled in the early 1930s. On the second day of the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, five explosion bombs hit the Vaasanpuistikko square, causing great fragment and window damage to the nearby houses. In 1937, a large building called ''Perämiehen talo'' after the restaurant located in it was built on the corner of Hämeentie and Helsinginkatu.ALAPIHA - tarina Kurvista ennen sotia!
Kallioilainen. Accessed on 29 March 2014.

Elanto The S Group (, ) is a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation with its head office in Helsinki. Founded in 1904, it consists of 19 regional cooperatives operating all around Finland in addition to SOK, ''Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta'' ...

bought the house in the 1950s, sold off the apartments as shares and renamed the house as ''Hämeentähti''. Later the house was called the Kurvi house.

Sources

* Nenonen, Kaija—Toppari, Kirsi: ''Herrasväen ja työläisten kaupunki. Helsingin vanhoja kortteleita 2'', p. 258 and 270-273.

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

, 1983. .

References

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