Kaskinen

Kaskinen, Swedish Kaskö, with 1382 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) is the smallest city in Finland. It is located about 90 km south of the city of Vaasa, on the same island in the Gulf of Bothnia. 67 % of the population speak Finnish as their mother tongue, 30 % are Finland Sweden. Officially, the city is bilingual.

Geography

The territory of Kaskinen comprises several islands in the archipelago of the Bothnian More bosom. With a land area of 10.65 km ² Kaskinen after Kauniainen terms of area, second smallest municipality of Finland. In addition to the main island Kaskinen on which is the city itself, these include, among others, the islands Sälgrund, Tunngrund, Ronnskär and Rennskär. About two bridges, the city is connected to the neighboring town Närpes on the mainland. The distance to the center of Närpes is 12 km, the nearest large city is located 93 km north of Vaasa.

History

The founding Kaskinens was preceded by a dispute over a reorientation of trade policy of the government. Cities in the Swedish Empire needed a special permission to trade with the foreign trade may, the so-called stack rights. This had in Finland to 1765 only Turku and Viipuri. 1765 these rights were given to the four cities located in Ostrobothnia Kokkola, Oulu, Pori and Vaasa. 1774 announced the King Gustav III government. to all rights of the stack Ostrobothnia region to focus in the newly established town Kaskinen. While the official reason appealed to the curbing of smuggling, attacked the cities Österbottens the project as a favor the dealer in Stockholm violently. Kaskinen was hard to sail for the coast circumstances especially from the north, and the novelty would have forced many traders actually to lead the foreign trade rather than through the local port via Stockholm. The represented especially by the politicians Anders Chydenius resistance showed success and the stacks rights were preserved cities. Kaskinen was nevertheless founded in 1785 and also received the stacks rights.

The reason for the rise Kaskinens had the resident of the nearby estate Benvik businessman Johan Bladh down, who had previously built at his own cost at the place of convenient natural harbor of Kaskinen a customs house and a loading dock and had come for a city's founding. His son Peter Johan Bladh built up a lucrative trade fleet, which brought prosperity to the town. But this heyday ended when the merchant fleet was sunk in the Napoleonic Wars and came Bladh during the Russo- Swedish War 1808-1809 in captivity.

Until the recent past, the main economic activity of the city fisheries and sawmill industry were. 1913, the railway was completed after Kaskinen. But the hoped-for upturn in the industry which remained from first. It was not until in the 1970s a large-scale industrialization, as the paper company Metsä -Botnia opened its plant in Kaskinen.

Population

The population of Kaskinen is 1382 (as of 31 December 2012). This makes it the smallest city (but not the smallest municipality ) in Finland. Early 1980s was the population of Kaskinens was just under 2000, but then fell sharply before they around the turn of the millennium halfway consolidated.

67.4 % of the population Kaskinens speak Finnish, 30.1% Swedish as their mother tongue. Officially, the city is bilingual with Finnish as majority and Swedish as a minority language. In 1950, the population share of Finland Sweden was 60%, due to industrialization and the influx of Finnish workers from other parts of the country but moved the majority ratios. Thus Kaskinen forms a predominantly Finnish-speaking island in the language almost entirely Swedish-speaking area at the coast Österbottens: In the neighboring town of Närpes about nine out of ten people in Finland Sweden.

Policy

The strongest party in Kaskinen is the Social Democratic Party of Finland. It represents seven of 17 representatives in the City Council, the highest decision-making body in local affairs. In second place is the Swedish People's Party, the political representation of Finland Sweden, with five seats. Furthermore, represented in the City Council, the National Coalition Party with and the Left Alliance, each with two seats and the Green Federation are with one seat, the largest party in Finland, the Centre Party, however, occurred in the local elections not only on, even with the 2007 parliamentary elections was its result 8.3% below average. City Director of Kaskinen is Marlene Sven.

The coat of arms shows in Kaskinens split front plate in blue with a silver tail rudder, rear silver in a green laurel branch. The rudder points to the importance of shipping, which only allowed the founding of the city, the laurel branch is possibly related with the name of Peter Johan Bladh (too German "leaf" ), the founder of the city.

Kaskinen is twinned with Maribo Denmark ( since 1947 ) and Namsos in Norway and Hudiksvall in Sweden (both since 1948 ).

Economy and Transport

Kaskinen is an industrial city: 57.3 % of the employed residents work in the manufacturing sector. The most significant nowadays by far Kaskinens industry is the paper industry. Opened in 1977, the paper company Metsä -Botnia about two kilometers away from the center on the east coast of the island of his main work, the 230 employees is the largest employer of the city today. The plant is one with an annual capacity of 450,000 tons of pulp a year to the largest in Finland. In 2005 went on an adjacent site also an ultra-modern market pulp mill of the group M -real's operating which is designed for an annual capacity of 300,000 tons of bleached chemi - thermomechanical pulp ( BCTMP ) and 50 workers are employed. The two factory premises make a total of just over 10% of the municipal area.

Kaskinen is the terminus of the Suupohjan rata, the railway line to Seinäjoki, but which is now used only for freight. The endpoint of the segment is the industrial area Kaskinens. The city's harbor is a natural deep water port, through which the production of the local pulp mills, but also wood, paper and bulk goods to be shipped from the Finnish domestic market. The capacity of the extensive port facilities was increased recently; submitted in 2006 in Kaskinen 515 ships, trading volume was 1.9 million tons. The fishing port of Kaskinen in the largest whole Finland and in particular an important center of the Finnish herring fleet. In 2005, 27 million kg of herring and sprat have been landed here.

Until the 1980s there was a regular ferry service from Kaskinen to the Swedish Gävle, which was operated by the cruise line KG -Line. For several years, a resumption of ferry traffic is considered to Sweden; as the destination port Härnösand is specified in those plans.

Cityscape, monuments and museums

The road network of Kaskinen is applied at right angles, as in most cities plan; also built recently blocks mostly follow this pattern. The historic city center to the port on the west coast of the island is well preserved and marked by pretty wooden houses from the 19th century. Around the market at the harbor, public facilities such as City Hall, library, bank and pharmacy group. East of the railway lines to connect the built-up in the second half of the 20th century squares, in the south of the small new neighborhood Anttila on that does not meet the only residential area to the regular layout of the city.

One of the most striking building is the two-story home of the town's founder, Peter Johan Bladh. Upstairs the house, the worship of the Protestant church took place in the absence of a church since 1798. This initially intended only as a temporary circumstance had until 1965 inventory; until this year, the city received a church. Designed by Erik Kråkström construction stands out with its functionalist modern design distinctly from the surrounding old buildings from.

On the Kaskinen south barrier island Sälgrund a former pilot station is located with lighthouse. The 30.2 -meter-high tower was built in 1875 according to plans by Hampus Dalström; at that time he was the first lighthouse in Finland, who was fired instead of colza with petroleum. 1966, the operation was electrified and automated. The surrounding cabins pilots from the 19th century are now used as tourist accommodation.

In Kaskinen there are two museums that are only open for the tourist season in the summer. The local museum is housed in around 1850 built town house of the owner and manufacturer Carl Daniel Rehnström and illustrated in several rooms bourgeois life in Kaskinen the 19th century. Many of the exhibits, such as furniture and textiles originate from the holdings of long-established merchant families of the city. On Sjöbobacken, the old fishing harbor Kaskinens, There is a fishing museum. It was opened in 1983 after the city council had bought the old salting and around 30 historic beach memory. Today, in the buildings of old boats, nets and other fishing gear are shown. Next to the port is on the " Mill Hill " ( Myllymäki ) was built around 1870 windmill.