Kuusankoski

Kuusankoski [ ku ː ˌ sɑŋ kɔski ] is a formerly independent city in southeastern Finland and now a part of Kouvola. It lies in the country Schadt Kymi about 140 km northeast of Helsinki on the River Kymi. 2009 Kuusankoski was incorporated along with Anjalankoski, Valkeala, Jaalah and Elimäki in the city of Kouvola. Kuusankoski is an industrial center and an important center of the paper industry. The largest employer is the UPM -Kymmene. However, one of the paper mills ( Voikkaa ) was closed in 2005. The city had last Kuusankoski an area of ​​128.53 square kilometers and 19,739 inhabitants (2008 ).

Until the 1920s, the area of Kuusankoski belonged to the communities Iitti and Valkeala. The boundary between the two municipalities formed the Kymi River, which from 1743 to 1809 represented the border between Sweden and Russia. As industrialization emerged in the late 19th century to the rapids of the Kemi at Kuusankoski several paper mills. From founded in 1872 Kuusankoski Aktiengesellschaft Kymin osakeyhtiö the Kymmene Group showed the rose in 1996 in the UPM -Kymmene Group. Due to the industrial boom emerged in previously sparsely populated Kuusankoski the three settlements Kuusaa, Kymintehdas and Voikkaa. 1921 was formed from these areas, the independent community Kuusankoski. 1957 Kuusankoski became a market town ( kauppala ), 1973 finally got the place a city charter.

The attractions of Kuusankoski include the town hall, the church built in 1929 and the museum grounds of Kettumaki near the city center.

Kuusankoski is one of the Social Democratic strongholds in Finland. Thus, the Social Democratic Party in various elections received more than 50 to 60 percent of the vote. Twinned Kuusankoski at the Ruhr in Germany until 2008 Mülheim.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Aulis Kallakorpi (1929-2005), ski jumpers
• Erkki Kataja (1924-1969), Athlete