Punavuori

Punavuori ( swedish Rödbergen ) is a branch (Finnish osa - alue ) and a district ( kaupunginosa ) of the Finnish capital Helsinki. It is located in the southwestern city center, 1 km from the city center. In Helsinki slang is called the district Rööperi, a name which for historical reasons has a rather dodgy sound. Like the district Kallio Punavuori was well into the 20th century notorious as working-class neighborhood with poor housing, high crime rate. Today, however, Punavuori is considered one of the trendiest areas of Helsinki.

Historical development

Until the 19th century, the area was inhabited only sparse and was dominated by reddish rocks, one of which is also the name of the district, of as much as " Rotberg " and literally means "the Rotberge " derives. In the 19th century, the area was initially built with low, simple wooden houses, which were mainly inhabited by workers. Especially the center in the eastern part of Punavuori representative bunk houses were built from the 1880s in the Art Nouveau style in which bourgeois families settled, but the West changed less. Especially this western part, where a much higher population than today urged in a confined space and in poorly -equipped apartments, suffered from social problems such as alcoholism, crime and prostitution. As late as the 1950s Punavuori had a rather bad reputation.

In the following decades, however, Punavuori changed greatly. The old wooden houses have been replaced by new, appropriate the living standards of the time -floor buildings. Added to this was that no longer was due to strong growth of Helsinki Punavuori on the outskirts, but had become a part of downtown. So also changed the social structure over time. Today, the area is considered attractive, the price level of the apartments is correspondingly high. The district has a high density of bars and restaurants. The area around the pedestrian street Iso Roobertinkatu ( colloquially Roba ) is one of the centers of the Helsinki nightlife. In Punavuori are also Finnish standards unusually large number of small cafes, shops and art galleries, for example. The fashion and design stores of Punavuori and the surrounding area are working together to make the area and tourists known as " Design District ".

The Sinebrychoff site

Worth mentioning is the influence that the family Sinebrychoff has had on the development of a part of Punavuori. The Russian-born Nikolai Sinebrychoff dealer who acted on the fortress island of Suomenlinna with beer and other goods, bought in 1819 south of the square in the western Hietalahdentori Punavuori a plot of land and built a brewery. This year is considered the founding date of the Sinebrychoff company, which is therefore the oldest industrial brewery companies in the Nordic countries. As production has now been moved to other places in Finland, the former brewery in the early 21st century was converted into a residential complex.

In the next door, in 1842 finished former family mansion is now the Sinebrychoff Art Museum, which dates back to the private collection of the Sinebrychoffs and today is part of the Finnish National Gallery. The name of the family lives on ( Sinebrychoffin puisto, ugs Koffin puisto ) in the south adjoining established on the former brewery site Sinebrychoff Park.

The Sinebrychoff Park

The Agricola Church in Southern Punavuori