Sääksmäki is a village and a former municipality, currently part of

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of wh ...

in the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme an ...

region of

Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...

. A past president of Finland,

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (; 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major role in the ...

, the Finnish film producer and director

Veikko Aaltonen Veikko Aaltonen (born 1 December 1955 in Sääksmäki, Finland) is a Finnish director, editor, sound editor, production manager and film and television writer and actor. Aaltonen began his career in the mid-1970s working as a sound editor on v ...

, eminent Finnish historian

Eino Jutikkala Eino Kaarlo Ilmari Jutikkala (24 October 1907 – 22 December 2006), until 1931 Rinne, was a Finnish historian, and professor of history at the University of Helsinki from 1950 to 1974. He had an exceptionally long and prolific career, and is cons ...

, and actress

Pirkko Mannola Pirkko Mannola (born 27 December 1938) is a Finnish actress and singer. Career Mannola has appeared in more than 50 films and television shows since 1959. She starred in the film '' Kaks' tavallista Lahtista'', which was entered into the 10th Be ...

, were born there. Sääksmäki's most famous building is the medieval stone Sääksmäki Church, built at the end of the 15th century. It is one of the oldest buildings in Finland. It features wooden sculptures that were created by an anonymous artist, known as the "Master of Sääksmäki". Sääksmäki's architecture also includes manor houses that date back hundreds of years.

History

The name ''Sääksmäki'' means "

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

hill". It was mentioned in 1340 in a papal bull by Pope Benedict XII, in which he excommunicated 25 peasants from Sääksmäki as they had not paid their taxes. The excommunication was requested by the Bishop of Turku, Henricus Hartmanni. This letter provides some information on contemporary Finnish names, though their written forms do not accurately represent their actual pronunciations.

Saarioispuoli

The southern part of Sääksmäki, divided from the main part of Sääksmäki by the lake

Vanajavesi Vanajavesi is a large lake in southern Finland, in the provinces of Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Häme. It is part of the Kokemäenjoki basin. The lake gathers waters from a wide area in the regions of Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper and parts of the Päijä ...

, is known as Saarioispuoli. The area was ecclesiastically subordinate to Sääksmäki, but has been an administrative unit called ''Saarioinen'' since the 14th century.

Akaa Akaa ( sv, Ackas) is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on January 1, 2007 when the town of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala were united into a single town. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated with ...

(with

Toijala Toijala is a former town and municipality of Finland, located some south of Tampere. On 1 January 2007, it was consolidated with Viiala to form the town of Akaa. Toijala is known as an important railway crossroads. The Helsinki–Tampere an ...

and

Kylmäkoski Kylmäkoski (; literally meaning "cold rapids") is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the town of Akaa on 1 January 2011. It was located in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality had a population of 2,610 (31 October 2010) ...

) was originally a division of Saarioinen and the Akaa parish established in 1483 was sometimes called ''Saarioinen'', even though the two did not have the exact same territory. Some parts of

Punkalaidun Punkalaidun ( sv, Punkalaidun, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

were also included in the Saarioinen division.

Viiala Viiala is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2007, it was consolidated with Toijala to form the town of Akaa. Viiala is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality had a populat ...

, despite being subordinate to the Akaa parish, was not administratively a part of Saarioinen, but a part of

Lempäälä Lempäälä (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland with inhabitants (). Lempäälä is located south of the city of Tampere. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Th ...

instead. The people of Saarioinen also had hunting grounds in what is now

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city o ...

. The first settlers of

Palokka Palokka is a district of Jyväskylä and the largest area by population in the Palokka-Puuppola ward. Prior to 2009, it was a part of Jyväskylän maalaiskunta. The greater Palokka area has a population of ~14000. Palokka is approximately 5 km to ...

, originally a village and now a district of

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

, came from Saarioinen.

Modern history

was separated from Sääksmäki in 1923, while Sääksmäki was consolidated with Valkeakoski in 1973.

People born in Sääksmäki

* Johan Ulrik Sebastian Gripenberg (1795 – 1869) * Carl Fabian Langenskiöld (1810 - 1863) *

(1861 – 1944) * Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (1804 – 1866) * Frans Rapola (1862 – 1910) *

Emil Aaltonen Emil Aaltonen ( Widell until 1890; b. 29 August 1869 — d. 16 December 1949) was a prominent Finnish industrialist and philanthropist, who went from humble beginnings to own and run the largest shoe manufacturing business of its time in the ...

(1869-1949) * Kalle Kustaa Paasia (1883 – 1961) * August Syrjänen (1883 – 1956) * Julius Nurminen (1887 – 1918) * Tuomas Saikku (1906 – 1963) *

(1907 – 2006) * Eino Raunio (1909 – 1979) * Kauko Tamminen (1920 – 1989) * Olavi Nikkilä (1922 – 2014) * Anita Välkki (1926 - 2011) *

(1938 – ) *

(1955 – )

References

External links