Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

, an autonomous territory under Finnish

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

. Mariehamn is the seat of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

and

Parliament of Åland The Lagting, or ''Lagtinget'', is the parliament of Åland, an autonomous, demilitarised and unilingually Swedish-speaking territory of Finland. The Lagting has 30 seats, which makes for approximately one seat per 700 voters in 2022. Legislativ ...

, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded by

Jomala Jomala is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. In terms of population, it is the next largest after Mariehamn, the capital of Åland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...

, the second largest municipality in Åland in terms of population; to the east it is bordered by

Lemland Lemland is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish. The Lemström chan ...

. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around of the inhabitants speak it as their native language. The theme of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

of Mariehamn refers to the city's main livelihood, a

maritime transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people ( passengers) or goods ( cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used t ...

, and the city's parks, which are typically lined with

linden trees ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...

. The coat of arms was designed by Nils Byman and confirmed in 1951. Due to its central location in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

, Mariehamn has become a major summer

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

for global

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

; as many as 1.5 million tourists visit there annually.

History

The town was named after the Russian empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824–1880), literally meaning "Marie's Port". Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of

. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. Mariehamn was built according to a very regular scheme which is well-preserved. One of the oldest streets is ''Södragatan'' where many wooden houses dating from the 19th century can be seen. Following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, Mariehamn was home to the Mariehamn Grain Fleet. On November 8, 1963, a devastating plane crash occurred in Mariehamn, in which 22 out of 25 people lost their lives, which made it the second-deadliest aviation accident in the history of Finland.

Transportation

Harbours

The city is located on a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

. It has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore, which are ice-free for nearly the whole year, and have no tides. The

Western Harbour Western Harbour is a mainly residential development in Newhaven, Scotland. The new urbanist masterplan is designed by the new classical office of ADAM Architecture. Reaching north into the Firth of Forth away from Newhaven Harbour, the site ...

is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

and mainland

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the

EU customs zone The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dheke ...

and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Åland and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The

Flying P-Liner The Flying P-Liners were the sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz of Hamburg. History The company was founded in 1824 by Ferdinand Laeisz as a hat manufacturing company. He was quite successful and distributed his hats even i ...

Pommern Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small num ...

(part of the

Åland Maritime Museum The Åland Maritime Museum ( sv, Ålands sjöfartsmuseum) is a museum in Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of th ...

) is anchored in the Western Harbour. The Eastern Harbour features one of the largest marinas in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. The famous Dutch steamer ''Jan Nieveen'' (now called '' F.P. von Knorring'', after Åland teacher and vicar Frans Peter von Knorring) can also be found here.

Airport

Mariehamn Airport Mariehamn Airport ( sv, Mariehamns flygplats is located in Jomala, Åland (a territory of Finland). The airport is located some north-west of Mariehamn town centre. It served 61,568 passengers in 2017 and is operated by the state-owned Finavia. ...

serves the city; it has scheduled flights on two airlines including

Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and internatio ...

Roads

At three of Åland's four highways, Mariehamn serves as a starting point for Main Road 1 to

Eckerö Eckerö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish and ...

, Main Road 2 to Sund and Main Road 3 to

Lumparland Lumparland is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. It is the smallest municipality on mainland Åland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mun ...

Culture

The city is an important centre for Åland media; both of the local newspapers (

Ålandstidningen ''Ålandstidningen'' or ''Tidningen Åland'' is a Swedish-language newspaper in Åland, an autonomous region in Finland. It is published six times a week with a circulation of 8,392, and is the largest local newspaper on Åland, of the two publis ...

and Nya Åland), several radio stations and the local TV channels ( TV Åland and Åland24) operate out of the city. The islanders are traditionally fond of reading, and had public libraries before 1920. A printing works was established in the town in 1891. The municipal library, which was built in 1989, is one of the most interesting modern buildings.

Museums

* Åland Museum *

Pommern (ship) ''Pommern'', formerly ''Mneme'' (1903–1908), is an iron-hulled sailing ship. It is a four-masted barque that was built in 1903 at the J. Reid & Co shipyard in Glasgow, Scotland. ''Pommern'' (German for Pomerania) is one of the Flying ...

* Övernässtugan * Sjökvarteret

Architecture

Mariehamn features several buildings drawn by Finnish architect

Lars Sonck Lars Eliel Sonck (10 August 1870 – 14 March 1956) was a Finnish architect. He graduated from Helsinki Polytechnic Institute in 1894 and immediately won a major design competition for a church in Turku, St Michael's Church, ahead of many estab ...

, who moved to Åland as a child. Buildings drawn by him include the church of Mariehamn (1927), the main building of the Åland Maritime College (1927) and the town hall (1939).

Hilda Hongell Hilda Hongell (born Hilda Sjöblom, 16 January 1867, Mariehamn - 10 June 1952) was the first female "master builder" in Finland, and is sometimes described as the first female architect in Finland although Signe Hornborg appears to deserve this ti ...

also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.

Demographics

Geography

Climate

Mariehamn has a transitional climate between

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback las ...

) with certain

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Pr ...

( Cfb) influence as a result of the strong maritime moderation from being an island in the Baltic Sea. This causes summers to be cooler than both the Swedish and Finnish mainlands, with winters being similar in cold to the adjacent coastal part of Sweden but milder than Finland's mainland. The lowest temperature at Mariehamn airport was in February 1979, and the highest temperature on record was in July 2022.

Twin towns and sister cities

Mariehamn is twinned with:Mariehamns stads vänorter.
Accessed July 14, 2015 *

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. The town seal contains t ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

Kragerø Kragerø () is a town and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kragerø. The city of Kragerø ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. ...

* Lomonosov,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Kalundborg and 14 k ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

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 ...

Visby Visby () is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably t ...

, Sweden

Notable people

* Maggie Gripenberg, dancer and choreographer *

Henrik Klingenberg Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg (born 21 October 1978) is a Finnish keyboardist, keytarist and singer. He joined the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica in late 2002 and currently resides in Kemi, Finland, when not on tour. Keyboardists he has ...

, keyboardist,

keytar The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...

ist and singer of

Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup ...

* Anders Överström, professional footballer * Ville Salminen, film actor and director * Olivia Ulenius, footballer *

Tommy Wirtanen Tommy Wirtanen (born 19 January 1983) is a Finnish former footballer. He usually played as a winger and is well known for his great pace. Career IFK Mariehamn Before joining Örebro SK, Wirtanen played for IFK Mariehamn in his native Finland. ...

, semi-professional footballer

Gallery

References

External links

*
Official Tourist Gateway of Mariehamn - Maarianhamina
*
Map of Mariehamn

Mariehamn. Tourist route
{{portalbar, Geography, Europe, Finland Cities and towns in Finland Populated coastal places in Finland Municipalities of Åland Grand Duchy of Finland Populated places established in 1861 Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea Seaside resorts in Finland 1861 establishments in Finland