Sääksmäki is a former municipality, currently part of

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

in the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), 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 and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

region of

Western Finland Western Finland (, ) 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. Tampere was the largest city of the province. Histor ...

. 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 Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous s ...

, the Finnish film producer and director

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

, 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, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Finland 1958. She did not compete in any other international pageants. Career Mannola has appeared in more than 50 films an ...

, 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''), historically known as 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 a wingspan of . It ...

hill". It was mentioned in 1340 in a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII (, , ; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was a cardinal and inquisitor, and later, head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death, in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope and reformed monasti ...

, in which he excommunicated 25 peasants from Sääksmäki as they had not paid their taxes. The excommunication was requested by the

Bishop of Turku The Archdiocese of Turku (, ), historically known as '' Archdiocese of Åbo'', is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and its see city is Turku. The Archbishop has many administrative ...

, 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 Päij� ...

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

(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 and ...

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 (, 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 population density ...

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 populatio ...

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

Lempäälä Lempäälä () is a municipality in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. It lies south of the regional capital, Tampere. The population of Lempäälä is approximately , while the Tampere metropolitan area, metropolitan area has a population ...

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

Central Finland Central Finland (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

. The first settlers of

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

and nearby

Palokka Palokka is a district of Jyväskylä and the largest area by population in the Palokka-Puuppola ward. Until 31 December 2008, it was a part of Jyväskylän maalaiskunta. The greater Palokka area has a population of ~14000. Palokka is approximatel ...

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 people, Finnish industrialist and philanthropist, who went from humble beginnings to own and run the largest shoe manufacturing business of i ...

(1869–1949) *

Kalle Kustaa Paasia Kaarlo "Kalle" Kustaa Paasia (28 August 1883 – 19 December 1961) was a Finnish gymnast who won bronze in the 1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an int ...

(1883 – 1961) *

August Syrjänen Kustaa August Syrjänen (5 December 1883 – 31 December 1956) was a Finland, Finnish schoolteacher and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1933 to 1945, representing the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP). Referen ...

(1883 – 1956) * Julius Nurminen (1887 – 1918) * Tuomas Saikku (1906 – 1963) *

(1907 – 2006) * Eino Raunio (1909 – 1979) * Kauko Tamminen (1920 – 1989) *

Olavi Nikkilä Olavi Allan Nikkilä (12 April 1922, Sääksmäki - 15 June 2014) was a Finnish agronomist, farmer and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1966 to 1975 and again from 1979 to 1983, representing the National Coalition Part ...

(1922 – 2014) *

Anita Välkki Anita Välkki (25 October 1926 – 27 April 2011) was a Finnish dramatic soprano who had an international career in major roles at leading opera houses. Training and career Välkki was born in Sääksmäki. She trained in Helsinki and began her c ...

(1926–2011) *

(1938 – ) *

(1955 – )

References

External links