Häme Castle (Finland)

Häme Castle is one of Finland's medieval royal castles. The castle, which is now a museum, is located in the town of Hämeenlinna on the shore of Lake Vanajavesi, about 12 meters above the current water level. The exact date of construction of the castle is not clear, but it was nevertheless built in the late 13th century. The first mention is from the year 1308. In the first phase the castle consisted of a battlement in gray stone and a perimeter wall. Later, in the 14th and 15th centuries, it was built with bricks that were rarely used in medieval Finland.

Häme Castle lost its status as an administrative center in 1634 and fell into disrepair at the end of the 17th century, when Sweden's foreign policy began to focus on the southern Baltic Sea. After Isonviha, it was converted into a main depot and in the 1770s it was converted into a bastion-style fortress. The Russian Empire captured the castle in 1808 without a fight and soon turned it into a prison. Restoration of the castle only began in the 1950s and prisoners were moved out of the main castle in 1953 and the perimeter wall in 1972. Repair work on the main castle was completed in 1979 when it was also opened to the public. The perimeter walls were repaired in 1988.

The original name of the castle in Swedish is Tavasteborgh. It was apparently changed to Tavastehus in the late 17th century in the time of Charles XI. When in 1639 Count Pietari Brahe founded the city on the north side of the castle, the name of the city became Tavasteborgh in Swedish.

The origin of Tavaste is unknown, but it appears in Swedish runes as Taveste and is suspected to refer to Estonians. The word Vanaja, on the other hand, is apparently of Baltic origin.

Apparently, the first fortress was built in the area as early as the 9th century, and after it was destroyed during possible crusades in the 13th century, a new castle, Tavasteborgh, began to be built on the site.

The exact foundation date of Häme Castle is unclear, and in the literature, the start date of its construction has varied between the years 1229–1372. In the early research literature, the construction of the castle was associated with the Count of Birger. According to the Museum Agency, the decision to build the castle took place after the possible Birger crusade in Häme and the construction work started at the end of the 13th century at the latest. In any case the castle is first mentioned in documents from 1308. Hämetta under the Kingdom of Sweden was governed from the castle, and a cottage village grew up around Linnanniemi Castle.

Various estimates have also been presented on the early construction phases of the castle. According to a long-standing belief, the oldest form of the castle consisted of a gray stone field castle and a surrounding perimeter wall with three corner towers. According to this timing, the brick construction phase would have lasted from the mid-14th century to the mid-15th century. Historian Knut Drake, however, presented in 2001 that construction of the gray stone castle did not begin until 1372 and there would have been only log equipment before then. Drake drew his conclusions from the new younger timing of the Swedish castle Tre Kronor . According to Drake, the brick castle phase would not begin until 1472.
The brick castle phase is significant because brick was a relatively rare building material in medieval Finland. In this construction phase, the gray stone structure was raised with brick walls. Brick vaults more sophisticated than barrel vaults and possible gothic decorative forms. Brick began to dominate the entire castle courtyard, as the old gray stone surfaces were replaced with brick. At the same time, the castle was divided into two parts as Turku Castle. The ground floor was used by everyone, while the second floor was reserved for the authorizing officer and his court.

The castle was built as a border castle, but its importance as a border castle was already lost in 1323 when the Peace of Pähkinäsaari moved the Swedish border further away from the castle. Even after that, the building was still an important defensive base, as it was located at the intersection of nationally important roadways.
Häme Castle could have been relatively peaceful in the 14th and 15th centuries, although the castles of Turku and Vyborg, for example, were besieged as power changed in the country. After the Novgorodian invasion of 1311, the next viable threat was the Moscow Principality of Ivan III in the late 15th century , which was preparing for war. The castle was in concrete danger when, after the failed Viipur raid in 1495, the Russians penetrated as far as Häme.

In the early 16th century, Häme Castle was a court maintenance place similar to Turku and Viipur castles. Åke Yrjänänpoika Totti became the holder of the order of Häme Castle in 1508 and at that time he became the most influential holder of the order in Finland. He received the Swedish regent Svante Niilonpoja in the castle. Åke Yrjänänpoika was still living in Häme Castle in 1520, when Kristina Gyllenstierna, the widow of Sten Sture the Younger, surrendered to the siege forces of the Danish king Christian II on the condition that she receive Häme Castle and Kokemäenkartano as her widow's quarters.. Subsequently, Kristian's troops arrived at the castle and executed Åke Göraninpoja. However, Häme Castle had already been transferred to Admiral Søren Norby in 1522 as part of a large fiefdom. However, the castle was returned to Sweden without a fight, when the Danes had to surrender after being besieged by the Swedes in 1523, both Turku Castle and Bishop Kuusisto's Castle.

During the reign of Gustav Vaasa, the character of the castle changed, it became the center of the county and everything else belonged to the crown. In 1559, Kustaa Vaasa sent two round cannon towers, or rondells, to the castle built by Henrik von Cöllen. Some repairs were also made to the main castle to make it presentable. By the end of the 16th century, however, the castle began to decay; in 1587 the chancellor notes that it hadn't been inhabited for three years. Most of the south tower collapsed in an explosion in 1599. It was probably soon repaired, and in 1606 Erik Hare, appointed castle commander, clearly restored the castle's defensive readiness for six years. Gustavus II Adolf visited the renovated castle in 1614. Subsequently, the large castle hall was called the "king's hall".

Quando nel 1634 fu istituito l'ufficio del proprietario, il castello di Häme perse il suo status di centro amministrativo. Un cambiamento significativo avvenne nei dintorni del castello nel 1639, quando l'insediamento sul lato nord fu fondato da Pietari Brahe e ricevette i diritti di città come città chiamata Hämeenlinna .

Durante il XVII secolo, la politica estera della Svezia si spostò a sud del Mar Baltico e il castello cadde in rovina. La condizione fu aggravata da un incendio nel 1659. Quando scoppiò la Grande Guerra del Nord nel 1700, il castello era caduto in cattive condizioni. Furono fatti tentativi per migliorare le sue condizioni difensive, ma nel 1713 le sue capacità difensive risultarono deboli. Le truppe lasciarono il castello prima dell'arrivo dei nemici verso Pälkäne , e il castello fu tenuto dai russi dal 1713 al 1721. I russi migliorarono leggermente le condizioni di difesa del castello.

Dopo Isonviha, il castello di Häme divenne il quartier generale dell'esercito finlandese, cioè place d'armes . In questo contesto, il castello principale fu trasformato in un magazzino di grano e fu costruito un nuovo forno della corona per l'esercito. L'esterno del castello principale è stato modificato e ha assunto l'aspetto attuale. Le parti alari tra le torri sono state rialzate, lasciando le torri sud ed est sotto le strutture del tetto. Nella Guerra dei Cappelli , 1741-1743, i russi occuparono nuovamente il castello senza combattere. Successivamente, solo negli anni '70 del Settecento furono avviati nuovi lavori di riparazione. Per ordine del re Gustavo III, l'insediamento della città di Hämeenlinna fu spostato nella sua posizione attuale e iniziò il restauro del castello. l castello cominciò a svilupparsi come fortezza , attorno ad esso furono costruiti bastioni e fossati secondo il sistema dei bastioni . Inoltre, nell'area sono stati costruiti il corpo di guardia principale, l'edificio del muro perimetrale occidentale con varie officine e le strutture per la notte e la cucina dell'equipaggio sono state collocate nell'edificio del muro perimetrale settentrionale.

Il castello ha ovviamente servito da prigione sin dall'inizio. Il castello di Häme si arrese durante la guerra di Finlandia , il 6 marzo 1808, senza combattere. Successivamente, il castello fu subordinato all'amministrazione militare russa. Il castello di Häme è stato utilizzato anche come prigione per molto tempo, ma nei primi giorni del dominio russo fu trasformato in una prigione della corona, con quasi 300 prigionieri alloggiati nel castello principale. Allo stesso tempo, il castello era ancora utilizzato come granaio. Il castello fu completamente trasformato in prigione nel 1837 secondo i disegni di Carl Ludvig Engel . Importanti modifiche furono apportate anche all'area circostante il castello: nel 1839 fu costruito un istituto penitenziario sul lato ovest su progetto di Anders Fredrik Granstedt e nel 1871 la prigione della contea Ludvig Isak Lindqvistsecondo i piani. L'unica stanza di punizione femminile in Finlandia fu collocata nel castello di Häme nel 1881 . Il castello funzionò come carcere femminile fino al 1953 (il castello principale) e al 1972 (le mura perimetrali). Il castello aveva una cattiva reputazione tra le detenute: fino al 1944, ogni detenuta che fino ad allora era rimasta in silenzio iniziò a dire tutto ciò che sapeva durante l'interrogatorio, se il prezzo del silenzio andava al castello di Häme. Allo stesso modo, Ida Aalle-Teljo, che si trovava nel castello di Häme per motivi politici tra il 1919 e il 1922 , racconta cose piuttosto raccapriccianti sulla prigione nelle sue memorie.

Il restauro del castello di Häme fu proposto più volte, ma fu solo nel 1953 che i prigionieri furono trasferiti fuori dal castello principale per iniziare le ricerche. Il restauro del castello principale è stato difficile perché è stato più volte modificato e utilizzato per molto tempo. Il piano di restauro è stato redatto dal professor Nils Erik Wickberg . l restauro del castello principale fu completato nel 1979 e durante quel periodo furono ricostruite alcune delle strutture. Il precastello e i suoi dintorni furono restaurati dopo il castello principale e furono compiuti sforzi per riportarli allo stato precedente al 1870. Il loro restauro è stato completato nel 1988. Il castello principale è stato aperto al pubblico il 4 aprile 1979 e le mura perimetrali nel 1988.