Risto Ryti – Hero or a War Criminal?

Risto Ryti medal at the National Museum.

After the WW II Risto Ryti got a 10 years sentence for being the main responsible for the war against Soviet Union. This shocked the majority of Finns who respected the former prime minister and president and who thought that the hostilities between the two countries were started by Soviet Union in 1939.

The first thing people remember of Ryti is how he in 1944 answered to Germany’s pressure: Finland shouldn’t make peace with Soviet Union without German consent. Instead of tying Finland to the issue, he personally as the president guaranteed that this will not happen. This secured that some very important German troops, weapons and other resources would still be at Finland’s disposal. Once it was a good time for Finland to make the peace, Ryti resigned which also made his earlier guarantee obsolete. It is possible that the German troops and resources actually saved Finnish democracy and independence – we can only speculate.

Once Soviet Union collapsed, it became easier to acknowledge how Ryti and his sacrifices were still valued. In 2004 Ryti became second in Great Finns tv show where spectators voted Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim as the greatest ever Finn in similar manner as spectators of BBC voted Winston Churchill as the greatest Briton. Ryti’s second place was strongly a people’s choice as Finnish Broadcasting Company hadn’t originally listed him as a candidate for the voting.

Carl Ludwig Engel – The Architect of Empire Helsinki

The German architect Carl Ludwig Engel was given a rare chance in 1816: design how Helsinki should be rebuilt to match its new status as the capital of Grand Dutchy of Finland.

The easiest way to see something designed by Engel is to walk to the neoclassical (empire) Senate’s Square and most of the buildings you see are his designs like these that I’ve shown you earlier

• Helsinki Cathedral
• The main building of the University of Helsinki
• Council of State

Boxing Legend Gunnar “GeeBee” Bärlund

Statue of Gunnar "GeeBee" Bärlund in front of Paavali church in Vallila.

GeeBee (1910-1982) was both the first and the best ever Finnish professional boxer.

Something New for the St. Lucy’s Day (Lucian päivä)

This year's St. Lucy (Lucia-neito) Sonja Sjöblom toured Helsinki city centre in a horse cart.

St. Lucy brings light to the darkest time of the year on December 13th. This is mostly a Scandinavian celebration and in Finland it is the Swedish speaking Finns who are running the show.

Finland’s official St. Lucy is voted every year and according to Helsingin Sanomat newspaper Sonja Sjöblom is the first brunette in the role that traditionally has been reserved for blondes.

In addition to the official St. Lucy, local candleheads are selected in many places like schools.

More photos from the parade in my photography blog.

Martti Ahtisaari, Winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2008

Today is a very special day as Martti Ahtisaari gets his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. I’ll make an exception and this photo is not from Helsinki but from a country that is very important for him.

Martti Ahtisaari has helped Namibians and many others over big hurdles. Ahtisaari thinks that the long process that lead to the independence of Namibia is the biggest achievement of his amazing career.

If somebody deserves a Nobel peace prize it is Martti Ahtisaari. It wouldn’t be unfair if he already had a few of them. During his decades long career he has been mediating many difficult conflicts on several continents and most importantly he has results like Namibian independence and peace in Aceh.

As a young boy he was among the 400 000 Finns whose homesteads had to be given to Soviet Union as a result of WW II. After being a refugee in his own country he became a teacher but soon found his calling in international matters. Once Namibia was independent, he became a surprise candidate in the Finnish presidential elections. He didn’t run for a second term which wasn’t a surprise.

Today through Crises Management Initiative he is sharing his skills, knowledge and impressive contact networks with his young colleagues. They have a very good chance to follow Ahtisaari’s big footsteps in the future. That is good news for all of us.

The Red Thread

Maarit Tastula (right) chatting with an Afghan woman earlier this year in Village Festival.

Maarit Tastula’s popular Punainen lanka (red thread) tv interviews ended last spring after many many years.

Punainen lanka is the essence of something. The tv program gave a rare chance to really discuss about things on tv and to see the big picture as there was only one person to be interviewed and Tastula and her team had done their homework well. Tastula’s personality probably made people say more than they would have said to an average interviewer. She interviewed both celebrities and people who were not known by the general public.

Pacius, Composer of the National Anthem

Statue of Pacius in Kaisaniemi.

German Fredrik Pacius is the composer of the Finnish national anthem although it is often mentioned that he was in a hurry and he just copied a German drinking song. In many ways he had a major role in the musical life of a nation that wasn’t independent yet.

Estonians also use the same melody without a repetition at the end. In many sports events it is actually the shorter Estonian anthem that is played for Finnish winners. Even when a few years ago Jukka Keskisalo became the European champion of 3000m steeple chase in neighbouring Sweden, they played the Estonian anthem for him. Many times the blue color of Finnish flag is also way too light and it has totally wrong dimensions. I guess Finns have been too polite to complain.

Celebrity Chefs

Too many chefs?

Sami Garam (left) is not just known as a chef but he has translated many books and comics into the slang of Helsinki (stadin slangi). Including Donald Duck (comic called Rotsi on mut byysat puuttuu), Asterix (Kessen rehukotsa) and Aleksis Kivi’s Seven Brothers (Allu Stemun Seittemän broidii).

Janne Pekkala (right) from the city of Oulu became famous in Makupalat tv cooking show.

The photo was taken during this years herring market where the chefs demonstrated how you can use herring in your cooking.

Mayor Opened Annual Herring Market

Jussi Pajunen wants the city center to be livelier and he said that the herring market shows a good example how to do that.

Today it was very crowded at the fish stands so I didn’t even try to take any herring related photos. Instead I use this as an opportunity to introduce the mayor of Helsinki.

The first herring market (silakkamarkkinat) in Helsinki was held in 1743. Fishermen arrive with their boats to Market Square to sell their fish and they will be there till the 11th October. It isn’t all traditional but recently they have also adopted spices from far away countries.

Read more about the history in English, Swedish and Finnish.