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62-459: Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about 100 kilometres (60 mi) north-east of the capital city Helsinki , 38 kilometres (24 mi) south-west of Heinola and 74 kilometres (46 mi) east of Hämeenlinna , the capital of the region of Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme) . Lahti is situated at the intersection of Highway 4 (between Helsinki and Jyväskylä ) and Highway 12 (between Tampere and Kouvola ), which are

124-709: A concentration camp on the outskirts of Lahti. At the time of the Finnish Civil War, Lahti had a population of 6,500. The town was important for the Reds due to its location by the vital Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway , connecting Lahti to the major war theatres in Tavastia and Karelia . Red troops were formed and trained in the Hennala Garrison which the Russians had built in the early 1910s. As

186-612: A rapid increase in brick houses was taking place in the centre of the city. The Battle of Lahti was fought in the 1918 Finnish Civil War as the German Detachment Brandenstein took the town from the Reds . In the early 1920s, the city gained possession of the grounds of the Lahti Manor, an important piece of land previously blocking the city from the lake. Large-scale industrial operations grew rapidly in

248-468: A retaliation for firing the military hospital. Some sources claim that even 60 Reds were executed, but this cannot be verified. The Whites, in turn, shot up to 30 Reds before the battle was over. No heavy fighting occurred in 25–28 April, but on 28 April the Reds launched another attack against the German lines. The fighting lasted for two days but despite their overwhelming strength, the Reds could not beat

310-525: A village in Hollola , 5 kilometres south of Lahti. The Reds tried to break into the town but were pushed back. During the first two days of the battle, the Germans lost six men killed. Red losses were at least 37 killed and 500 captured. 300 more were captured within next three days as the Germans searched for Reds in their homes. The ones found with a fired rifle were shot. As the column of refugees reached

372-508: Is also convenient to travel to Helsinki airport . Travel time to Helsinki airport via Tikkurila station is between 49min to 65min. Additionally to the train connections, the long-distance busses are well-serviced in Lahti. Thanks to its geographical location, Lahti provides a hub-like possibility for busses too. From Lahti, the long-distance busses service routes to Helsinki, Turku , Tampere , Jyväskylä , Mikkeli , Oulu , Rovaniemi amongst

434-669: Is also the only city to host the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships seven times, doing so in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978, 1989, 2001 and 2017. The Pelicans have competed in the top level of Finnish ice hockey , the SM-liiga , since 1999. Before the new millennium Reipas represented Lahti in top-flight hockey for 50 years. Many former NHL players, such as Janne Laukkanen , Toni Lydman and Pasi Nurminen , have started their careers in Reipas. Historically

496-470: Is dominated by forests and small rivers. The divide is also apparent in the soil, which mostly consists of till in the north and clay in the south. The biggest lake is Vesijärvi which also is a gateway to Central Finland via Lake Päijänne . There is also a pond called Pikku-Vesijärvi ("Little Vesijärvi") near the Lanu-puisto park. The area of the city of Lahti is divided in two ways: first,

558-702: Is often heard on BBC Radio 3 . Lahti's annual music festival programme includes such events as Lahti Organ Festival, a jazz festival held in the city's market square and the Sibelius Festival. In addition to the Sibelius Hall, other additional notable works of architecture in Lahti are the City Hall (1911) by Eliel Saarinen , the Church of the Cross (1978) by Alvar Aalto , Nastola Church (1804),

620-599: The Hennala camp . Most of them were men, but among the detainees were also more than 1,000 women and a smaller number of children. According to the past research, all women were released, but recent studies have shown that the Women's Red Guard fighters were systematically executed by the Whites and most likely sexually abused. At least 218 women were shot, the youngest being only 14-year-old girls. The total number of executed Reds

682-488: The Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT as well as also highly valued Institute of Design and Fine Arts , which is a part of LAB University of Applied Sciences . Vesij%C3%A4rvi Vesijärvi is a lake of 111 square kilometres (43 sq mi) near Lahti in southern Finland. It suffered severe effects of eutrophication in the 1960s and a restoration programme began in

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744-581: The Soviet Union were settled in the city, and then later in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of urbanization. The rapid population growth came to a sharp end in 1975 and the city has since grown significantly slower albeit more steadily, with the latest notable growth in population happening in 2016 when the municipality of Nastola became a part of Lahti. In December 2018, Lahti became the first new university city in Finland after Rovaniemi in 1979 when

806-465: The 1930s as did the population; Lahti, at the time, was one of Finland's fastest-growing cities, and before the start of the Winter War its population was approaching 30,000. Through the addition of new areas in 1924, 1933 and 1956, Lahti grew, both in terms of population and surface area. The increase in population was especially strong after WWII , when 10,000 evacuees from ceded territories to

868-421: The 1970s; by the start of the 2020s, the lake's water quality and ecosystem had significantly improved. The Enonselkä Basin is a part of Vesijärvi. The name of the lake means literally 'Water Lake'. [REDACTED] Media related to Vesijärvi at Wikimedia Commons This Southern Finland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Battle of Lahti Battle of Lahti

930-552: The 1990s both clubs ended up in such massive financial difficulties that a merger was executed in 1996, with the newly formed club adopting a new name, crest and colours. FC Lahti has played in the Veikkausliiga since 1999, excluding a season-long visit to the first division in 2011, having placed twice third and appearing in Europe three times. The Kärpänen motorcycle speedway track existed from circa.1950 to circa.1980, it

992-577: The 2009 World Masters Athletics Championships were held in Lahti. For the 1952 Summer Olympics , some of the football matches were played at Kisapuisto . Lahti will host the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship August 26–27, an annual event which rotates venue and is the 2nd most important event in long course triathlon after Kona World Championship held annually in Hawaii. The city is served by 20 local bus lines, most of which are pendulum lines between two different areas via city centre. Bus transport in

1054-402: The 40 individually numbered districts ( Finnish : kaupunginosa ), and second, the 9 greater areas ( Finnish : suuralue ), which are divided into 41 statistical districts ( Finnish : tilastollinen kaupunginosa ) and further into 169 statistical areas ( Finnish : tilastoalue ). The definitions of the districts and statistical districts do not necessarily match each other. Below are listed

1116-465: The Finnish state reaches an agreement with regional councils to finance a direct rail link from Lahti to either Jyväskylä or Mikkeli . The city's main transportation hubs are the market square ( Kauppatori ) and the travel centre ( Matkakeskus) , with local buses providing a non-stop service between the two. The travel centre, which replaced the old Lahti bus station that had been in use since 1939,

1178-405: The G train to Riihimäki run hourly. Most services to Kouvola don't have a letter designation and are run every three hours aside from rush hours. There are plans for building two new train stops inside the city limits before 2020, Hennala and Karisto. A local service to Heinola has been proposed but renovating the old line has been deemed too expensive and unprofitable in the long term, unless

1240-662: The Germans finally took their instruments. 22,000 captured Reds were gathered to the Fellman camp , a short-lived concentration camp in the fields of the Fellman Manor. The rest of the Reds were placed in factories, schools and other public buildings in Lahti. A prison camp was also established to the Hennala Garrison. The women and children were soon released from the Fellman camp and 13,000 Reds were moved to

1302-578: The Lahti Conservatory, Kannas organises theatre classes and Lahden yhteiskoulu offers an economy-centered class. Salpaus is an educational consortium owned by the municipalities in Päijänne Tavastia arranging most of the region's vocational education and trade schooling. The privately owned Dila and Lahti Conservatory educate students for healthcare and music-related professions, respectively. Lahti's greatest educational assets are

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1364-654: The Parliament accepted a change in the university law. LUT University nowadays consists of two campuses, Lappeenranta and Lahti. The terrain of Lahti is dominated by the first Salpausselkä ridge, a terminal moraine that cuts through the city from west to east. The city is located in the transition from the southern coastal area to the Finnish Lakeland ; prominent to the north of the Salpausselkä are rocky hills and fragmented lakes, while its south side

1426-400: The Päijänne Tavastia region is organised by the regional transportation authority, known as Lahden seudun liikenne or LSL , and run by several private companies which have bid for the right to run their lines. LSL buses cover all urban areas at 10–20 minute intervals and most nearby municipalities at 30–60 minute intervals. Lahti is served by VR commuter rail , the Z train to Helsinki and

1488-596: The Red front had collapsed in the northern part of Tavastia and the Battle of Tampere was over in 6 April, tens of thousands of Red refugees headed east through Hämeenlinna and Lahti. In the late April, there were about 40,000 Reds inside the triangle formed by the towns of Hämeenlinna, Riihimäki and Lahti. The German Baltic Sea Division landed in Hanko on 3 April. After the victorious Battle of Helsinki , fought 12–13 April,

1550-508: The city centre and it will be redeveloped for other uses in the near future. Lahti's proximity to Helsinki provides a fast and well-serviced operation between the cities. Long-distance and commuter trains service the city at least twice an hour in the daytime. There is also a commuter train service towards Riihimäki in the south-west and to Kouvola / Kotka in the east. All the east and north-east long-distance train services to and from Helsinki railway station call at Lahti. From Lahti, it

1612-487: The city's most successful association football club has been Kuusysi . In their golden years lasting from the early 1980s to the 1990s they won five Finnish championships as well as two Finnish Cup titles, with appearances in European competitions each year. Their greatest rivals, Reipas, won a total of three championships and seven cup titles from 1963 to 1978 but diminished in the early 1980s as Kuusysi got stronger. In

1674-471: The city; these include small works by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Australian architect Richard Leplastrier . The Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani was founded in Lahti. Lahti has a rich sporting tradition, especially in various wintersports. The city is well known for the annually held Lahti Ski Games ( Salpausselän kisat ) and the Finlandia-hiihto cross-country skiing contest. It

1736-589: The construction of a large congress and concert centre, the Sibelius Hall (2000) by architects Kimmo Lintula and Hannu Tikka. Lahti has one of Finland's most widely known symphony orchestras, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra ( Sinfonia Lahti  ), based at the Sibelius Hall, which performs both classical and popular music, notably concentrating on music by Jean Sibelius . The orchestra has won several well respected international prizes, and

1798-570: The districts: Under the Köppen climate classification , Lahti has a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). Summers are usually warm in the city, with the average daily temperature in July exceeding over 23 °C (73.6 °F) and also having had the most 25 °C (77 °F) (or more) days in the last two decades, alongside Kouvola. Winters are cold and long but as a result of the climate change, specially winters are becoming more and more mild. During

1860-623: The division marched north to Riihimäki and Hämeenlinna, which forced the Red refugees to head to Lahti. Another German unit, Detachment Brandenstein, landed 75 kilometres east of Helsinki in Loviisa 12 April. The original plan for Detachment Brandenstein was to attack the Red stronghold of Kotka and then cut the Saint Petersburg railway in Kouvola . For some reason, the Germans finally decided to move north to Lahti, instead of Kotka in

1922-666: The east. As the Germans reached Lahti along the Loviisa–Vesijärvi railway , the Reds started building trenches, artillery batteries and other defensive posts to the slopes of the Salpausselkä ridge. In 13 April, the Detachment Brandenstein took the Orimattila village 20 kilometres south of Lahti. The offensive against the town was launched six days later on 19 April at 5 am. The main force commanded by

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1984-412: The existing agricultural peasantry. On 19 June 1877, almost the entire village was burned to the ground. However, the accident proved to be a stroke of luck for the development of the place, as it led to the authorities resuming their deliberations about establishing a town in Lahti. The village was granted market town rights by Emperor Alexander II of Russia in 1878 and an empire-style, grid town plan

2046-469: The experienced and well-armed German troops. The Germans had only about 800 men in Lahti while the Reds had up to 10,000 armed men from Western Finland and Helsinki region who had come with the refugee column. The problem for the Reds was that there was no order of battle and nobody commanded the force. There were only a couple of organized units, like the Turku Women's Guard and the squad composed of

2108-479: The fifth largest region in Finland after Helsinki , Tampere , Turku and Oulu . Lahti is home to 2% of Finland's population. 9.6% of the population has a foreign background, which is close to the national average. However, it is lower than in the major Finnish cities of Helsinki , Espoo , Tampere , Vantaa or Turku . Population by mother tongue (2023) Lahti is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. There are 522 Swedish speakers in Lahti, or 0.4% of

2170-702: The harbour by the Vesijärvi lake. At the same time the Finnish White Army division, commanded by the Estonian major Hans Kalm , entered the town from north as the Reds on the Radiomäki hill had surrendered. The German commander colonel Otto von Brandenstein and Hans Kalm greeted each other in a modest ceremony held in the Lahti main street. On the next day, a small clash occurred as a group of 1,000 Red Guard fighters came by armoured train to Okeroinen,

2232-444: The heatwave of 2010, the temperature in Lahti reached 35.0 °C (95 °F). The amount of precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The driest season is spring, the most precipitation is in the second half of the year. FMI (record highs and lows 1938–1961) The city of Lahti has 121,447 inhabitants, making it the 9th most populous municipality in Finland. The Lahti region has 204,781 inhabitants, making it

2294-543: The lieutenant colonel von Luck took the village of Villähde, 9 kilometres east of Lahti, at 1:00 pm and cut the Saint Petersburg railway, while the second unit attacked Lahti and reached the Railway Station at 7:00 am without any resistance. After taking the Hennala Garrison, the Germans entered the town in the evening. Colonel Luck and his men headed for the General Hospital at 10:00 pm and most of Lahti

2356-435: The most significant main roads of Lahti. Its neighboring municipalities are Asikkala , Heinola, Hollola , Iitti and Orimattila . In English, the Finnish word Lahti literally means bay . Lahti is also dubbed the " Chicago of Finland" due to the similarity of early industries of both cities, when they were known as " slaughterhouse cities ". Also, the troubled history of both cities in terms of crime has been seen as one of

2418-410: The next evening. At the same time, a column of tens of thousands of Red refugees was approaching Lahti from the west. On 22 April, the Reds launched a counterattack to break through the German lines and clear the way for the fleeing people. The attempt failed and the Reds finally surrendered on 1 May. As a result, the Whites and Germans captured about 30,000 Reds and their family members who were placed in

2480-707: The oldest church in the city, Joutjärvi church , the City Theatre (1983) by Pekka Salminen , the City Library (1990) by Arto Sipinen , the Piano Pavilion (2008) by Gert Wingårdh , and the Travel Centre (2016) by JKMM Architects . The City of Lahti has also acted as the host city for the international Spirit of Wood Architecture Award , established in Finland in 1999. Some of the prize-winners have received commissions to design small structures in

2542-653: The other destinations. Lahti has 16 comprehensive schools and eight secondary schools. Comprehensive education is also available in English and Swedish. Lahden yhteiskoulu is the city's only private school offering both comprehensive and upper secondary education. All four upper secondary schools in Lahti have a specialty: the Lyceum has expertise on subjects such as mathematics and biology, and sports (formerly in Salpauselkä), Tiirismaa focuses on music in association with

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2604-400: The outskirts of Lahti, the Reds launched a counterattack on 22 April. They were desperately trying to break the German lines and march through the town to continue their journey eastward, but managed only to take the Hennala Garrison. In the next morning, the Red artillery started firing on the town. The bombing of German positions lasted for six days. At least 16 Reds were shot by the Germans as

2666-438: The population. As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon. At least 100 different languages are spoken in Lahti. The most commonly spoken foreign languages are Russian (2.8%), Arabic (1.1%), Estonian (0.7%) and Kurdish (0.6%). As of 2023, there were 11,552 persons with a migrant background living in Lahti, or 9.6% of

2728-461: The population. The number of residents who were born abroad was 10,919, or 9.0 per cent of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Lahti was 7,272. Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union , Estonia , Iraq and Russia . The relative share of immigrants in Lahti's population is close to the national average. Furthermore, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase

2790-515: The proportion of foreign residents in the coming years. In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 60.6% of the population of Lahti. Other religious groups accounted for 2.9% of the population. 36.5% of the population had no religious affiliation. The economic region of Lahti, which includes the surrounding municipalities, was strongly affected by the collapse of Finnish-Soviet trade and by

2852-413: The recession in the early 1990s. The value of production slumped, especially in the mechanical engineering industry and other manufacturing industries (e.g. the furniture industry). Production also decreased in the textile and clothing industry. In 1990, there were 90,370 jobs in the Lahti region. The number of jobs diminished over the next couple of years, so that in 1993 there were fewer than 70,000 jobs in

2914-560: The region. The number of jobs had slowly increased to 79,138 in 1999. [REDACTED] In 1995, R&D expenditure was FIM 715 per person, while Finland's average was about FIM 2050. The amount of Tekes (the National Technology Agency) funding in the Lahti Region grew 40% during 2004–2007 while the average growth in Finland was 60%. [REDACTED] Lahti harbors cultural ambitions, manifested notably in

2976-565: The similarities. Lahti is a long-time pioneering city in environmental sustainability, dating back to as early as 1990 and before. The European Commission has named Lahti as the European Green Capital of 2021. Lahti is the headquarters of the Salpausselkä UNESCO Global Geopark, one of 4 UNESCO Geoparks in Finland. Salpausselkä was added to the list of over 170 UNESCO Global Geoparks in

3038-495: The towns of Hämeenlinna and Viipuri . The completion of the Riihimäki – St. Petersburg railway line in 1870 and the Vesijärvi canal in 1871 turned Lahti into a lively station, and industrial installations began to spring up around it. For a long time, the railway station at Vesijärvi Harbour was the second busiest station in Finland. Craftsmen, merchants, a few civil servants and a lot of industrial workers soon mixed in with

3100-470: The township: land would not sell and often plots were not built on for some time. In its early years, the town with its meagre 200 inhabitants was too small to provide any kind of foundation for trade. At the end of the 1890s, Lahti's Township Board increased its efforts to enable Lahti to be turned into a city. In spring 1904, the efforts finally bore fruit as the Senate approved of the application, although it

3162-475: The world in 2022. The coat of arms of the city depicts a train wheel surrounded by flames. It refers to the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway , which had a decisive influence on the birth of the city at its crossroads. Lahti was first mentioned in documents in 1445. The village belonged to the parish of Hollola and was located at the medieval trade route of Ylinen Viipurintie , which linked

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3224-569: The youth section of the sports club Jyry Helsinki . The Germans in turn, managed in taking the Okeroinen village by the Helsinki railway on 30 April. They were now able to encircle the Red troops of the Hennala Garrison. In the morning of 1 May, the Germans attacked Hennala but the Reds had already fled. At 8:00 a.m., the Reds started surrendering and the Battle of Lahti was over, although there

3286-564: Was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought from 19 April to 1 May by the German troops and Finnish Whites against the Finnish Reds in Lahti , Finland . Together with the Battle of Viipuri , from 24 to 29 April, it was the last major battle of the war. The German unit Detachment Brandenstein , commanded by colonel Otto von Brandenstein , attacked Lahti on 19 April, taking the town by

3348-556: Was also the group of 4,000–5,000 Red refugees who had only a couple of days earlier fought their way through the German lines in the bloody Battle of Syrjäntaka . Up to 10,000 Reds surrendered in the fields of Vesala in Hollola, 10 kilometres west of Lahti. Led by the military band of the Pori Red Guard, the group marched to Lahti. The band was playing revolutionary anthems like The Internationale and La Marseillaise until

3410-402: Was another eighteen months before Tsar Nicholas II finally gave his blessing and issued an ordinance for establishing the city of Lahti. At the end of 1905, the area that now comprises Lahti accommodated around 8,200 people of whom just under 3,000 lived in the city itself. All essential municipal institutions were built in just ten years, including a hospital and a city hall. At the same time,

3472-497: Was approved, which included a large market square and wide boulevards . This grid plan still forms the basis of the city center. Most of the buildings were low wooden houses bordering the streets. Lahti was founded during a period of severe economic recessions. The Russian Empire was encumbered by the war against Turkey , which also affected the economy of the Grand Duchy of Finland . The recession also slowed down building of

3534-420: Was built between 2014 and 2016 around the Lahti railway station by building new local bus stops around the station, a long-distance bus terminal next to the station building and an automated parking facility for commuters. All local and long-distance trains and buses stop at the travel centre, making it convenient to transfer from one mode of transport to another. The city council has sold the old bus station in

3596-418: Was held by the Germans by 11:00 pm. All this happened with hardly any resistance by the surprised Reds. Instead of the town itself, the Reds were only defending their positions in the Salpausselkä ridge. It is unclear why the attack took the Reds by surprise, as they knew the Germans were approaching. One explanation is their poor reconnaissance and surveillance. On the morning of 20 April, the Germans reached

3658-765: Was located where the Kärpäsen koulu sports field is today and hosted a qualifying round of the Speedway World Championship in 1957 in addition to the Finnish Speedway Championship , multiple times between the years 1963 and 1978. Another former speedway track at Pipoo (built in 1980), off the Vanhanradankatu held the final of the Finnish Championship in 1980, 1987 and 1990. The 1997 World Games and

3720-426: Was more than 500. The executions were carried out by the Finnish battalion led by the Estonian colonel Hans Kalm. The Germans shot only approximately 20–30 Reds during the Battle of Lahti but did not participate the later executions. In some cases they were even trying to stop the Whites from executing their prisoners. The Germans usually robbed the killed as well as the captured Reds of their personal possessions. This

3782-458: Was still minor resistance in the surroundings of the town and five Germans were killed on 2 May. As the battle was over, the Germans and Finnish Whites captured about 30,000 Reds in the surroundings of Lahti. The numbers include Red Guards fighters and their family members as well as other Red supporters who had fled from the western and southern parts of the Red Finland . Among the captured

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3844-502: Was verified in the war diaries of the German officer Hans Tröbst , released as the sixth part of the 2015 book Der Krieg im Westen . The Hennala Camp was active until the end of September 1918. Nearly 1,200 of the 13,000 prisoners died of executions, disease or malnutrition. Trenches and potholes are still visible in the Salpausselkä hills. They are preserved by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities because of

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