Turku 1000
Stop 29 of 50
1830s–1840s

Steamships, shipping and a rebuilt town

Without its university and its role as capital, Turku turned to the sea. In the 1830s and 1840s steamships linked it to Stockholm, Helsinki and St Petersburg, a new town of straight streets rose from the ashes, and wealthy families began to spend their summers on the island of Ruissalo.

Biedermeier · Grand Duchy
The big story

Steamships, shipping and a rebuilt town

After the fire of 1827 and the loss of the university, Turku had to find a new role. It found one on the water. While builders filled Engel’s new street grid with houses, steamships began to tie the town to the rest of the Baltic, and the first engineering works appeared on the banks of the Aura.

Steam comes to Turku

  • The first steamer. In 1821 the paddle-wheel schooner Stockholm began to sail between Turku and Stockholm Well documented.
  • Regular lines. In the 1830s steamships ran regularly from Turku to Stockholm, to Helsinki and on to St Petersburg Well documented.
  • Furst Menschikoff. In 1837 a 35-metre steamship built in Turku started traffic between St Petersburg, Tallinn, Helsinki, Turku and Stockholm, sharing the route with another ship, the Storfursten. It is described as the first sea-going passenger steamship in Finland Well documented.
  • Built here, powered from Sweden. The ship was designed by the Swedish shipwright von Sydow and built in Turku, but its 90-horsepower steam engine came from Motala in Sweden. It was named after the Governor-General of Finland, Prince Alexander Menshikov Well documented.
  • A second one. A new paddle steamer with the same name was built in Turku in 1850 Well documented.

A port town

  • Still the leading port. In the early 19th century Turku was still the leading port in Finland Well documented.
  • Far away. By the middle of the century ships came to Turku from as far away as Argentina, and large salt ships sailed the oceans in winter Well documented.
  • Butter for the world. By 1852 butter was Turku’s most important export Well documented.
  • Engines made in Turku. Ships had been built on the Aura since the 1730s. In 1842 the engineers David Cowie and Anders Thalus Eriksson were allowed to open a foundry and engineering works in Turku. It later became the Crichton shipyard, the ancestor of the yard that builds cruise ships today (stop 49) Well documented.

The new town rises

  • Engel’s grid fills up. Along the straight new streets of Engel’s plan (stop 28), houses rose again, most of them low wooden houses, as the new rules required Likely.
  • The Cathedral restored. The Cathedral reopened in 1829, got its new tower top in 1834 and a new pulpit in 1837 (stop 27) Well documented.
  • A theatre that is still in use. On 21 January 1839 an amateur society opened a new theatre with the play Gubben i Bergsbygden. Today Åbo Svenska Teater is the oldest theatre building in Finland that is still in use Well documented.
  • A star on stage. In 1843 the famous Swedish singer Jenny Lind gave a concert at the theatre Well documented.
  • A newspaper that never stopped. Åbo Underrättelser, founded by the printer Christian Ludvig Hjelt, published its first issue on 3 January 1824. It is the oldest newspaper in Finland that is still printed Well documented.

Still the biggest town, for now

  • Growing again. Turku had 12,550 inhabitants in 1815 and 17,178 in 1850. It stayed Finland’s largest town until the late 1840s Well documented.
  • Helsinki catches up. Then the capital overtook it. Later, Finland’s first railway (1862) and the Saimaa Canal pulled trade towards Helsinki and Vyborg, and Turku’s share of Finland’s foreign trade fell from 18 to 8 percent between 1860 and 1875 Well documented.
  • The answer. Turku’s reply to losing trade was to get a railway of its own, in 1876 (stop 30) Likely.
How do we know?

Port records, newspapers and ship lists tell us which ships sailed and where. Sources do not agree on which ship was “the first”: the port of Turku names the Stockholm of 1821, while Furst Menschikoff of 1837 is called the first sea-going passenger steamship of Finland. It depends on what you count, and who owned the ship.

Baltic Seato the oceans →TurkuStockholmHelsinkiSt PetersburgTallinnÅland
Furst Menschikoff, 1837
Length
35 m
Engine
90 hp, from Motala in Sweden
Built
In Turku
Designer
The Swedish shipwright von Sydow
Named after
Governor-General A. S. Menshikov
Steamship routes from Turku, 1821 to the mid-1800s. Step through the years.Routes are drawn schematically; real ships followed the channels through the archipelago.
Why it matters

The 1830s and 1840s set Turku’s course for the next two centuries. Losing the university and the government pushed the town towards the sea, towards trade, ships and engineering. The small foundry of 1842 grew into the shipyard that now builds some of the largest cruise ships in the world.

On the lighter side

Summer villas on Ruissalo

Just west of the city centre lies Ruissalo, a long island of oak woods, meadows and wooden villas. For centuries it belonged to castles, dukes and governors. Then, in 1846, Turku’s burghers got their summer paradise.

Castle, duke and governors

  • The castle’s island. At the latest by the 1300s, Ruissalo belonged to Turku Castle and was used as crown pasture. In the mid-1400s it became a royal manor Well documented.
  • A hunting park. Duke John, who ruled from Turku Castle from 1556 (stop 14), made the island his hunting park. Red deer were brought there in 1562; the last were recorded in 1599 Well documented.
  • Oaks for ships. The oaks were carefully protected, because their wood was reserved for shipbuilding. In the 1790s Governor Willebrand nevertheless had 710 oaks felled and kept the money himself Well documented.
  • Absent owners. In the 1600s the island passed to the governors-general and governors, such as Count Per Brahe (1637–1651). They did not live there, and it stayed the governors’ estate until 1844 Well documented.

Turku gets an island

  • No more pastures. After the fire of 1827 and the new town plan, the burghers had lost most of their pastures around the town. They asked the Senate to let them use Ruissalo for grazing and summer recreation Well documented.
  • In perpetuity. In 1845, with the approval of the Russian emperor, the island was handed to the town of Turku “in perpetuity” Well documented.
  • Fifty plots. In 1846 the town divided the island into fifty plots and rented them out to burghers as places for summer houses. One plot was kept as a recreation area for everyone Well documented.
  • More villas. In 1918 the plots were redrawn, and the island got 126 plots Well documented.

War and peace on the island

  • Warships. During the Crimean War, British warships fired on Ruissalo on 22 August 1854 Well documented.
  • A forest of oaks. One of the largest old oak forests in Finland grows on Ruissalo. Its oak woodland covers about 170 hectares, roughly half of all oak forest in Finland, and much of it is protected Well documented.
  • Cows for the view. Cattle still graze on the island in summer, mainly to keep the old meadows open Well documented.

Ruissalo today

  • Villas with new lives. The villas are valued as cultural heritage. Some are guesthouses or cafés, some belong to foundations, unions, sports clubs or companies, and some are rented for weddings. Others have suffered, because repairing them with the old building methods is expensive Well documented.
  • Science and rock. The University of Turku’s botanical garden lies in the middle of the island, and every summer the Ruisrock festival is held on Ruissalo Well documented.
  • Protected for the future. The island may not be used for large-scale building, so that its nature and history are kept for future generations Well documented.
Turku centre →Ruissalo · Runsala♪ ♫

plots public park oaks

Ruissalo through the centuries. Step from the castle’s pasture to the villa plots and the island today.A schematic island; the places of plots, oaks and buildings are illustrative.
How do we know?

The town’s records show when Ruissalo was handed over and how the plots were rented. The oak forest has been studied by biologists, who measured its size. Some dates are uncertain: one city page says the castle took over the island in the 1200s, another says the 1300s at the latest.

Why it matters

The fire of 1827 took the burghers’ pastures, and in return the town got an island for summer life. The rule of 1846 that one plot should be open to all still echoes today: Ruissalo is a place where anyone in Turku can walk among old oaks, swim, or go to a rock festival.

Sources and further reading

  1. Port of Turku. History: the steamship Stockholm (1821), regular lines in the 1830s, ships from Argentina and salt ships in the mid-1800s.
  2. Port of Turku 870 years (history book, PDF): butter as the main export by 1852 and Turku’s falling share of foreign trade, 1860–1875.
  3. Furst Menschikoff — the first sea-going passenger steamship in Finland (1837), built in Turku, its route, engine and namesake.
  4. Crichton (Turku shipyard) — Cowie & Eriksson’s foundry of 1842 and the later shipyard.
  5. Meyer Turku. History: shipbuilding on the river Aura since the 1730s.
  6. Åbo Svenska Teater — opened on 21 January 1839, Finland’s oldest theatre building still in use, and Jenny Lind’s concert of 1843.
  7. Åbo Underrättelser — founded by C. L. Hjelt, first issue 3 January 1824, Finland’s oldest newspaper still in print.
  8. Turku — population in 1815 and 1850, and the largest city in Finland until the late 1840s.
  9. Ruissalo — the oak forest, the villas, the botanical garden and the British bombardment of 1854.
  10. City of Turku. History of Ruissalo: the castle, Duke John’s hunting park, the governors, the transfer to the town in 1845 and the summer-house plots of 1846 and 1918.

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