Turku 1000
Stop 51 · Epilogue
2029

Turku 800: the next chapter

In 2029 Finland’s oldest city turns 800. This last stop looks ahead to the anniversary year, shows how you can add to this site, and collects every source we used.

Epilogue
The big story

Turku 800 in 2029

Turku counts its age from 1229, when Pope Gregory IX wrote a letter about moving the bishop’s seat (stop 2). Eight hundred years later, in 2029, the city plans a whole year of celebrations.

Why 2029?

  • The letter. The city counts 1229 as its founding year because of Pope Gregory IX’s letter dated 23 January 1229, the first written mention of the place Well documented.
  • No founding day. The letter did not found a town. It was about the bishop, and the town grew up near his new seat in the following decades, around the castle (stop 3) and the cathedral (stop 4) Likely.
  • Earlier birthdays. In 1929, 700 years after the letter, Turku held a fair that showed the new functionalist style (stop 38). In January 2019 Finnish news reported that Finland’s oldest city had turned 790 Well documented.

The plan

  • The name. The anniversary is called “Now, Forever, Turku”. Its logo combines the number 800 with the infinity sign ∞ Well documented.
  • A question. The guiding question of the year is “What can I do first?” Well documented.
  • Themes. The main themes are “new firsts” and “strengthening urbanity”. There are also five smaller themes: a city for everyone, a city of nature, of know-how, of joy and of oases Well documented.
  • Who organises. The Turku 2029 Foundation coordinates the year for the city. The budget is 6.9 million euros, of which the foundation funds 5.3 million Well documented.
  • The timetable. The plan was approved in October 2025. 2026 and 2027 are years of preparation, 2028 is a prelude with “a celebration of urban firsts”, and 2029 is “a year full of celebrations” Well documented.
  • Everyone a hero. The aim is that “everyone living in Turku will be a Hero of the Day in 2029”. When we checked in November 2026, the city’s page did not yet list concerts, exhibitions or other events Well documented.

Looking back from 2029

  • Uneven stops. On the long line the dots crowd together near the present. Recent times have far more sources, so this site gives them more stops, as the introduction explains.
  • Three states. For more than five hundred years Turku was part of the Swedish realm. From 1809 to 1917 it belonged to the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian emperor, and since 1917 it has been part of independent Finland (stops 25 and 35). The colours of the dots show these periods Well documented.
800202520262027202820292030Today
The road to the anniversary year, and all fifty stops of this site on one line from 1000 to 2030.The “today” marker is placed by your own browser. On the long line each dot is one stop, placed by its year; where dots crowd together they are stacked.
How do we know?

The plans for 2029 come from the City of Turku’s own page about the anniversary, in English, Swedish and Finnish. Plans can change: the programme was still open when we checked in November 2026. The date of the letter comes from an encyclopedia article about Turku, and stop 2 explains what the letter actually says.

Why it matters

A thousand years of Turku show farms becoming a town, a capital, a burned city, an industrial port and a student city. Each generation decided what to keep and what to change. The anniversary asks the people who live in Turku now, including young people, what they want to do first.

On the lighter side

Your turn: add to the story

No history is ever finished. New finds turn up in the ground and in archives, and a site like this surely has mistakes. You can help to fix them.

How to help

  • Every stop has buttons. At the bottom of each stop you find “Suggest a correction”, “Suggest an addition” and “Other feedback”. The same buttons are at the bottom of this page.
  • Bring a source. Say where your information comes from: a book, an article, a museum or an archive. A source that others can check is worth more than a memory.
  • Mind the badges. If you can prove a claim that we marked as likely or debated, the badge can change. If a “well documented” fact turns out to be wrong, tell us that too.
  • No account needed. A short form opens on the page itself, and it already knows which stop you are on. If you want an answer, leave your email address. It is never shown on the site.

Open questions

Many stops say what we could not find. Here are a few gaps you could help to fill:

  • The 1929 fair. Its official name, its exact place and how many people visited (stop 38).
  • The wars. How many air raids hit Turku in each war (stop 39).
  • The shipyard. How many people worked at the Turku yard in the 1980s, and how many lost their jobs in 1989 (stop 45).
  • The pandemic. How student traditions such as May Day were celebrated in Turku during the pandemic (stop 49).
How a correction travels from your idea to the page.An example. The official name of the 1929 fair really is still an open question.
Thank you

Thank you for travelling through a thousand years of Turku. The credits and the full list of sources follow below.

Credits

Text and research
Written with the help of Anthropic’s Claude language model, from the sources listed on each page. Every claim carries a badge that says how sure we are.
Pictures
All maps, plans and pictures were drawn for this site as simple graphics. They are not to scale unless they say so.
Music
Every stop has background music. The kantele on the first pages is made in your browser while you listen: it evokes the era and is not a recording or a reconstruction. Stop 2 has “Viking” by studiokolomna, the medieval stops “Medieval Ambient” by Vlad Bakutov, the Renaissance stops “Renaissance Reverie” by BackgroundMusicLab, the Baroque stops “Weavers Path” by Peter Roberts, the Rococo stops the minuet “Dance of Shadows” by Alana Jordan, the Gustavian stops 23–24 J. S. Bach’s Prelude from the first Cello Suite on harpsichord by Gregor Quendel, the early Russian era (stops 25–29) “String Quartet Elegance” by Alex Morgan, the late 1800s (stops 30–32) “Emotional Cinematic Orchestra Piano” by Lumen Sound, the years 1904–1918 (stops 33–35) “Sinister Akroterion” by Samuel F. Johanns, the interwar years (stops 36–38) “Retro Jazz Annabelle” by Vellum Lounge, the war years (stops 39–40) “Requiem for the Living” by Flol Ga, the 1950s to 1970s (stops 41–44) “Backseat Promise” by Paul Winter and the 1980s to today (stops 45–50 and this page) “Back to 90s” by Oleg Motoshin, all from Pixabay (Pixabay Content License). Bach wrote his prelude around 1720; the other pieces are modern, most of them in an old style. All music is off unless you turn it on.
Fonts
Literata, IM Fell English, Uncial Antiqua and UnifrakturMaguntia, all under the SIL Open Font License, via Fontsource.
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, code MIT. You may reuse the texts if you name the source and share under the same licence.

All sources, stop by stop

487 sources in all. Open a stop to see its list.

51 2029 This page
  1. City of Turku: Now, Forever, Turku – on the way to the 800th anniversary — the plan, themes, timetable, budget and organiser.
  2. Åbo stad: Nu, för evigt, Åbo — the same page in Swedish (in Swedish).
  3. Turun kaupunki: Nyt, ikuisesti, Turku — the same page in Finnish (in Finnish).
  4. Turku — the papal letter of 23 January 1229, the first written mention of the town, and the 790th birthday in 2019.
1 c. 1026 Before the town: a busy river valley (8)
  1. Haggrén, G., Halinen, P., Lavento, M., Raninen, S. & Wessman, A. (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Suomen esi- ja varhaishistoria kivikaudelta keskiajalle. Gaudeamus.
  2. Talvio, T. (2002). Coins and Coin Finds in Finland AD 800–1200. Iskos 12, Finnish Antiquarian Society.
  3. Luoto, J. (1984). Liedon Vanhalinnan mäkilinna. Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistyksen Aikakauskirja 87.
  4. Vanhalinna hillfort — overview with references.
  5. Finnish Heritage Agency — register of ancient monuments.
  6. Climateguide.fi — Land uplift on the Finnish coast.
  7. Turku Castle — history.
  8. Live Science (2026) — Finland’s largest Viking Age silver hoard found in Sysmä.
2 1150s–1229 Cross, crusade and a bishop on the river (9)
  1. Immonen, V., Kinnunen, J. & Harjula, J. (2021). At the fringes of urbanisation: a socio-economic model of founding of the town of Turku, c. 1300. ZAM 49, 217–234.
  2. Linna, M. (ed.) (1989). Suomen varhaiskeskiajan lähteitä. Historian Aitta XXI.
  3. Heikkilä, T. (2005). Pyhän Henrikin legenda. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
  4. Ruohonen, J. (2022). Built of Wood and Turned to Soil — Finland’s oldest churches with reference to Ristimäki in Ravattula. Iskos 26.
  5. Haggrén, G. et al. (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Gaudeamus.
  6. Diocese of Åbo (Turku) — history and the 1229 letters.
  7. Medieval Nordic saints wiki (University of Bergen) — Sanctus Henricus.
  8. Yle — on the 1229 tradition and Turku’s founding date.
  9. City of Turku — History of Kupittaa Park.
3 c. 1280 Turku Castle rises at the river mouth (10)
  1. Immonen, V., Kinnunen, J. & Harjula, J. (2021). At the fringes of urbanisation: a socio-economic model of founding of the town of Turku, c. 1300. ZAM 49, 217–234.
  2. Turku Castle — official history.
  3. City of Turku — Turku Castle in a nutshell.
  4. Turku Castle — overview with the list of castle commanders.
  5. Turku Parishes — History of Turku Cathedral, 14th century.
  6. History of Turku — founding, first seal and town council.
  7. Turku — section on the name (cites K. Häkkinen and M. Heikkilä).
  8. Coat of arms of Turku.
  9. City of Turku (2026) — harbour-area excavations reveal new information on Turku Castle (in Finnish).
  10. Haggrén, G. et al. (2015). Muinaisuutemme jäljet. Gaudeamus.
4 1300 The Cathedral is consecrated (9)
  1. Turku Parishes — History of Turku Cathedral.
  2. Turku Parishes — History of Turku Cathedral, 14th century.
  3. Turku Cathedral — overview.
  4. Lamberg, M. (2023). The Sack of Turku in 1509: Recovering from a Catastrophe. Zapiski Historyczne 88(2), 97–123.
  5. City of Turku — Katedralskolan i Åbo, 750 years.
  6. University of Turku — The Declaration of Christmas Peace.
  7. Christmas Peace — history and the English translation of the Turku declaration.
  8. Julfrid — the Swedish text of the declaration and its history (in Swedish).
  9. Yle (2006) — on the Christmas Peace declaration (in Finnish).
5 1318 Novgorod raiders burn Turku (9)
  1. Attack on Åbo (1318) — overview with references.
  2. Turku Parishes — History of Turku Cathedral, 14th century.
  3. Turku Castle — overview with the list of castle commanders.
  4. History of Turku (in Finnish) — the Middle Ages.
  5. Lamberg, M. (2023). The Sack of Turku in 1509: Recovering from a Catastrophe. Zapiski Historyczne 88(2), 97–123.
  6. City of Turku — archaeological collection, historic finds.
  7. Harjula, J. (2008). Before the Heels. Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XV.
  8. Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova — museum history.
  9. Meer (2018) — Aboa Vetus, Old Turku.
6 1350s German merchants and the Hanseatic town (8)
  1. Immonen, V., Kinnunen, J. & Harjula, J. (2021). At the fringes of urbanisation: a socio-economic model of founding of the town of Turku, c. 1300. ZAM 49, 217–234.
  2. Port of Turku — 870 years of history (book, PDF). Medieval harbour, trade goods and partners.
  3. Port of Turku — history timeline.
  4. Turku — overview and history.
  5. History of Turku (in Finnish) — the Middle Ages.
  6. Hanseatic League — overview.
  7. Aalto, I., Veinio, T., Sointula, H. & Haggrén, G. (2024). Turkulainen tunkio ja särkyneen ikkunan arvoitus. SKAS 2/2024 (in Finnish).
  8. Hortus novus: Fresh Approaches to Medieval Archaeology in Finland (2007). Archaeologia Medii Aevi Finlandiae XIV.
7 1362 Finland gets a say in choosing the king (6)
  1. Stones of Mora — the royal election site and its history.
  2. Albert, King of Sweden — proclaimed at Mora in 1364.
  3. Magnus Eriksson’s law of the realm — overview.
  4. Turku coat of arms — blazon, history and colours (Heraldry of the World).
  5. Turku — overview, with the coat of arms (in German).
  6. Turku Cathedral — overview.
8 1390s Three kingdoms, one king: the Kalmar Union (8)
  1. Kalmar Union — overview.
  2. Bo Jonsson Grip — the largest landowner in Swedish history.
  3. Turku Castle — overview with the list of castle commanders.
  4. Albert, King of Sweden.
  5. Victual Brothers — overview.
  6. Vitalienbrüder — name, motto and history (in German).
  7. Klaus Störtebeker — life, execution and legends.
  8. Turku Castle — the castle’s own history pages.
9 1412–1450 Bishop Magnus Tavast and the power of the Church (9)
  1. Magnus Olai Tavast — dates of his life and office (Catholic Hierarchy).
  2. Turku Cathedral in the 15th century — the Tavast Chapel and its iron screen (Turku parishes).
  3. Naantali convent — history (City of Naantali).
  4. Kuusisto Castle — the bishops’ castle.
  5. Bridgettines — the order of St Bridget.
  6. Vadstena Abbey — the mother house of the order.
  7. “Finland”, Catholic Encyclopedia (1909): Tavast’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
  8. The grand pilgrimage, 1333–1600 (Utrecht University).
  9. Pilgrim badge — overview.
10 1488 Missale Aboense: the first printed book for Finland (8)
  1. Missale Aboense — overview.
  2. Missale Aboense — the parchment copy at the University of Jyväskylä library.
  3. Missale Aboense — two leaves at the Morgan Library, with notes on the printing.
  4. Missale Aboense — digitised copy (National Library of Finland, Doria).
  5. Cathedral School of Turku — overview.
  6. Katedralskolan i Åbo 750 years (City of Turku, in Swedish).
  7. Piae Cantiones — the song book of 1582.
  8. Good King Wenceslas — the tune from Piae Cantiones.
11 1509 The Danes sack Turku (8)
  1. Lamberg, M. (2023). The Sack of Turku in 1509: Recovering from a Catastrophe. Zapiski Historyczne 88(2), 97–123. The main source for both topics.
  2. Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512) — overview.
  3. Søren Norby — the Danish captain who burned Kastelholm in 1507.
  4. 1522 in Sweden — events of the war that ended the union.
  5. List of the bishops of Turku.
  6. Turku Cathedral — the 15th and 16th centuries (Turku parishes).
  7. Beacon — fire signals on high ground.
  8. Posti — the history of the postal service in Finland since 1638.
12 1527 Reformation: the Crown takes the Church’s wealth (14)
  1. Swedish Reformation — overview.
  2. Reduction of Gustav I — what the Crown took from the Church.
  3. Gustav I of Sweden — overview.
  4. Turku Cathedral in the 16th century (Turku parishes).
  5. Reformation in Finland — blog by the University of Turku.
  6. Reformation in Finland, part 5 — the church undergoes changes: statues, paintings, broken noses.
  7. Kuusisto Castle — the bishops’ castle.
  8. Bishop Martin Skytte, O.P. (Catholic Hierarchy).
  9. Petrus Särkilahti — the first Lutheran preacher in Turku.
  10. Mikael Agricola — overview.
  11. Naantali Convent — the Bridgettine convent near Turku.
  12. Medieval saint sculptures in the Turku City Museum collections (City of Turku, in Finnish).
  13. St Peter’s Church, Siuntio — the medieval wall paintings.
  14. Olavinlinna — St Olaf’s castle, begun in 1475.
13 1543–1548 Mikael Agricola writes Finnish down (10)
  1. Mikael Agricola — overview.
  2. Abckiria — the first book in Finnish.
  3. Se Wsi Testamenti — Agricola’s New Testament, its sources and spelling.
  4. Mikael Agricola Day — 9 April, the Day of the Finnish Language.
  5. Day of Mikael Agricola — Finnish Language Day (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland): words he created.
  6. Häkkinen, K. (2015). Spreading the Written Word: Mikael Agricola and the Birth of Literary Finnish. Finnish Literature Society (open access).
  7. Lehtinen, T. (2007). Lecture on Agricola’s language, Studia Generalia, University of Helsinki (in Finnish): word counts and lost words.
  8. Dauidin Psaltari, 1551 — digitised copy (National Library of Finland, Doria).
  9. Weisut ia ennustoxet, 1551 — digitised copy (National Library of Finland, Doria).
  10. Ne Prophetat, 1552, Agricola’s last book — digitised copy (National Library of Finland, Doria).
14 1556–1563 Duke John’s Renaissance court at the castle (13)
  1. Turku Castle — official history: Duke John’s Renaissance court.
  2. Turku Castle — overview.
  3. Duchy of Finland — John’s duchy and its lands.
  4. John III of Sweden — duke, prisoner and king.
  5. Eric XIV of Sweden — John’s brother and enemy.
  6. History of Ruissalo (City of Turku): the duke’s red deer, 1562.
  7. History of Kupittaa Park (City of Turku): Duke John’s tournaments.
  8. Catherine Jagiellon — overview.
  9. Katarina Jagellonica — Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (Biographical Dictionary of Swedish Women).
  10. Katarina Jagellonica — Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (in Swedish): her household.
  11. A courageous queen: Katarina Jagellonica (Royal Palaces of Sweden, 2020): her dowry, the forks and Gripsholm.
  12. Katarzyna Jagiellonka: Vilnius to Åbo (University of Oxford, Marrying Cultures project).
  13. Sigismund III Vasa — Catherine’s son, King of Poland and Sweden.
15 1596–1599 The Club War and the 1599 bloodbath (10)
  1. Cudgel War — the Club War of 1596–1597.
  2. Klaus Fleming — governor of Finland.
  3. War against Sigismund — Sigismund, Duke Charles and Finland, 1597–1599.
  4. Åbo Bloodbath — the executions in Turku on 10 November 1599.
  5. Åbo blodbad (in Swedish) — the square by the town hall, fourteen men.
  6. Charles IX of Sweden — regent and king.
  7. Sigismund III Vasa — King of Poland and Sweden.
  8. Ebba Stenbock — the siege of 1597 and the coffin legend.
  9. Catherine Stenbock — Ebba’s sister, Gustav I’s third queen.
  10. Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Sweden (Royal Palaces of Sweden).
16 1610s–1630s Turku in Sweden’s rise to great power (14)
  1. Gustavus Adolphus — king 1611–1632, killed at Lützen.
  2. Swedish Empire — Sweden as a great power, 1611–1721.
  3. Treaty of Stolbovo — the peace with Russia, 1617.
  4. Hakkapeliitta — the Finnish cavalry and the name.
  5. Hovrätt — the courts of appeal, Svea 1614 and Turku 1623.
  6. University of Turku Insights — the Court of Appeal and the 1827 fire.
  7. Isaacus Rothovius — Bishop of Turku 1627–1652.
  8. Turku Cathedral in the 17th century (Turku Parishes).
  9. Royal Academy of Turku — founded 1640.
  10. History of Turku.
  11. Karin Månsdotter — queen of Sweden 1568.
  12. Karin Månsdotter, Queen of Sweden (Royal Palaces of Sweden).
  13. Eric XIV of Sweden — king 1560–1568.
  14. Turku Cathedral — the chapels and graves.
17 1640 Per Brahe and the founding of the Royal Academy (13)
  1. Per Brahe the Younger — governor-general of Finland, chancellor of the Academy.
  2. Posti Group — the postal service founded on 6 September 1638.
  3. Royal Academy of Turku — founded 26 March 1640.
  4. University of Helsinki — history: eleven professors, 250 students, Latin and Swedish.
  5. Välimaa, J. (2019). The Founding of the Royal Academy of Turku. In A History of Finnish Higher Education. Springer (abstract).
  6. Turku Cathedral in the 17th century (Turku Parishes): the Academy, the inauguration and the press.
  7. The Finnish student nations — history: nations from 1643, inspector, curator, consistory and jail.
  8. Nation (university) — the Finnish nations and compulsory membership until 1937.
  9. Yle, 16 April 2021 (in Finnish): students, marriage promises and the consistory of the Turku Academy in the 1600s.
  10. Välimäki, M. Vill du äkta denna kvinna? Students’ premarital relations and marriages in 1600s Uppsala and Åbo (in Swedish).
  11. Uppsala University — nollning and the 17th-century deposition, banned in 1691.
  12. Store norske leksikon, “deposisjon” (in Norwegian).
  13. Deposition (university) — the initiation rite at European universities.
18 1681 A wooden town burns again (12)
  1. Välimäki, M. (2019). Turun palo 1681 – mitä raastuvanoikeuden pöytäkirjat kertovat? University of Turku, Finnish history blog (in Finnish): the town court records of the 1681 fire.
  2. Hannula, H. (2019). Turun palo vuonna 1681 hollantilaisasiamiehen silmin. University of Helsinki blog (in Finnish): the Dutch letter from Turku of 4 June 1681.
  3. Toropainen, V. P. (2024). Pieniä ja suuria tulipaloja sekä paloherroja ja tavaroiden ”pelastajia” 1600-luvun Turussa. Kalmistopiiri (in Finnish): fires, fire masters, fire rules and court cases in 1600s Turku.
  4. Perälä, T. Turun kaupunki 1600-luvulla. Turun Historiallinen Arkisto 18, 85–155 (in Finnish): the town, its quarters, the 1652 plan and the Cathedral fires.
  5. Suikkari (2007). Paloturvallisuus ja kaupunkipalot Suomen puukaupungeissa. Licentiate thesis, University of Oulu (in Finnish): the town law’s fire rules, town fires and the first fire pumps.
  6. Kinnunen, J. (2019). Turun keskiaikaisen kaupungin kartoitus … SKAS 1/2019, 48–60 (in Finnish): at least 21 fires in Turku before 1600.
  7. Turun palo (Finnish Wikipedia): Turku has burned at least 31 times.
  8. Albinson, B. (2020). Elva tema. Värmlands Brandhistoriska Museum (in Swedish): fire rules in Magnus Eriksson’s town law.
  9. Magnus Eriksson’s country law, extracts on fire (Värmlands Brandhistoriska Klubb, in Swedish): “bound” and carried fire, arson.
  10. Stadslagen — Magnus Eriksson’s town law, in force in the towns of the Swedish realm until 1734.
  11. Turku Cathedral in the 17th century (Turku Parishes): Rothovius restores the fire-damaged church.
  12. Turku Cathedral in the 18th century (Turku Parishes): the Baroque tower of 1689 and the lightning of 1738.
19 1695–1697 The Great Famine (13)
  1. Toropainen, V. P. Nälkäkevään 1697 varaslapset. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): child thieves in the Turku town court and lower court minutes of 1697.
  2. Toropainen, V. P. Kerjäläispojan kevät vuoden 1697 Turussa. University of Turku, UTUPub (in Finnish): the beggar boy Matts Johansson.
  3. Toropainen, V. P. Menneisyyden ääniä – Neljä varastyttöstä vuoden 1697 Turussa. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): four girls tried for theft in July–August 1697.
  4. Great Famine of 1695–1697 — weather, harvests, famine foods, disease and the death toll in Finland, Estonia and Sweden.
  5. Books from Finland (2012): review of Mirkka Lappalainen, Jumalan vihan ruoska. Suuri nälänhätä Suomessa 1695–1697 (The lash of God’s wrath).
  6. Huhtamaa, H. (2018). Combining Written and Tree-Ring Evidence to Trace Past Food Crises: A Case Study from Finland. In Collet & Schuh (eds), Famines During the ‘Little Ice Age’ (1300–1800). Springer (abstract).
  7. Bark bread — bread made with the inner bark of pine, eaten in famines.
  8. Little Ice Age — dating, temperatures, causes and the famines of the 1690s.
  9. Maunder Minimum — the years of few sunspots, about 1645–1715.
  10. March Across the Belts — the Swedish army on the frozen Danish straits in 1658.
  11. River Thames frost fairs — the frost fair of 1683–84.
  12. Great Frost of 1709 — Europe’s coldest winter in 500 years.
  13. Den blomstertid nu kommer — the summer hymn of 1695, Suvivirsi in Finnish.
20 1713–1721 The Great Wrath: Turku under occupation (17)
  1. Greater Wrath — the Russian occupation of Finland, its governors, violence, abductions and the numbers debated.
  2. Battle of Napue — 19 February 1714 (old style), the last battle in Finland.
  3. Battle of Gangut — the galley battle off Hanko, 27 July 1714 (old style), and the taking of Åland.
  4. Battle of Helsinki (1713) — the town burned by the retreating Swedish forces in May 1713.
  5. Treaty of Nystad — the peace of 30 August 1721 (old style).
  6. Turku Cathedral in the 18th century (Turku Parishes): flight of the bishop and chapter, looting, the relics of Saint Henry, repairs after the peace.
  7. Peter the Great: a chronicle of his life, 30 August / 10 September 1713, Peter in Turku (HSE University, St Petersburg, in Russian).
  8. Peter the Great: a chronicle of his life, 17/28 August 1713, the march from Helsinki to Turku (HSE University, in Russian).
  9. University of Edinburgh, Dashkov medals: Peter I and the taking of Turku, 1713 (“Ad Abum”).
  10. Pesonen, M. (2021). Yle (in Finnish): atrocities in Ostrobothnia, people taken to Russia, refugees, and how the Great Wrath was remembered.
  11. Niemistö, E. (2014). Isonvihan perintö ulottui sukupolvien päähän. Yle (in Finnish): folk tales and the memory of the occupation.
  12. University of Helsinki (2020): Wars and fires have not subdued the University of Helsinki — the Academy closed in 1713 and its professors fled to Sweden.
  13. Nauman, S. (2019). Flyktingmottagandet i Uppsala domkapitel 1710–19. Årsboken Uppland 2019, 49–65 (in Swedish): Finnish refugees and the cathedral chapter of Uppsala.
  14. Gummerus, H. (1940). Helsingfors universitet 300 år. Svensk Tidskrift (in Swedish): the Academy in exile and its reopening in 1722.
  15. Johannes Gezelius the younger — bishop of Turku 1690–1718.
  16. Toropainen, V. P. Venäläiskauppiaat palasivat isonvihan jälkeen. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): Russian merchants in the Turku court records, 1713 to the 1730s.
  17. Toropainen, V. P. Porvarisperhe Eskola-Petrej 1700-luvun Turusta. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): a merchant family in the Turku court records, c. 1700–1750, with Alexander Hacks’s poems of 1732 and 1735.
21 1743 The Peace of Turku (20)
  1. The preliminary articles of peace, Åbo, 16 June 1743 (English text from The Scots Magazine, 1743), with a link to the definitive treaty of 7 August 1743 in French (Rousset, 1745).
  2. Treaty of Åbo — the peace of 7 August 1743 (old style) and the land ceded to Russia.
  3. Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) — causes, the 1742 campaign, the capitulation at Helsinki and the occupation.
  4. Kingdom of Finland (1742) — Empress Elizabeth’s manifesto of 18 March 1742 and the Finnish assembly in Turku.
  5. Battle of Villmanstrand — 23 August 1741 (old style) and the disputed numbers.
  6. James Keith — the Scottish general who governed occupied Finland from Turku in 1742.
  7. Charles Emil Lewenhaupt — the commander-in-chief, sentenced and beheaded in 1743. See also Henrik Magnus von Buddenbrock.
  8. 1743 in Sweden — the Dalecarlian rebellion, the election of Adolf Frederick and the peace.
  9. Hats (party) — the Hats and the Caps, and where the names came from.
  10. Merovuo, J. (2017). ‘Divided and validated’? The institutionalization of the Russo-Swedish border region in the 1743 peace treaty. Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 66 (4), 283–293.
  11. Karonen, P. (2022). Kun kaikki menee pieleen. J@rgonia 40 (in Finnish): a review of Teemu Keskisarja’s Hattujen sota.
  12. Ruotsinpyhtää — the Swedish side of Pyhtää after the border of 1743. See also Loviisa, founded in 1745.
  13. Vilkuna, K. H. J. (2015). Merkillinen historiassa. J@rgonia 26 (in Finnish): the wig tax of 1712 and the wigs of Turku.
  14. University of Jyväskylä (2022). Puuteroitu peruukki erotti käyttäjänsä rahvaasta (in Finnish): Vilkuna on wigs, powder and status.
  15. Wig — wigs and hair powder in the 17th and 18th centuries.
  16. 1700–1750 in Western fashion — the garments of men and women.
  17. Hansen, V. (2025). 18th Century Sumptuary Laws. IK Foundation, iTextilis: the Swedish luxury ordinances, with an English translation of the law of 1770.
  18. Stockholmskällan. Förbud mot lyx under frihetstiden (teacher’s guide, in Swedish): the luxury law of 1770 and its informers.
  19. Toropainen, V. P. Venäläiskauppiaat palasivat isonvihan jälkeen. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): Russian merchants in the Turku court records, 1713 to the 1730s.
  20. Toropainen, V. P. Porvarisperhe Eskola-Petrej 1700-luvun Turusta. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): a merchant family in the Turku court records, c. 1700–1750, with Alexander Hacks’s poems of 1732 and 1735.
22 1747–1751 Pehr Kalm explores North America (12)
  1. Kalm, P. (1770–71). Travels into North America, translated by J. R. Forster. Vol. 1 (Project Gutenberg 71849), with the translator’s preface; vol. 2 is no. 72103 and vol. 3 no. 72737. The original: En resa til Norra America (1753–61).
  2. Kalm’s letter to Benjamin Franklin about Niagara Falls, Albany, 2 September 1750, with the editors’ notes on its printing (Papers of Benjamin Franklin).
  3. Jarrell, R. A. (1979). Kalm, Pehr. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4: his route and dates in Canada and what he collected.
  4. Pehr Kalm — life, career in Turku, the species named after his collections, and his pupils.
  5. Åbo Akademi University. Pehr Kalm Revival: material on the 2012 artwork that recreated part of Kalm’s garden in Turku, with notes on his gardens and plants.
  6. Kalmia — the genus Linnaeus named after Kalm; mountain laurel is the state flower of Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
  7. Niagara Falls — height today, erosion and the falls’ retreat upstream, and Kalm as the author of the first scientific description.
  8. Niagara Frontier. Early accounts of the falls, with the heights claimed by Galinée, Hennepin, Lahontan, Charlevoix and others (local history site).
  9. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Niagara Falls — heights of the Horseshoe and American Falls and the rate of retreat in 1842–1905.
  10. Kalm, P. (1974). Description of maize, translated by M. Oxholm. Economic Botany 28 (2), 105–117. Kalm’s “Beskrifning om Mays” from the Academy’s Handlingar of 1751–1752.
  11. Kastner, J. (1980). The Conundrum of Corn. American Heritage 31 (5): what Kalm was told about maize, and James Logan’s experiment of 1727.
  12. Passenger pigeon — the “wild pigeons” Kalm saw in 1749; the last one died in 1914.
23 1770–1771 Porthan, the Aurora Society and Finland’s first newspaper (14)
  1. Lönnström, L. The Aurora Society and Finland’s first newspaper. University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts 375 years: members of the society, contributors and Porthan’s career.
  2. University of Turku Library. 250 Years of Finnish Newspapers: Tidningar Utgifne Af et Sällskap i Åbo — what the paper printed, Porthan as editor, the first women writers.
  3. STT / Suomenmaa (15 Jan 2021). Kun Suomen ensimmäinen sanomalehti ilmestyi 250 vuotta sitten… (in Finnish): the first issues, format, subscribers and what was left out, with historian Hannu Salmi.
  4. National Library of Finland, Digi: the first issue, 15 January 1771 (all issues are digitised).
  5. Henrik Gabriel Porthan — life, career at the Academy of Turku, De Poësi Fennica and his pupils.
  6. Aurora Society — the society at the Academy of Turku, 1770–1779, its members and the first public orchestral concerts.
  7. Tidningar Utgifne Af et Sällskap i Åbo — dates, publisher and successors.
  8. Pekonen, O. (2020). Salaseuraksi 250 vuotta sitten perustettu Aurora… Kaleva (in Finnish, paywalled): the society as a secret society, active 1770–1790.
  9. Nordenstreng, K. (2017). Freedom of speech in Finland 1766–2016. In The Legacy of the 1766 Press Act: the Press Act of 1766, its repeal in 1772 and the newspapers of the elite.
  10. Revolution of 1772 — Gustav III’s bloodless coup of 19 August 1772 and the end of the Age of Liberty.
  11. The Musical Society of Turku (exhibition text): the Aurora Society’s concert of 19 August 1773, the first public orchestral concert in Finland.
  12. Åbo Underrättelser — first issue 3 January 1824, the oldest newspaper still published in Finland.
  13. Toropainen, V. P. Porvarisperhe Eskola-Petrej 1700-luvun Turusta. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): a merchant family in the Turku court records, c. 1700–1750, with Alexander Hacks’s poems of 1732 and 1735.
  14. Finnish phonology — b, g and f only in loanwords, d lost in most dialects, and no consonant clusters at the start of native words (ranska from Swedish franska).
24 1790 The Musical Society and Finland’s oldest orchestra (13)
  1. The Musical Society of Turku (exhibition text): founded 24 January 1790 on Gustav III’s birthday, the Aurora concert of 1773, breaks in 1808 and 1827, the city orchestra of 1927 and the society’s sheet music.
  2. History of the Orchestra in Finland (exhibition text): the Academic Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Turku, its instruments and its first director, Carl Petter Lenning.
  3. Saira, M. (2024). Kanssaihmisten hyväksi – Turun Soitannollisen Seuran hyväntekeväisyyskonsertit porvarillisen julkisuuden rakentajana 1790–1808. Master’s thesis, University of Turku (in Finnish): founders, members, tickets and charity concerts.
  4. Turku Philharmonic Orchestra — oldest orchestra in Finland, Haydn and Beethoven in its early concerts, Sibelius as guest conductor, the city orchestra of 1927 and the Concert Hall of 1952.
  5. Turku Philharmonic Orchestra: the orchestra’s own history, 29 musicians in 1927 and 74 today, and the Turku Music Centre opened on 26 October 2026.
  6. Erik Tulindberg — studies in Turku, violin concerto and six string quartets, rediscovered about a century after his death.
  7. Bernhard Crusell — the clarinettist from Uusikaupunki and his concert in Turku on 30 July 1801.
  8. Coffee in Sweden — first imports, the reasons for the bans, how poorly they worked and Swedish coffee consumption today.
  9. Gustav III of Sweden’s coffee experiment — the 1746 edict, the dates of the five bans, fines and confiscated cups, and the doubtful twin experiment.
  10. The Local Sweden (2 July 2018). Why coffee was banned in Sweden five times: mercantilism, Linnaeus’s warnings and penalties.
  11. Yle (3 July 2021). Interview with architectural historian Panu Savolainen about his travel guide to 18th-century Turku (in Finnish): coffee houses, coffee bans and inspectors.
  12. Finnish cuisine — coffee as a courtesy to visitors, pulla, and Finland’s coffee consumption of about 12 kg per person a year.
  13. Häkkinen, K. Herkullinen elämä kielletty. University of Turku, UTUPub (Word file, in Finnish): the ban of 1756 on unnecessary imports and the first Finnish names of many foods.
25 1808–1812 From Sweden to Russia: Turku loses the capital (12)
  1. Finnish War — the Russian invasion of February 1808, the fall of Turku and Sveaborg, the landing at Lemu, Jutas and Oravais, and Tornio in 1809.
  2. Diet of Porvoo — the oath of 29 March 1809, the emperor’s promises, the estates and their Turku speakers.
  3. Treaty of Fredrikshamn (17 September 1809) — the new border on the Tornio and Muonio rivers, and Åland.
  4. Grand Duchy of Finland — autonomy, Swedish law, the Lutheran church, official languages and currencies 1809–1917.
  5. Senate of Finland — the Government Council of 18 August 1809, its seat in Turku and the move to Helsinki in 1819.
  6. Helsinki — made capital of the Grand Duchy on 8 April 1812, and why.
  7. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911), “Sweden”: the conference of Alexander I and Charles John at Åbo, August 1812.
  8. Meinander, H. (2012). Buffertzonens jubileumsår. Hufvudstadsbladet, 25 August 2012 (in Swedish): the princes’ meeting in Turku in 1812.
  9. Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt — born near Turku, adviser to Alexander I on Finnish affairs.
  10. Bank of Finland — founded in Turku on 1 March 1812 as the Office of Exchange, Lending and Deposits, moved to Helsinki in 1819, renamed in 1840.
  11. Finnish markka — introduced in 1860 at four to the rouble, the first coins of 1864 and the silver standard of 1865.
  12. History of Turku — Turku as the first capital of the Grand Duchy and the move to Helsinki.
26 1817–1826 The Turku Romantics wake up Finnishness (11)
  1. Marjanen, J. (2022). Turku Romanticism. Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe: the group, its journals Aura and Mnemosyne, its members and aims.
  2. Bouwhuis, M. (2022). Arwidsson, Adolf Ivar. Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe: Åbo Morgonblad, dismissal and exile, the motto.
  3. University of Turku Library, 250 Years of Finnish Newspapers: Turun Wiikko-Sanomat (1820–1827, 1829–1831) and Reinhold von Becker.
  4. Adolf Ivar Arwidsson — life dates, career in Turku and Stockholm, and the debate about the motto.
  5. Fennoman movement — how the ideas of the Turku Romantics grew into a national movement, and who coined the motto.
  6. Carl Axel Gottlund — student in Turku, folklore collecting in 1815–1817 and the trip to Dalarna.
  7. Kalevala Society. Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala process: studies in Turku, von Becker, the dissertation of 1827, the first trip of 1828 and the editions of 1835 and 1849.
  8. Elias Lönnrot — birth, schooling in Turku, Porvoo and Hämeenlinna, enrolment at the Academy on 11 October 1822.
  9. Lönnrot, Elias. Encyclopedia of World Biography: student jobs, von Becker, classmates, medical degree and the Kalevala.
  10. Johan Vilhelm Snellman — student at the Academy of Turku from 1822, alongside Runeberg and Lönnrot.
  11. Johan Ludvig Runeberg — student in Turku from 1823 and later national poet.
27 1827 The Great Fire of Turku (9)
  1. Turku parishes. History of Turku Cathedral: the 19th century. The start of the fire, wind, firefighting, the market in Tampere, the garrison, damage to the Cathedral, the library and the restoration.
  2. Great Fire of Turku — Hellman’s house, the spread across the Aura, 11,000 homeless, 27 dead, Argelander’s logbook and the loss of the archives.
  3. Luostarinmäki — the largest area that survived the fire, 18 blocks, the museum of 1940 and the last resident.
  4. Turku Cathedral — damage in 1827 and the restoration of the 1830s.
  5. Qwensel House — the wooden town house from around 1700 and the Pharmacy Museum.
  6. Royal Academy of Turku — the main building damaged in 1827 and the move to Helsinki.
  7. Åbo Svenska Teater — Bonuvier’s theatre, which burned in 1827, and the new theatre of 1839.
  8. Kalevala Society. Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala process: the folk poem collections lost in the fire of 1827.
  9. Turku — population in 1815 and 1850, and the new town plan after the fire.
28 1828 The university leaves; Engel redraws the city (7)
  1. University of Helsinki — the move from Turku in 1828, the new name Imperial Alexander University, the statutes of 1828, student numbers and Engel’s main building and library.
  2. Carl Ludvig Engel — life, the years in Turku 1814–1815, the Turku plan after the fire (street widths, esplanades, firebreaks, wooden houses) and later town plans.
  3. Great Fire of Turku — Governor-General Zakrevsky, Engel and the new plan approved on 15 December 1828.
  4. Turku — capital 1809–1812, the reasons for the move, population in 1815 and 1850, the largest city until the late 1840s, and the grid plan after the fire.
  5. Senate of Finland — the move from Turku to Helsinki in 1819.
  6. Bank of Finland — founded in Turku in 1812 and moved to Helsinki in 1819.
  7. Turku parishes. History of Turku Cathedral: the 19th century — Engel’s work on the Cathedral and the new town plan.
29 1830s–1840s Steamships, shipping and a rebuilt town (10)
  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.
30 1876 The railway arrives (7)
  1. Turku–Toijala railway — 131 km, opened on 22 June 1876 together with Hämeenlinna–Tampere; why the junction was placed at Toijala.
  2. Turku Central railway station — construction from 1874, Degenaer’s first station, the coastal line and the station of 1940.
  3. City of Turku. Turun ratapiha, cultural environment report (2017, PDF): construction in 1874, opening on 22 June 1876, the harbour line, the workshops and the coastal line (in Finnish).
  4. History of rail transport in Finland — Helsinki–Hämeenlinna (1862), Riihimäki–St Petersburg (1870) and the state railways.
  5. Port of Turku 870 years (history book, PDF): Turku’s share of Finland’s foreign trade 1860–1875 and the quay built for the railway.
  6. University of Turku Library: an 1887 railway map showing the route from Turku to Helsinki via Toijala and Hämeenlinna.
  7. Time in Finland — Helsinki time on the railways from 1862, the time ball and cannon, the request of 1888, Eastern European Time from 1921 and summer time.
31 1880s–1890s Factories, shipyards and the working class (14)
  1. Crichton (Turku shipyard) — Cowie & Eriksson 1842, William Crichton from 1862, the Russian navy as customer, the Okhta yard and the merger of 1924.
  2. Grace’s Guide: Wm. Crichton and Co (Finland) — the first slipway, the purchase of Åbo Skeppswarf in 1883 and John Eager.
  3. Vulcan (shipyard) — Åbo Mekaniska Verkstad (1874), its workforce, and Ab Vulcan (21 May 1898).
  4. Meyer Turku. History: shipbuilding on the Aura since 1737, Crichton and Vulcan on opposite banks.
  5. Jalonen, J.: thesis on the Barker cotton mill (University of Turku, PDF): founding, start of production on 9 June 1846, workforce, owners and work rules of 1896 (in Finnish).
  6. Rettigin tupakkatehdas (Finnish Wikipedia): production from 1845, cigarettes from 1856 and the output of 1871 and 1907 (in Finnish).
  7. Turun työväentalo (Finnish Wikipedia): the workers’ house of 1889 and the founding of the Workers’ Party in 1899 (in Finnish).
  8. SDP: history — the Finnish Workers’ Party founded in Turku in 1899.
  9. Finland: its public and private economy (1902), on the protection of workers: the laws of 1889 and 1895.
  10. Turku — population table 1850–1900 and the late arrival of large-scale industry.
  11. VIII District, Turku — the Port Arthur workers’ district and the story of its name.
  12. City of Turku. History of Kupittaa Park: the spring, the pump room of 1824, the bathhouse until 1885 and the swimming arena of 1910.
  13. University of Turku publication on bathing and saunas in 17th-century Turku: saunas in town houses and the sauna by a laundry spot on the Aura in 1697 (in Finnish).
  14. Helsinki City Museum: public saunas — about 70 in Helsinki in the 1880s, factory workers and washerwomen.
32 1896 The Market Hall and a modern food city (6)
  1. Turku Market Hall — opened 1896, Gustaf Nyström, size, bricks and iron, the original shops and aquariums, gas and electric light, the 1960s demolition plan and the 1976 renovation.
  2. Turku Market Hall: history of the hall — why it was built, the Uusi Aura review, errand boys in the 1930s, refrigerated counters and the protests of the 1960s.
  3. Visit Turku: Turku Market Hall — Finland’s second-oldest market hall, Eerikinkatu 16.
  4. Turun sinappi — launched in 1948 by Jalostaja, the castle logo, the cap colours, the slogan and where it has been made.
  5. Aura cheese — the blue cheese named after the river Aura, made by Valio in Äänekoski.
  6. Port of Turku 870 years (history book, PDF): butter as Turku’s most important export by 1852.
33 1904–1908 Art Museum, electric trams and Jugend Turku (10)
  1. Turku Art Museum: the museum building (1904), Gustaf Nyström, the Dahlström brothers’ gift and the second purpose-built museum in Finland.
  2. Turku Art Museum: a few words about collecting — the Turku Art Society (1891) and the size of the collection.
  3. Finnish Architecture Navigator: Turku Art Museum — the competition of 1899, the granite facade and the renovation finished in 2005.
  4. Visit Turku: architectural treasures — Frithiof Strandell’s Hjorten, Pantern, Betel Church and Albatross.
  5. St. Michael’s Church, Turku — Lars Sonck, built 1899–1905, spire and seats.
  6. Finnish Architecture Navigator: St Michael’s Church — Sonck’s competition win in 1894 and the turn to Art Nouveau.
  7. ABB reference: Jugendlinna, Turku — architects, towers and the first use of a steam pile driver and concrete in Turku.
  8. Trams in Turku (1908–1972) — the horse tram, the AEG concession, the first electric service on 22 December 1908, the colour vote and the conductors.
  9. Turun raitiotiet (Finnish Wikipedia): the horse tram’s cars, horses and fare, the first electric lines, the ASEA cars and the boiler explosion of 1920 (in Finnish).
  10. Helsinki City Museum: tram drivers and conductors — rules for the crews in Helsinki, used here as a comparison (in Finnish).
34 1905–1907 General strike and the vote for everyone (18)
  1. Minutes of the founding congress of the Finnish Workers’ Party, Turku, July 1899 — 85 delegates, 34 associations, suffrage at 21 and the eight-hour day (in Finnish).
  2. Social Democratic Party of Finland — founded in Turku in 1899 as the Workers’ Party, renamed at Forssa in 1903.
  3. Finland 100: timeline of 1905 — the general strike, the November Manifesto and the “peaceful revolution”.
  4. Agricola Historiakone: the year 1905 — the general strike day by day (in Finnish).
  5. Tampere University, Koskivoimaa: the general strike in Tampere and the Red Declaration (in Finnish).
  6. Mooses Lehtinen’s memoir “The general strike of 1905 in Turku”, kept in the Labour Archives — the only source found for events in Turku (in Finnish).
  7. thisisFINLAND: the first women in parliament — 62 candidates, 19 elected, the first session and its laws.
  8. Federal Agency for Civic Education (Germany): 1906, votes for women in Finland — the Parliament Act and the growth of the electorate (in German).
  9. Parliament of Finland: history — the reform of 1906, 200 members and the first sitting of 1907.
  10. Parliament of Finland: “One chamber, two sexes” (2017) — the first women MPs and their first bills (in Finnish).
  11. 1907 Finnish parliamentary election — voters, turnout and seats by party.
  12. Women’s suffrage in Finland — the first country where women could both vote and stand for parliament.
  13. Women Vote Peace: Finland 1906 — the first in Europe and the first with full political rights for women.
  14. Mimmi Kanervo — maidservant in Turku, member of the 1905 strike committee, MP for North Turku province 1907–1917.
  15. “Punaset” (1907): portraits of the first Social Democratic MPs, including Mimmi Kanervo and Ida Aalle (in Finnish).
  16. Ida Aalle-Teljo — baker, MP for South Turku province 1907–1917, imprisoned after 1918.
  17. Hedvig Gebhard — born in Turku in 1867, MP for the Finnish Party 1907–1909 and in the 1920s.
  18. Miina Sillanpää — factory worker at 12, MP for 38 years, Finland’s first woman minister in 1926.
35 1917–1918 Independence and Civil War in Turku (10)
  1. Yle: historian Rauno Lahtinen on “Red Turku 1917–1918” — the most revolutionary city, the Red Guard at Vartiovuori and the “nights of terror” (in Finnish).
  2. Yle: Turku in 1917 — the butter raid, the Red militia and the small independence celebrations (in Finnish).
  3. Yle: the Turku general strike of May 1917 and the city council held in the Workers’ Hall (in Finnish).
  4. Yle: University of Turku researchers on 1918 in Turku — a restless city spared from greater violence, and the Sirkkala camp (in Finnish).
  5. Finland 100: timeline, August 1917 — the butter raid in Turku on 9 August.
  6. Finnish Civil War — the November strike, independence, the course of the war, the German landing and the number of dead.
  7. Finnish Civil War prison camps — the Sirkkala camp in Turku and the national figures.
  8. History of Turku — three months of Red rule, the Sirkkala camp, Spanish flu and the two new universities.
  9. University of Turku thesis (UTUPub): the Red Guard and the Turku branch of the Bank of Finland in 1918 (in Finnish).
  10. Finland 100: the end of grain imports from Russia caused a food shortage in Finland — rations, the Food Act and pine-bark bread.
36 1918–1920 Two universities: Åbo Akademi and the University of Turku (8)
  1. Foundation for Åbo Akademi University: history and purpose — the 35 founders of 1917 and the starting capital of 3.47 million marks.
  2. Åbo Akademi University: history — statutes, first professors, first students, new faculties and the first woman professor.
  3. Åbo Akademi University — why it was founded, Finland’s third university, a state university from 1981.
  4. University of Turku — founded on 28 February 1920 with gifts from 22,040 people.
  5. Turun yliopisto (Finnish Wikipedia) — the University Society, the motto, the opening in the old Hotel Phoenix in 1922 and the first professors (in Finnish).
  6. University of Turku art collection: Emil Wikström’s medal for the opening on 27 June 1922.
  7. Student cap — the Finnish cap since the 1870s, the lyre cockade, cockade sizes and the language dispute.
  8. Student Union of the University of Turku (TYY): May Day Eve 2025 programme — parade, capping at six and the statues.
37 1920s Prohibition and smuggling in the archipelago (6)
  1. Prohibition in Finland — the law of 1919, smuggling and crime, the 1931 referendum and the end in 1932.
  2. Kieltolaki (Suomi) (Finnish Wikipedia) — dates, the referendum result, where the spirits came from, seizures, crime figures and police deaths (in Finnish).
  3. Yle Archives: how prohibition was enforced — “as if by luck”, police contacts with smugglers and auctions of seized boats and cars (in Finnish).
  4. Visit Naantali: “Trokarit ja pirtukuninkaat”, a brochure on smuggling in the Naantali archipelago (tourist material) (in Finnish).
  5. Paavo Nurmi — childhood in Turku, Olympic medals, world records, the 1932 ban, the statues and the Turku events named after him.
  6. Student Union of the University of Turku (TYY): May Day Eve 2025 — the Paavo Nurmi statue at Aurakatu and Hämeenkatu gets a cap.
38 1929 Turku 700: the fair that brought modernism (5)
  1. Alvar Aalto — the move to Turku in 1927, the work with Bryggman, the Turku Fair, Turun Sanomat, Paimio, bent plywood and Artek.
  2. Visit Alvar Aalto: Turku — the Agricultural Cooperative building, the Turun Sanomat building, the Standard house and the Korhonen factory.
  3. Erik Bryggman — life, works in Turku and the 1929 Turku Fair designed with Aalto.
  4. Visit Alvar Aalto: Aalto and Bryggman, the pioneering modernists.
  5. Artek: Modernism transformed — the Paimio armchair, its back angle for the patients’ lungs, London 1933 and the founding of Artek.
39 1939–1944 Bombs over Turku; the castle burns (6)
  1. Turku Castle: “Built from ruins” — the bomb damage of 1941 and the restoration of 1946–1961 under Erik and Carin Bryggman.
  2. Turun historia (Finnish Wikipedia) — Turku in the Winter War and the Continuation War, the castle fire and the damage in Martti (in Finnish).
  3. Aerial warfare in the Winter War — bombing attacks and civilian deaths in Finland.
  4. Erik Bryggman — the restoration of Turku Castle.
  5. Finnish war children — numbers, phases, organisers, those who stayed and the long-term effects.
  6. Sweden Finns — war children who stayed in Sweden, and later migration from Finland.
40 1944–1952 Paying the war: reparation ships from Turku (3)
  1. Finnish war reparations to the Soviet Union — the sum, the deadlines, the goods delivered and the 45 schooners built in Turku.
  2. Crichton-Vulcan — Turku’s main shipyard, its history and its move to Perno.
  3. Yle Archives: rationing in wartime Finland — ration cards, sugar and coffee substitutes, the black market and the end of rationing (in Finnish).
41 1950s Baby boom and new suburbs (7)
  1. Turun historia (Finnish Wikipedia) — post-war growth, migration from the countryside and the annexations of 1939–1973 (in Finnish).
  2. Turku — population 1940 and 1972, demolished wooden houses and the largest suburbs.
  3. City of Turku: Turun lähiöt — the city’s list of its 24 suburbs (in Finnish).
  4. Statistics Finland: Mitä kuuluu suurille ikäluokille? (2016) — the baby boom years 1945–1949 and the record year 1947 (in Finnish).
  5. Yle Archives: how rock’n’roll came to Finland, 1955–1961 (in Finnish).
  6. Yle Archives: the Finnish premiere of the film Rock Around the Clock, 1956 (in Finnish).
  7. Yle Archives: the contest for “Finland’s Elvis”, 1957 (in Finnish).
42 1960s The great move to Sweden (7)
  1. Sweden Finns — the Nordic Passport Union, Finnish towns in Sweden such as Eskilstuna, and the number of people with Finnish roots in Sweden today.
  2. Finland: external migration (based on the 1988 Library of Congress country study) — the peak year 1970, the reasons for leaving and the return migration of the 1980s.
  3. Turku — daily ferries from the Port of Turku to Åland and Stockholm.
  4. Silja Line — the companies behind it, the first car ferries and the rivalry with Viking Line.
  5. SS Bore — the steamship on the Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route 1960–1976, now a museum ship in Turku.
  6. Viking Line — the first ship Viking in 1959 and the start of the Turku route in 1973.
  7. MS Rosella — built at the Wärtsilä Turku yard 1979–80, in Viking Line service until 2023.
43 1960s–1970s The “Turku disease”: tearing down the old town (6)
  1. Disease of Turku — the demolitions of the 1960s and 1970s, the origin of the name, and the political background.
  2. Turku — Hotel Phoenix and the demolished wooden houses.
  3. Hamburger Börs, Turku — the 1909 Art Nouveau extension, the protests of 1976 and the hotels of 1979 and 2019.
  4. Turku Market Hall: history — built 1896, saved from demolition and renovated in the 1970s.
  5. Finnish Heritage Agency: “Endless enjoyment from rock” — the first Ruisrock in 1970, its performers and its audience.
  6. Ruisrock — history, record years and the festival today.
44 1972 Last tram: Turku becomes a car city (6)
  1. Trams in Turku (1908–1972) — the lines, the closure decisions and the last tram of 1 October 1972.
  2. Turku tramway — why the closure is seen as a mistake, and the new tramway decided in 2026.
  3. Finnish Heritage Agency: “Endless enjoyment from rock” — taping songs from the radio in the early 1970s.
  4. Yle Archives: the TV music show Iltatähti, 1973–1974 (in Finnish).
  5. Yle Archives: Iltatähti in 1977 — disco, punk, teen pop and the Turku band Kaamos (in Finnish).
  6. Yle Archives: the documentary series Vapaa-aika (Free time), 1979 (in Finnish).
45 1980s Shipyard boom and the 1989 crash (4)
  1. Wärtsilä Marine — the merger of 1987, the losses, the bankruptcy of 23 October 1989 and the ships left in the yards.
  2. Meyer Turku — the Perno yard from 1975 and the restart as Masa-Yards in November 1989.
  3. Viking Line — the cruise ferries of the 1980s, Viking Grace (2013) and Viking Glory (2022).
  4. Åland — EU membership, the tax exception that allows tax-free sales on ferries, and ferry tourism.
46 1990s Recession, EU and a new science city (10)
  1. Early 1990s depression in Finland — the fall in output, unemployment, the end of Soviet trade and the banking crisis.
  2. 1994 Finnish European Union membership referendum — results for the whole country and for Southwest Finland.
  3. Turun Teknologiakiinteistöt: From the textile industry to technology companies — DataCity, ElectroCity, BioCity and the old factories of Kupittaa.
  4. Turku Science Park — location in Kupittaa, size and owners.
  5. University of Turku: Turku Bioscience Celebrated Its 30th Anniversary (2019).
  6. HC TPS — Finnish championships, European titles and coaches.
  7. Saku Koivu — from TPS to the NHL, the 1995 world title and the Montreal captaincy.
  8. 1995 Men’s World Ice Hockey Championships — the final in Stockholm on 7 May 1995.
  9. Turun Palloseura — the football club, the Finnish Cup wins of 1991 and 1994 and the 1987 win over Inter Milan.
  10. Turku — population figures 1990–2000.
47 2011 European Capital of Culture (14)
  1. European Commission: Tallinn and Turku, Capitals of Culture 2011 — the slogan “Turku on Fire” and the programme.
  2. City of Turku research report 1/2013 on the culture year — 160 projects, volunteers and district weeks (in Finnish).
  3. Yle: the final report of the Turku 2011 Foundation — funding from the state, the city and others (in Finnish).
  4. Yle: visits and the survey of January 2012 on how Finns saw the culture year (in Finnish).
  5. Yle: the economic effect of the culture year (University of Turku School of Economics, 2012) (in Finnish).
  6. City of Turku: Turku 2011 Foundation required to pay back disputed government aid (25 Jan 2018).
  7. Logomo — the railway workshop of 1876, the culture centre of 2011 and its later uses.
  8. City of Turku: survey of the railway yard’s cultural environment (2017) — the workshop from 1876 to its closure in 2003 (in Finnish).
  9. Suomi.fi: art containers and graffiti wall, City of Turku — places, rules and addresses.
  10. Hoods: a mural trip around Turku — murals in Runosmäki, Varissuo, Pansio and elsewhere.
  11. Föri — the river ferry built in 1903, its engines, the crossing and the ice bridge.
  12. Visit Turku: Föri city ferry — free to ride since 1904.
  13. Aurajoki — the river in the city, its bridges, restaurant ships, lighting and events (in Finnish).
  14. Turku — Capital of Culture with Tallinn, and the bridges over the Aura.
48 2017 The 2017 attack and how the city responded (5)
  1. 2017 Turku attack — what happened, the police response, the trial and the reactions.
  2. Yle News: the verdict of the District Court of Southwest Finland, 15 June 2018.
  3. City of Turku: reply to a council proposal on a memorial (2025) — the joint silent moment of 2017 and the decision not to place a permanent memorial on the Market Square (in Finnish).
  4. Turku — a bilingual city, mother tongues in 2025 and Åbo Akademi University.
  5. City of Turku: profile of immigration and immigrants in Turku 2026 — languages, numbers of speakers and people moving to Turku (in Finnish).
49 2020s Building the world’s biggest cruise ships (7)
  1. Meyer Turku — shipbuilding since 1737, the chain of owners, the dry dock and the ships built since 2014.
  2. Icon of the Seas — building dates, size, passengers, cost and engines.
  3. Oasis-class cruise ship — Oasis of the Seas (2009) and Allure of the Seas (2010) built in Turku.
  4. City of Turku: study on Meyer Turku’s effect on jobs and suppliers in Finland (2026).
  5. University of Turku: Finland in exceptional circumstances due to coronavirus situation (March 2020).
  6. University of Turku: over 70 coronavirus infections detected among international students (March 2021).
  7. Turku — about 40,000 students in higher education.
50 2026 Turku today: climate goals and the road to 800 years (8)
  1. City of Turku: Turku’s Climate Plan expands climate work and strengthens measures towards a carbon-neutral city by 2029 (June 2026).
  2. City of Turku: climate and nature — carbon neutrality in 2029.
  3. Turku tramway — the long road to the decision of 2026, the route, the stops and the opening in 2033.
  4. Entnerd: Investment decision was approved, trams will run in Turku in 2033 (May 2026) — the vote and the cost estimate.
  5. Turku — population at the end of 2025, students, and the first mention in 1229.
  6. City of Turku: Turku 800 — the anniversary year 2029.
  7. City of Turku: profile of immigration and immigrants in Turku 2026 — population and languages at the start of 2026 (in Finnish).
  8. City of Turku: study on Meyer Turku’s effect on jobs in Finland (2026).

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