Tampere ( ; Swedish: Tammerfors or ) is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by , the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms using that such as Manserock.

The Tampere region, called Pirkanmaa, which includes outlying municipalities, had around 470,000 residents, of which 230,000 were employed, and a turnover of 25 billion euros in 2007.

Tampere is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , with close to 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in Finland, after the Greater Helsinki municipalities of Helsinki and Espoo. Helsinki can be reached in 1.5 hours by train and 2 hours by car. The distance to Turku is approximately the same. Tampere airport is the third-busiest airport in Finland, with 800,000 passengers annually.

History

Tampere was founded as a market place on the banks of the Tammerkoski channel in 1775 by Gustav III of Sweden and four years later, 1779, Tampere was granted full city rights in 1779. At this time, it was a rather small town, consisting of only a few square kilometers of land around the Tammerkoski.

Tampere grew as a major market town and industrial centre in the 19th century. During the latter half of 19th century Tampere had almost half of Finland's industrial labour. The town's industrial nature in the 19th and 20th centuries gave it the nickname "Manchester of the North", Manse for short (in Finnish).

Tampere was the centre of many important political events of Finland in the early 20th century. On November 1, 1905, during the general strike, the famous Red Declaration was proclaimed on the Keskustori, the central square of Tampere, subsequently leading to universal suffrage in Finland and the Tsar of Russia granting larger freedoms to Finns. In 1918, when Finland had recently gained independence, Tampere also played a major role, being one of the strategically important scenes during the Civil War in Finland (January 28–May 15, 1918). Tampere was a red stronghold during the war, with Hugo Salmela in command. White forces captured Tampere, seizing about 10,000 Red prisoners on April 6. Prevalent in Tampere's post-World War II municipal politics was the so called Brothers-in-Arms Axis (aseveliakseli), the alliance of conservatives and social democrats against the communists and Agrarian party. During this era some of the most renowned city managers of Tampere were Erkki Napoleon Lindfors (who was responsible for many ambitious construction projects such as the Näsinneula tower and the construction of the suburb of Hervanta, Tampere's "daughter town"), Pekka Paavola (who gained some notoriety in corruption scandals) and Jarmo Rantanen. From 2007 on, Tampere switched to a new model of having a mayor and four deputy mayors, chosen for a periods of two years. Timo P. Nieminen was elected as the first mayor of Tampere for the years 2007–2009.

After World War II, Tampere was enlarged by joining some neighbouring areas. Messukylä was incorporated in 1947, Lielahti in 1950, Aitolahti in 1966 and finally Teisko in 1972. Tampere was known for its textile and metal industries, but these have been largely replaced by information technology and telecommunications during the 1990s. The technology centre Hermia in Hervanta is home to many companies in these fields.

Geography

Tampere is part of the Pirkanmaa region and is surrounded by the municipalities of Kangasala, Kuru, Lempäälä, Nokia, Orivesi, Pirkkala, Ruovesi and Ylöjärvi.

Climate

On average, the snow season lasts 4 – 5 months: from late November to mid-April.

Economy

The Tampere region, or Pirkanmaa, which includes outlying municipalities, has around 0.47 million residents, 0.23 million employed, and 25 billion euro turnover as of 2007. According to the Tampere International Business Office, the area is strong in mechanical engineering and automation, information and communication technologies, and health and biotechnology, as well as pulp and paper industry education. The Tampere region has two universities and three polytechnics totaling 40,000 students. The unemployment rate is around 10%.

Education

There are four institutions of higher education in the Tampere area: two universities and two polytechnics ( ). The universities are University of Tampere (UTA),(more than 12,000 students) which is located right next to the city center, and Tampere University of Technology (more than 12,000 students), located in Hervanta. The two polytechnics (the term used by Finnish Ministry of Education), which call themselves in English "Universities of Applied Sciences", are Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu (5,000 students) and Pirkanmaan ammattikorkeakoulu (4,500 students).

Culture

Tampere is known for its active cultural life. Some of the most popular writers in Finland, such as Väinö Linna, Kalle Päätalo and Hannu Salama, hail from Tampere. These are all known as writers depicting the lives of working class people. Also from a working class background was the famous poet Lauri Viita of the Pispala district (which is the original home of Hannu Salama too). Tampere also has old theatre traditions, with such established institutions as Tampereen Työväen Teatteri, Tampereen Teatteri and Pyynikin Kesäteatteri, which is an open-air theatre with the oldest revolving auditorium in Europe. Tampereen Teatterikesä or Tampere Theatre Festival is an international theatre festival held in Tampere every August.

Tampere is also known for its Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland which featured American artist Richard Humann in 2004, for his exhibition entitled, Delicate Monster.

Tampere Film Festival, an international short film festival, is held every March. Tammerfest is Tampere's urban rock festival held every July.

Tampere Music Festivals organises three international music events: Tampere Jazz Happening each November, and in alternate years Tampere Vocal Music Festival and Tampere Biennale.

Tampere is home to the television channel YLE TV2, with its studios in the Tohloppi district, known among all for such popular TV comedies as Tankki täyteen, Reinikainen and Kummeli.

A local food speciality is mustamakkara, which resembles black pudding of northern England.

Religion

Tampere has a variety of different religious services spanning from traditional to charismatic. There are also some English speaking services. Tampere English Service is an international community affiliated with the Tampere Pentecostal Church. English services of the International Congregation of Christ the King (ICCK) are organized by the Anglican Church in Finland and the Lutheran Parishes of Tampere. Other churches may also have English speaking ministries. Other notable churches in Tampere are Nokia Revival, Finnish Orthodox Church, Evangelical Free Church, and Baptist Church.

Sports

Tampere's sporting scene is driven by two sports, ice hockey and football. As the first ice hockey match was played in Tampere, on the ice of Näsijärvi, between Ilves and Pyrintö, Tampere is nicknamed the hometown of Finnish hockey. Two notably exceptional ice hockey teams exist in Tampere—Ilves and Tappara. They both have had a great impact on Finnish ice hockey culture and are among the most successful teams in Finland. The Finnish ice hockey museum, and the first ice hockey arena to be built in Finland, the Hakametsä arena, are both located in Tampere. Football, however, is the number one sport in Tampere. Only Ilves have over 4,000 players in their football teams, while Tampere boasts over 100 football teams alone. Tampere United play at the highest level in Finland. The city also hosted two flatwater canoeing world championships, in 1973 and 1983. In 1977, Tampere hosted the Junior World Rowing Championships.

Tampere was the host of the 10th European Youth Olympic Festival from 17 to 25 July 2009.

Rivalry between cities

Tampere ostensibly has a long-standing mutual feud with the city of Turku, the first capital of Finland. This hostility is largely expressed in jokes in one city about the other; prominent targets are the traditional Tampere food, mustamakkara, the state of the Aura River in Turku, and the regional accents. Students at Tampere have organized the Non-Turkuan Nation (Ei-Turkulainen Osakunta), which since 1997 has made annual excursions to Turku to jump on the market square, doing their part to undo the post-glacial rebound and push the city back under the sea.

Popular music

There is a lot of musical activity in Tampere, especially in the realm of black metal / heavy metal and rock. Some of the more popular bands based in Tampere include Negative, Circle of Ouroborus, Uniklubi, Horna, Sargeist and Behexen.

Manserock

Manserock is a general term for rock music from Tampere. In the local slang Manse means Tampere. "Manse" comes from "Manchester", as Tampere was one of the first industrial towns in Finland, and thus was similar to Manchester.

Although there was some earlier development of a rock scene in Tampere, Manserock is considered to have started in August 1969 when the famous musical Hair was performed for the first time in a local theatre. Reijo Paukku brought the musical to Tampere from the USA. Several local musicians participated in the show. The show received a lot of publicity in Tampere and in the whole of Finland.

The 70s can be considered the golden age of Manserock and the word Manserock was introduced in the early 70's. Several local rock bands were popular in Finland and the reputation of Tampere as a rock city grew. The biggest name from that age is Juice Leskinen. Some other noteworthy names are Virtanen, Kontra, and Kaseva. All of these bands played rock music with Finnish lyrics.

In 1977 Poko Records was founded. This was the first record company in Tampere and it played an important role in the support of Manserock.

In the Late 70's Tampere was known for several new wave bands although other styles of rock also existed. Bands like Eppu Normaali, Popeda, and Karanteeni spread knowledge of Manserock in Finland.

In the 80s many new bands were formed. However, some of the older bands continued and increased in popularity. Juice Leskinen, Eppu Normaali, and Popeda even published new recordings in the early 2000s.

Sites of interest

The main tourist attraction is the Särkänniemi amusement park, which includes a dolphinarium and the landmark Näsinneula tower, topped by a revolving restaurant. Other sites of interest are Tampere Cathedral, Tampere City Library Metso ("wood grouse"), Kaleva Church (both designed by Reima Pietilä), the Tampere Hall for conferences and the Tampere Market Hall.

Tampere is also home to one of the last museums in the world dedicated to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Lenin moved to Tampere in August 1905 and during a subsequent Bolshevik conference in the city met Joseph Stalin for the first time. Lenin eventually fled Tampere (for Sweden) in November 1907 when being pursued by the Russian Okhrana. Lenin would not return to any part of the Russian Empire until ten years later, when he heard of the start of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

There are many museums and galleries, including:

• The Vapriikki Museum Centre [10682] which includes the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame and the Shoe Museum
• Tampere Art Museum [10683]
• Tampere Lenin Museum [10684]
• The Muumilaakso Museum [10685], about Moomins
• Spy Museum in Siperia [10686]
• Workers' housing museum in Amuri [10687].

Pispala

Pispala is a ridge located between the two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. It used to house the majority of industrial labour in the late 19th and early 20th century, when it was part of Suur-Pirkkala and its follower Pohjois-Pirkkala. It was a free area to be built upon by the working class people working in Tampere factories. It was joined to Tampere in 1937. Currently it is a popular residential area and together with neighbouring Pyynikki it forms an important historical area of Tampere.

Transport

The public transport network within Tampere consists exclusively of a bus network, which is quite popular and qualified by Finnish standards. Between 1948 and 1976 the city also had an extensive trolleybus network, which was also the largest trolleybus system in Finland. As of 2009 plans are being made for construction a light rail system in the city to replace some of the most popular bus lines (see Tampere light rail), as well as initiating commuter rail service on the railroad lines connecting Tampere to the neighbouring cities of Nokia and Lempäälä.

Trivia

• The asteroid 1497 Tampere was named after the city by its discoverer, the Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä.
• The city administration building (not the historic City Hall), has more microwave transmitters than any other city government building in Scandinavia. Eight microwave transmitters are located on the roof in the back of the building, and three transmitters in the front of the building.

Notable persons

For a more complete list, see :Category:People from Tampere.

Mikko Alatalo James Finlayson Veikko Haukkavaara Raimo Helminen Kari.J.Järvinen Timo Jutila Mika Koivuniemi Kiira Korpi

Toni Kuivasto Juice Leskinen Jonne Aaron Liimatainen Väinö Linna Antero Manninen Ville Nieminen Teppo Numminen Kalle Päätalo Kari Peitsamo

Hannu Salama Johanna Sinisalo Vesa Toskala Lauri Viita Elias Viljanen Veltto Virtanen Hasse Wind

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Tampere is twinned with:

Braşov, Romania Chemnitz, Germany Essen, Germany Kaunas, Lithuania Kiev, Ukraine Klaksvík, Faroe Islands

Kópavogur, Iceland Linz, Austria Łódź, Poland (since 1996) Miskolc, Hungary Nizhny Novgorod, Russia Norrköping, Sweden

Odense, Denmark Olomouc, Czech Republic Saskatoon, Canada Syracuse, United States Tartu, Estonia Trondheim, Norway

Notes

External links

• City of Tampere – Official website
• Map of Tampere
• Tammerfest
• Tampere guide
• Tampere region webcams
• Tampere Video
• Tampere Beaches