The soon to be established town of Raseborg unveiled the design of its new municipal shield today. The design is comprised of a green shield with eight white wood anemone flowers upon it. The shield is crowned by a castle-like crown with five towers, a reference to Raseborg castle.
Raseborg will be formed on 1 January 2009 as a merger of the existing municipalities of Ekenäs, Karis and Pojo (Pohja). The eight flowers on the shield symbolise the previous eight original districts in the previous county of Raseborg. The new town will have a population of 28 000 citizens, of which Swedish-speakers will comprise approximately 67%. The town of Hangö and municipality of Ingå opted to remain as independent entities but where involved in the initial discussions.
The building of the new town has not been without some wrangling. Politicians from Ekenäs, Karis and Pojo have had to decide where the new administrative units will be placed and whom will get the top jobs. As a consequence of the merger, street signs in Pojo will be renewed to place the Swedish text above the Finnish. Independent Pojo has a Finnish speaking majority (59,5%). The citizens of Ekenäs, Karis and Pojo will vote together in municipal elections for the first time already this autumn.
20 comments
Comments feed for this article
Thursday 15.5.08 at 10:54
Malte
Very good! Beautiful, simple and elegant. The colour green is not something you see very often in Finnish muncipal shields, and using wood anemones instead of lilies – or something similar – is just brilliant. I’ve never been to Raseborg but that shield sums up how I feel about the place. Old culture and lots of flowery meadows.
The shield also looks very ‘finlandssvensk’. Must be the wood anemones.
Friday 23.5.08 at 13:34
Toby
Perhaps with a municipality named after the castle, they may actually take some effort to make the castle easier to find. Finland has so little ‘old’ history to go and visit – you would think that Raseborg would be nationally famous but it is almost like it is actively hidden. I found it by chance, fortunately because that day I was having one my linguistically less incompetent days and happened to see a little sign saying “linna” and followed it not even knowing there is a castle in that area. But recently when I was taking the kids to see it, I realised it is tricky to find if you don’t quite know where it is! Not many helpful signs, not marked on maps etc.
Friday 23.5.08 at 14:24
Jonas
I always thought it was well known. It’s perhaps most famous for its summer theatre. I have been quite a few times over the years. Who knows, maybe this summer again.
There is a website also here: http://www.raseborg.org/
Monday 11.8.08 at 20:46
Arno Peeters
I’m an artist from the Netherlands who is invited to work in Ekenas for the next two months. As an artist I’m curious to any and all that has to do with this merger that is (as I’ve understood it) more or less forced upon the inhabitants of Ekenas, Pohjo and Karaja.
Unfortunately I don’t speak Finnish or Swedish, so any discussion or idea’s about this would be preferred in English. Also simply opinions from who ever reads this are warmly welcomed: what do you think of it? Is it a good or bad thing and why?!
Monday 11.8.08 at 21:11
Jonas
Hi Arno,
I don’t actually live in Raseborg but my wife is from just outside of Ekenäs. Plus, as you can imagine, it has been covered in the Swedish-speaking media quite a lot.
I wouldn’t say that it has exactly been forced upon Ekenäs, Pojo and Karis’ inhabitants. It was democratically decided by the municipal councils in each district and they, in theory, represent the citizens as they are elected by them. I believe that in the cases of at least Ekenäs and Karis, the support for merger in the council was very strong. In the initial merger talks, Ingå and Hangö were also involved, but decided to opt to remain as free-standing entities – at least for now. So, you can see that it would have been possible for E, P or K to say no. Having said that, the (national) government wants to see no municipalities with no fewer than 20.000 people after the reform.
I think most people accept that, even if they wouldn’t exactly enthusiastically want it, the municipal reform is going to happen and the current municipality sizes (population wise) are too small to be workable in the future. For these 3 areas, it’s been a good way to secure the status of the Swedish-language by merging together. Karis and Ekenäs both have Swedish-speaking majorites. Pojo is in fact majority Finnish-speaking these days (but it has a very small population compared to the other two, so it makes little different percentage-wise once merged). Economically, I believe that especially Karis is in a bad shape, so they really need to merge to get the economy into condition. Of course, there are people who are nostalgic for their home district – which is understandable. Some Finnish-speakers expressed concern over how much respect Finnish will get in Raseborg. Some in Ekenäs (which is very overwhelmingly Swedish-speaking) expressed views that Swedish would lose influence. But overall, there are already strong ties between the districts of Raseborg. And as an artist, you might find it interesting that there was quite a fierce debate in newspaper letters pages on the new municipal shield – a lot of people apparently disliked it. Personally, I rather like it.
Ekenäs is a very beautiful town and a pleasant place. I hope you enjoy your time there!
Tuesday 12.8.08 at 11:39
Arno Peeters
Thank you so much for your insights here Jonas! Indeed; we were already asked to design a new shield for Raseborg!-)
We curiously investigate some more, since it might be a very good topic to make an artwork about (we are installation and performance artists).
Thanks again!
Tuesday 12.8.08 at 19:57
Jonas
No problem. That´s interesting on the shield. I actually have to say, I quite like the first version. It’s both modern and traditional at the same time. None the less, good luck with making a new one. I´m sure you will produce something even better. I shall look forward to seeing it.
Wednesday 13.8.08 at 16:37
Arno Peeters
Well, that we were asked to design a new logo was meant ironically by someone who did not like it. Hence the smiley
Wednesday 13.8.08 at 16:41
Jonas
Jaha, ok. That makes sense.
Probably not the last time you will hear it…
Friday 15.8.08 at 10:51
Arno Peeters
Jonas: is there a regional radiostation that would likely to be listened to in all three cities involved? Maybe we can do an ‘open interview’ and ask listeners to respond….
Friday 15.8.08 at 14:29
Jonas
I’d be very surprised if they haven’t already covered it… it’s prob from the website I first found out about it
But, I’m sure they would love to hear from you, as your other artistic missions in the area would probably be interesting and I’m sure they’d like another take on the logo anyway. I just quickly searched, and one of the original news stories that came up on this subject says that the full visual identity is due to be released ´in August ´, so assuming that is still correct, it could be a good time for the radio.
But yes, the whole area is covered by Radio Vega Västnyland. Radio Vega is the main Swedish-language radio station in Finland (Radio Extrem is the alternative, aimed at the younger people). Basically, Radio Vega is for most of the day the same programmes nationwide – but in the morning and afternoon there are local programmes in the various regions.
Their contact details in Västnyland (i.e. West Uusimaa) are here:
http://svenska.yle.fi/nyheter/kontakt.php?id=109541
I guess they would be covered in Finnish from Radio Suomi’s ´Ylen läntinen´local station – but according to their website their studio is in Lohja (Lojo), so they’re probably less interested in Raseborg (and prob they know they don’t have so many listeners there, because of language). Their contact details, in any case, http://lotta.yle.fi/rsweblja.nsf/sivut/toimitus
The local newspaper in all of Raseborg is Västra Nyland, contact details: http://www.vastranyland.fi/redaktion.html
Not sure if there is a Finnish paper of note that’s specific to that region.
Maybe you can at least get a grasp of the subject in written Swedish? Sometimes I find that I can nearly understand written Dutch. Dutch is supposedly the nearest non-Scandinavian language to Swedish.
Sunday 24.8.08 at 13:58
Arno Peeters
Hi Jonas: we’re close to filling in the last details of our plan. Meanwhile we’ve spoken to the radio, newspaper and with three women who’ve set out on a likewise project, to ‘connect’ the feelings, wishes and worries of the inhabitants of the ‘city to be’ Raseborg (Camilla Grundström, Tuula Huuhtanen and Maarit Feldt Ranta).
So we’re in the final phase of our ‘artistic research’ in which we look for a strong symbol, story or form to connect all the information to. I’ve read in The Lonely Planet Guide that there’s a (well known?) childrens’ story/fairytale in which Raseborg castle is mentioned, but Google cannot help me much with that. Do you what story is referred to?
Thanks again for any and all assistance!
Sunday 24.8.08 at 21:29
Jonas
Glad it’s going well.
I don’t know that I would say that any story is well-known about the castle. Maybe the people responsible for the castle that Lonely Planet spoke to were just good promoters
My wife says there is a love story about how the king fell in love with his wife Kristina. Apparently the only queen born in Finland (of Sweden, naturally). I guess it could mean this. Googling it shows that there is a play that is based on it called Kungen och Kristina (The King and Kristina). She was married to Karl Knutsson (Swedish king).
Perhaps it is better known in the Raseborg area. Maybe you could contact someone from Åbo akademi? They have a folkloristics department or maybe the history department could help. Or I’d guess your contacts at Yle, VN and SDP from the area probably know something about it.
Let me know if you find out anything on it!
Edit:
I Googled a little more after writing the above. Here is an article about the play / story which appeared in Västra Nyland in 2007. It says it was by Holger Wickström. http://www.tryckeriteatern.org/raseborg/slott/sve/kristina/ (in Swedish i’m afraid).
Googling his name, he seems that he is also involved heavily in the SDP in Raseborg (amongst other things, in the presidium of the election committee). So, your SDP contacts should know him well.
Monday 25.8.08 at 18:58
Arno Peeters
Thanks again Jonas! Have read that article (with help of Google’s Language Tools) but indeed it does not seem like the fairytale (’a children’s ditty’ as they described it)… Maybe I’ll investigate some more…
Have you by any chance seen the Vastra Nyland edition of Sunday? on the ‘Kultur” page, it features an article on us. Also available online: http://www.vastranyland.fi/nyhet3.html
As before: thanks for your assistance!
Sunday 31.8.08 at 16:03
Jonas
Sorry, take me a while to reply. It’s been a busy week and then yesterday we were in Helsinki watching Sverigekampen (Finland vs Sweden athletics).
I didn’t see the paper. We don’t get VN here unfortunately, I am near the town of Borgå (Porvoo) – so at the other end of Nyland to you . Unfortunately, the way the VN website works (i.e. rather simplistically!) means your story is no longer at that page sadly. Was it a good article? I’m glad that they wrote about you.
Sunday 31.8.08 at 17:20
Arno Peeters
I see: indeed, that’s a clumsy way to ‘archive’ your articles online. I’ve made a scan and put it online: http://www.tapetv.nl/VN_article_240808.jpg
Wednesday 3.9.08 at 17:38
Anonymous
Hi Jonas again: you’re invited if you have interest (…and time, since it’s on such a short notice). Find it here: http://www.tapetv.nl/invitation.htm
Maybe see you Friday!
Wednesday 3.9.08 at 18:48
Jonas
Hi, thank you for the invitation. Sadly, I don’t think we are able to come. We have to go to a wedding coffee the next day here in Borgå. It’s a shame to miss it, I hope that there is a good turn out !
But I read the article. Good that you have it scanned. Very interesting. Hopefully, some time in the future we’ll get to visit your work then.
How much longer do you have in Ekenäs? How are you liking it and Finland?
Wednesday 3.9.08 at 20:19
Arno Peeters
We like it a lot: this place is friendly, people are open and very willing to cooperate. Our final presentation will be on Sept. 27th in the evening @ Knipan, in Ekenäs, so keep that one marked on your calender if not taken already. We’ll leave on October 1st and maybe work some more in Sveaborg in another Artist in Residence for another week.
Wednesday 17.9.08 at 16:48
Arno Peeters
Hello there! Just for your info:
The “Raseborg Hotline” has started and the number for the public to call is: (019) 222 6683. When the public calls this voicemailbox they will be informed as follows:
Du har ringt till YLE Västnylands och konstnärerna Arno Peeters och Iris
Honderdos telefonsvarare. Lämna ett kort meddelande, din åsikt om projketet
Raseborg. Ditt meddelande och din röst kommer dels att användas i den
installation som konstnärerna förverkligar och dels i radioinslag i YLE
Västnyland. Du kan lämna ditt meddelande på vilket språk som helst men håll
det kort och slagkraftigt. Kosnstverket avtäcks lördagen den 27 september
utanför Knipan i Ekenäs.
“efter pipet”.
Tämä on YLE Västnylandin ja taiteilijapari Arno Peetersin ja Iris
Honderdosin puhelinvastaaja. Ole hyvä ja jätä lyhyt viesti
Raasepori-processista. Viestiäsi käytetään Arno ja Irisksen taideteoksessa
ja YLE Västnylandin ohjelmissa. Voit jättää viestisi myös suomeksi.
Taideteos esitellään yleisölle 27 syyskuuta Knipanin edessä Tammisaaressa.
“piipin jälkeen”.
(((”You have reached the Raseborg Hotline, an initiative of YLE and Dutch
composer Arno Peeters.
Feel free to Leave your comment in any language you like, but keep it
short.
It can be used in YLE broadcasts and the composition that will premiere on
September 27th in Knipan, Ekenäs at 19:00.
You can start speaking after the tone”))