Helsinki [antikvár]

A city mirrors the soul oí its inhabitants. Its streets and buildings, its walls, asphalt and cobblestones are more than a witness to changing architectural fashions: they reflect the beliefs and aspirations of its people, the days of joy and bitterness they have known in the course of their history. So, too, with Helsinki, this city which has literally risen from the sea, this 'Daughter of the Baltic', as it has been called. Once a small seaport, it has become the capital and cultural centre of a nation, and as such it speaks not only for its own people but alsó for all the varied aspects of everything that is essentially Finnish. Helsinki is a city of contrasts - contrasts which follow the rhythm of the seasons. It drowses off in the damp and dismal gloom of late autumn and comes to life again with the bright lights of Christmas. In the first snow and the biting cold it waits impatiently for the spring sun to climb higher and higher in the sky. In the lavish daylight of the Finnish summer it bursts out in a pulsating cosmopolitanism. East and West meet in Helsinki, and this is true of more than its architecture and its everyday life. As a bridgehead between different cultures, it has served as host to many international congresses and negotiations. In the world of today, Helsinki and its inhabitants have found a new mission as advocates of peace and friendship between nations. The citizen of Helsinki, too, is made up of contrasts. Through Swedish, his other official mothertongue, his thinking has been coloured by the Scandinavian heritage. And a century or so of coexistence in the mighty shadow of Tsarist Russia has alsó had its influence. A third element has been supplied by all those who have flocked into Helsinki from every part of rural Finland. Many of its inhabitants are only just beginning to put down roots in their new domicile. Hopefully, demandingly, and sometimes impatiently, they are looking forward to the fulfilment of the promises that enticed them here. This book is a portrait of Helsinki in words and pictures. It points out its salient features and tries to give somé background to the city and its inhabitants. It may help the traveller to recapture or even deepen somé of the impressions of his visit. I wish the reader somé pleasant moments in our company. Teuvo Aura Mayor of Helsinki (1968-79)