A good idea to do in Loviisa: walk the Myllyharju nature trail, and climb the three-storey Kukkukivi sightseeing tower (1906).
This time Streets and Squares visits Loviisa, a tiny, picturesque town on the southern coast of Finland some 90 km east of Helsinki. It is a bilingual city (Finnish & Swedish), and was actually known until 1752 as Degerby. Its current name it received from the Swedish king Adolf Fredrik, who so liked the city when he was visiting there that year that he named it after his wife, Queen Lovisa Ulrika.
There was a great fire in Loviisa in 1855 after which the city center was redesigned and rebuilt with the assistance of the Swedish architect Georg Theodor Chiewitz. That time Finland was already Grand Duchy of Finland and part of the Russian Empire, but the Swedish infuence was still noteworthy in many parts of the country.
Apart from eponymous place names (the kind we mainly deal with here in Streets and Squares) there are also streets in Loviisa that have been named after some of Loviisa’s twin cities. Such as Horten Square (Horten, Norway), Hillerød Square (Hillerød, Denmark), Karlskronabulevardi (Karlskrona, Sweden) and Olafsfjördurin puisto (Olafsfjördurpark, Ólafsfjörður, Iceland).
Thank you Aulis Tynkkynen for clarifying the history behind some of the street names in Loviisa. And Shasmine Bruce, communication assistant of the City of Loviisa!
Be sure to check the video below, giving you a quick overview of this lovely old town that is especially suited for a trip summertime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACw6UTfIt8
Some vocabulary before we start: katu (street) - kuja (alley) - käytävä (path) - puisto (park)
Aleksanterinkatu - Alexander II of Russia (1818-1881) who visited Loviisa on September 13, 1819 during his tour around the newly acquired country. Born in Moscow, Russian Empire - StreetView
Biaudetin käytävä - Léon Jules Biaudet (1882-1968) physician with French-Swiss heritage, active in Loviisa. He donated his residence, Villa Biaudet, so that any Swedish-speaking Finnish writer may live there rent-free for three years. Born in Helsinki, GD of Finland.
Brandensteininkatu - Otto von Brandenstein (1865-1945) Prussian officer who fought with the Finnish Whites in the Finnish Civil War. He commanded the 3,000 man unit that landed at Loviisa April 7, 1918, with the mission to cut the Reds' railway connections to Helsinki. Born in Prussia, German Confederation. StreetView
Chiewitzinkatu - Georg Theodor Chiewitz (1815-1862) Swedish engineer, architect and city planner who was active in various cities in Finland. Born in Stockholm, Sweden. StreetView - Uusimaa
Gustav Strengellinkuja - Gustaf Strengell (1878-1937) Finnish architect who lived part of his life in Loviisa, renovating old houses there. Born in Kymi, Grand Duchy of Finland. StreetView
Jakob Forsellinkatu - Jacob af Forselles (b Forssell) (1696-1768) was a merchant, industrialist and manor owner. He served as Mayor of Loviisa 1747–1765. Born in Vehkalahti, Sweden-Finland. FI-07900 StreetView
Kuhlefeltinkatu - Eva Kuhlefelt-Ekelund (1892-1984) (b Kuhlefelt) was a pioneering Finnish woman architect, married to another famous Finnish architect Hilding Ekelund. Born in Loviisa, GD of Finland.
Mannerheiminkatu - Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867-1951) was a general, statesman and the 6th President of Finland. Born in Askainen, GD of Finland. This street is aptly situated between the street leading towards Helsinki (Helsingintie) and the one leading towards St. Petersburg in Russia (Pietarintie). Streetview
Mariankatu - Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880) was the Empress of Russia as the first wife and political adviser of Alexander II, and also one of the founders of the Russian Red Cross. Born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Confederation. StreetView
Olssonin puisto - Paul Olsson (1890-1973) landscape architect, son of a Swedish immigrant family. Born in Helsinki, GD of Finland. Kaunis Grani -StreetView - Tuunailun makua
Runar Schildtintie - Runar Schildt (1888-1925) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, born in Helsinki, GD of Finland. StreetView
Schillmarkinpuisto - Nils Schillmark (1745-1804) was a Swedish painter who was also active in Finland. He lived in Loviisa since 1787. Born in Skellefteå, Sweden. StreetView
Sibeliuksenkatu - Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) the world famous composer born in Hämeenlinna, GD of Finland. In his youth he spent many a summer at his grandmother’s place in Loviisa, and one summer after high school he happened to see the name Jean in his uncle’s French businesscard. From then on he was Jean, not Johan or Janne (1865) StreetView
Stolpenkatu - Axel Stolpe (1954-1892) mayor of Loviisa who lived in Villa Stolpe. Born in Sipoo, GD of Finland. StreetView
Öhmaninkatu - Georg Öhman (1850-1897) physician who worked as the town physician of Loviisa at the end of the 19th century. Born in Porvoo, GD of Finland.
Loviisa seen from the coastal promenade
A to Ö FROM LOVIISA
i.e. a list of people born in Loviisa. Just another fun way to know something more about the city. We pick a couple of people for each alphabet, if possible. The numbers you see at the end of each line indicate the year of birth. This list is updated from time to time. And last but not least: the flag of Loviisa!
A -
B -
D - Carl Magnus Dahlström* merchant/businessman/Commercial Counsellor (1805)
E - Nils Jonas Gammal Ehrencrona* soldier/ civil servant (1779) - Gustaf Robert Ehrnrooth* lieutenant general (1821) - Erik Ekelund* civil servant/author (1907) - Teemu Engberg* hockey player (1999)
H - Tommy Hellsten* theologist/therapist/ author (1951) - Mia Hafrén* actress/ singer (1974)
I - Aleksander Ijas* Finnish colonel in the Russian Imperial Army/diplomat in Persia (1869)
K - Eva Kuhlefelt-Ekelund* architect (1892) - Mervi Kallio* journalist/ studio hostess (1977)
L - Berndt Lindholm* landscape painter (1841)
M - Taito Mäkelä* actor (1913)
S - Carl David Skogman* civil servant active in Sweden’s finances (1786) - Eva Stenbäck* schoolteacher/ writer (1841)
T - Jaana Toivari-Viitala* egyptologist/museum curator (1964)
W - Eva Wahlström* professional boxer (1980)
Å - Victoria Åberg* landscape painter/active in Germany (1824)
Ö - Georg Öhman* vetenarian/son of town physician Georg Öhman (1891)
https://kerranelamassa.fi/kotimaan-matkailu/uusimaa/loviisa/
Loviisan kadunnimien henkilöhistoriaa (Aulis Tynkkynen)
Updated 17.7.2023