Land reclamation The first bridges over the
Töölönlahti bay were built in 1651 for the road leading from Vironniemi (
Kruununhaka) to
Vanhakaupunki. When the bridges were rebuilt in 1832, the islands in the bay were named Iso Siltasaari and Pikku Siltasaari. The bridge from Siltavuori to Iso Siltasaari was called Pitkäsilta and the bridge over Pikku Siltasaari was called Pikkusilta. Land reclamation in the strait separating Siltasaari from the mainland on its northern and eastern sides, containing the Hakaniemi area at the time, at the present location of the market square, started in 1886. This land reclamation used dredging soil from the
Sörnäinen harbour. To stop reclaimed land from flowing into the sea, a dam was built from soil, rocks and spruce trunks. Soon after the reclamation was completed, the dam gave in. As there was plenty of dredging soil available, a new dam was built further away in the bay. In 1891 the Pikkusilta bridge still remained, but it had been left on dry land. The market square area dried up slowly and had to be crossed on
duckboards. The land reclamation took a total of eleven years, and market vendors started sales in the area on Christmas 1897.
Home of the working class is in the middle of the picture. Up to the 19th century Hakaniemi was just a peaceful pasture. The city of Helsinki started to regulate construction to the north of Pitkäsilta since the 1820s. In 1846 the area was divided into villa and industrial lots, which the city leased with long-term contracts. Lands further away were dealt as fields and pastures. In the late 19th century the city of
Helsinki started rapidly industrialising and factories were built in the
Sörnäinen area. At the same time, increased rents in the city centre drove the working class further away, and Hakaniemi located on the opposite end of the
Pitkäsilta bridge soon became a popular place to live in. Pitkäsilta soon became a symbol of the class difference between the
bourgeoisie in the city centre and the
proletariat in the north. Hakaniemi, known as the home for many trade unions, was coloured red and many demonstrations were held at the
Hakaniemi market square. During the 1906
Sveaborg rebellion the so-called
Hakaniemi riot took place at the market square, which has been seen as the first clash between the red and white guards in Finland. The reds later planned a revolution at the so-called "Granite Castle", the
Helsinki workers' house at Säästöpankinranta. The
Finnish Civil War is thought to have started when a red lantern was hoisted on the top of the tower at the workers' house in the evening of 26 January 1918 as a sign of revolution.
Later phases in 1966. In the 1920s the industry in the area was seen as unfit to the urban image, and the Siltasaari area started to become an extension of the business centre. In 1925 Hakaniemi became a public transport hub as it started serving as a terminus for bus transport. In the early 1930s half of the
Helsinki tram lines passed through Hakaniemi. The southern sidetrack of the
Sörnäinen harbour rail was used to transport firewood to the Hakaniemi market square, used to heat the houses in the area. A bus terminal was built at the market square in 1963. After the war, the wooden houses in the area were replaced with multi-storey brick and stone houses, many new businesses and government institutions moved to the area, and the population of forty thousand slowly started to decrease. To stop the population for decreasing, the neighbourhood of
Merihaka, a "concrete neighbourhood" similar to
Itä-Pasila was built next to Hakaniemi. The population still kept on decreasing, and by the 1980s, the entire district of
Kallio only had twenty thousand inhabitants. == Projects ==