Hunting & Fishing

When the first human beings arrived in Åland for approximately 6000 years ago, Åland consisted of only few islands and skerries. The rest was covered bythe sea. 

The last Ice Age that ended for some 10000 years ago had pressed the land down and scoured the rock formations smooth. When the ice melted the land started to rise slowly and the archipelago grew bigger. The climate was warm and humid, and there were deciduous trees and pine trees, but no spruces.

The first human beings arrived from the east for 6000 years ago. They belonged to the Stone Age Comb Ceramic culture that had spread along the Gulf of Bothnia, the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and all the way to the Ural Mountains in the east.

1500 years later other people belonging to Pitted Ware culture arrived from the west. Their culture spread from the Swedish east and west coasts to Norway. These two cultures encountered each other on the Åland Islands.

The Stone Age (ca. 4000 -1500 BC) was followed by the Bronze Age (ca. 1500-400 BC). The early Bronze Age was characterised by barrows. These were most likely burial mounds for upper class and the barrows often contained valuable burial gifts. Barrows for burnt bodies became more common in the younger Bronze Age. The body of the deceased was burnt and the bones were placed on a hill and covered with a small stone cairn.

The Stone Age and Bronze Age people lived by seal hunting, fishing, bird hunting and collecting plants. Seal hunting was practised year round, especially in early spring. Meat, skins and train oil were used from the seal. Eggs and down were collected from sea bird nests. Decoys were used in sea fowl hunting in spring and autumn.

  The Earth

There are traces of farming in Åland dating back to the end of the Stone Age, some 4000 years ago. In the beginning of the Iron Age (500 BC-1000 AD) the population decreased and it concentrated on the main island of today. Cultural contacts to the surrounding world became stagnant.

In the middle of the 500’s the population increased due to immigration, mainly from the Mälaren district. Grave artefacts refer to cultural contacts with Scandinavian and continental Germanic regions. From the Viking Era (ca. 800-1000) there are over 380 documented burial sites on Åland, these concentrated on the major islands. Further, there are six recognised hill forts.

The farms were not collected in villages but scattered around the countryside. A typical construction was the long Viking house with walls built of upright posts, housing both people and cattle, but there were also horizontally timbered houses.

The Åland coastal climate is characterised by mild winters, dry early summers, fresh high summers and warm autumns. Calcareous soil and fertile clay provide good preconditions for farming. Rye was the most common cereal until the 1870’s, and swede was the first cultivated root vegetable. Potato was introduced in the 1700’s. Around 1840 the great redistribution of land holdings was accomplished in most villages and fields were merged into larger entities. The cattle kept the landscape open and gave milk, meat, skins and wool. Milk was commonly made into cheese.

 The Community

The end of the Viking era also forced the old Scandinavian paganism to yield to Christianity.  The oldest churches in Åland are situated in direct connection to large pagan burial grounds. The first churches were the so-called stave churches built of wood, but they were soon replaced by stone constructions. Small chapels for seafarers were built along the ancient trading routes.

The age of the Åland stone churches and the chronology of their artefacts have been a subject for on-going debates. It is evident that the churches have undergone large changes throughout the centuries. Simple hall churches with open roof trusses were vaulted and they were extended with western towers, sacristies and porches. Despite many similar features, the churches have individual details when it comes to masonry technique and size. The church was the centre of the countryside and it was always present in all phases of one’s life. The respect for the church and the clergy was immense and the discipline was harsh.

Similar to the rest of Finland, Åland was a self-governed province in the Middle Ages. The highest authority was the county council that assembled in Saltvik, one of the most important trading places of Åland. In the 1200’s Åland and Finland were incorporated with the Swedish rule. In 1634 Åland became a part of ‘County of Åbo (Turku) and Björneborg (Pori) with the chiefdom of Åland’.

Apart from the stone churches, Kastelholm Castle was the most important building in the medieval Åland. The castle was mentioned for the first time in 1388, and it was most likely built by drots Bo Jonsson Grip. The castle has been rebuilt and enlarged several times throughout the centuries. It has been sieged and ravaged by fire. Kastelholm was the administrative and military centre of Åland well into the 1700’s. The kings used the castle as their residence during their visits to Åland, and taxes were levied to the castle.

 The People

Big weddings were common well into the 1920’s. They were celebrated for three or four days with eating, drinking and dancing. The bridal couple received many gifts and the bride brought a dowry to her new home at her husband’s family.

Midsummer celebrations have long traditions in Åland. Maypoles are erected in many villages and they are decorated with foliage and different kinds of decorations, including paper crowns, weather-vanes, sailing-boats, suns or wooden male figures. Maypole is raised on the Midsummer's Eve under the command of the pole captain. Festivities often include speeches, singing and dancing.

Ballads, ditties, ring dances and lullabies were often sung at homes until the beginning of the last century. Songs were passed from one generation to another. Violin was the main music instrument played at dances and weddings. Accordion started to gain popularity after World War I.

Åland has not had any specific national dresses. Everybody dressed up according to taste.

In 1907 music scholar Otto Andersson suggested that traditional folk dresses should be recreated for Åland. A dress committee weaved the fabrics and designed the models according to old patterns and traditions. Today each municipality has a national dress.

Rye bread, fish, seal meat, milk, butter and cheese were a part of the basic daily diet on Åland. Local specialties include Åland pancake with stewed prunes, sweet cheese, black bread and ‘hemvete’ bread.

 The Sea

The sea has always had an important role in the history of Åland. Fishing and shipping have given livelihood to many Ålanders and the sea has offered an essential transport route for the peoples of the Baltic Sea.

Living conditions on the fishing islets were harsh, working days were long and hard. In the Middle Ages fishing with seine was the most common fishing method. In the mid-1800’s fishing with hook nets was introduced from Ostrobothnia, and later on the Ålanders started fishing with drift nets from Gotland.

The boat provided the precondition for living in the archipelago. With their wooden boats the islanders made annual trips to market places in Stockholm, Turku, Helsinki and Tallinn. Often many boats sailed together and sometimes they had exciting sailing races.

Lively trade was practised to and from Åland from the end of the Middle Ages. Mainly fish, farm produce and later also fire logs were exported on peasant-owned craft. After the Crimean War in the 1850’s shipping experienced a rapid upswing, and by the 1920’s the peasant sailing was superseded by vessels owned by bigger shipping companies. Sailing-ships were kept alive in Åland for an amazing long period of time; the rest of the world had started with engine-driven vessels almost a hundred years earlier.

 The Town

Since the reign of the Wasa family there had been plans for founding a town in Åland. The first township-like dwelling-site emerged in the village of Skarpans next to Bomarsund fortress. Skarpans was later abandoned because of the fall of Bomarsund in 1854.

Mariehamn was founded in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II and named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna. In the beginning, the town looked very modest and had only few inhabitants, but by the turn of the century the population and dwellings had increased in number.

District architect G.TH.P. Chiewitz set his mark on Mariehamn in 1859 when he prepared the town plan with grid-based street network. Hilda Hongell, the first female master-builder in Finland, has designed many of the old wooden houses, and architect Lars Sonck stands for several official buildings in town.
 

Shipping is one of the corner stones of Mariehamn’s economy. Already in the youth of the town, ship-owners, captains and sailors were an important part of the population. Big windjammers were gradually replaced by steamers. Nowadays the harbours are called by big diesel-driven passenger ferries, cargo ships and yachts.

Tourism emerged with a spa establishment, opened in 1889. The spa consisted of several buildings, many of them designed by Lars Sonck. The spa life was intensive around the turn of the century, but faded out when World War I broke out. In 1916 the spa hotel was ravaged by fire and the spa era came to its end.

 Wars

Åland’s central position in the middle of the Baltic Sea has made the province strategically important. Even if the military presence has changed from the times of prehistoric fort hills to the present day demilitarization, the islands have always been of interest for the surrounding countries.

Åland suffered heavy losses during the Great Unrest, 1713-21. As a result of the Russian invasion in 1714, the major part of the population fled to Sweden. Many Ålanders were taken as prisoners and villages were devastated. It was not until eight years later that the inhabitants were able to return to their homesteads.

In 1808 Russia made a new attack and landed troops in the eastern archipelago. The war in 1808-09 was disastrous for Åland. Epidemics were ravaging the natives and violence was frequent. When the war ended, Sweden had to cede Finland and Åland to Russia.

As a part of the Russian empire Åland became the westernmost outpost of Russia. Soon plans emerged to build a fortress and a naval base for the growing fleet. In 1829 the construction work of Bomarsund fortress was begun with manpower from all over the Russian empire. Bomarsund became a multicultural society where different religions met.

The construction of Bomarsund was not completed at the time when the next war broke out. In the Crimean War, 1853-56, Britain and France allied with Turkey against Russia. Bomarsund was attacked in August 1854 and the Russian troops were soon forced to capitulate. As a result of the war Åland was declared a demilitarized zone, which it still is today.

Also World War I, 1914-18, had considerable consequences for Åland, and it led to the beginning of Åland’s autonomy. World War II, 1939-45, did not affect Åland harshly. The greatest losses were carried by shipping as several vessels were sunk and many Åland sailors lost their lives.

  Autonomy

In the aftermath of World War I, 1914-18, uncertainty and insecurity prevailed in Åland. Russian soldiers were stationed all over Åland and the relations between the right-wing and communist groups were tensed. Security was identified with that of Sweden, and thus a group of local activists started to discuss Åland’s reunification with the old mother country Sweden.

Finland’s independence declaration in 1917 gave an impetus to further discussions. The question of Åland’s reunification with Sweden was taken on the agenda of the newly-founded League of Nations in 1921. League of Nations did not consent to Ålanders’ wish, but decided that Åland was to belong to Finland and was to be given an extensive autonomy and guarantees on protection of the Swedish language and demilitarization. The Autonomy Act has been complemented with provisions on the so-called local citizenship.

The autonomy means that Åland has a parliament (lagtinget) and a government (landskapsregeringen). In 1954 Åland obtained its own official flag, and in 1993 postal services with the right to issue own stamps.