Raatihuone, Tampere

The Tampere Town Hall was designed by architect Georg Schreck and inaugurated in January 1890 (there had been an old wooden town hall in the same place before). The Town Hall is the centre of political events in Tampere. The city's inhabitants gather at the central square in front of the building for example on Finland's Independence Day (6 December) and New Year's Eve to listen to the mayor speak. There is a granite slate with historical text carved on it in the stone base of the building. The text tells us how a proposal demanding Finnish independence from Russia was declared from the Town Hall balcony during the great strike in 1905. The proposal also demanded universal suffrage, as well as the freedoms of assembly, association and speech. After this these principles were commonly accepted in the whole country, and the dream of Finnish independence finally came true on 6 December 1917. The Inde pendence Day torch procession organised by the University of Tampere and the Tampere University of Technology ends in front of the Town Hall. Here Finland's national anthem Maamme (Our Land) is sung as a way of showing respect to Finland's independence and to the war veterans who fought to defend it during the Second World War.

Write a Review