The city hosts the Russian end of the 1,222 km (759 mi)Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, laid in 2011 and operated by a consortium led by Russia'sGazprom state hydrocarbons enterprise to pump 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas a year under theBaltic Sea toLubmin, Germany.[20]
According to archeological research, the area of what is now Vyborg used to be a trading center on theVuoksi River's western branch, which has since dried up. The region was inhabited by theKarelians, aBalto-Finnic tribe which gradually came under the domination ofNovgorod andSweden.[21][22] It has been claimed that Vyborg appeared in the 11th–12th centuries as a mixed Karelian-Russian settlement,[23] although there is no archeological proof of anyEast Slavic settlement of that time in the area,[24] and it is not mentioned in any of the earliest historical documents, such as theNovgorod First Chronicle or thePrimary Chronicle. Wider settlement in the area of Vyborg is generally regarded to date from 13th century onwards whenHanseatic traders began traveling toNovgorod.[25]
Under Swedish rule, Vyborg was closely associated with the noble family ofBååt, originally fromSmåland. Thelate-medieval commanders and fief holders of Vyborg were (almost always) descended from or married to the Bååt family. In practice, though not having this as their formal title, they functioned asMargraves, had feudal privileges, and kept all the crown's incomes from the fief to use for the defense of the realm's eastern border.
In 1744, Vyborg became the seat of theVyborg Governorate.[29] In 1783, the governorate was transformed into theVyborg Viceroyalty;[29] in 1801, it reverted back to Vyborg Governorate.[citation needed] In 1802, the Vyborg Governorate was renamed the Finland Governorate.[29]
One of the largest naval battles in history, theBattle of Vyborg Bay, was fought in Vyborg Bay on 4 July 1790.
Over the course of the 19th century, the town developed as the centre of administration and trade for eastern Finland. The inauguration of theSaimaa Canal in 1856 benefited the local economy, as it opened the vast waterways of Eastern Finland to the sea. Vyborg was never a major industrial center and lacked large production facilities, but its location made it serve as a focal point of transports of all industries on theKarelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia and southeastern Finland.Trams in Vyborg started in 1912.
Vyborg served as the seat ofViipuri Province. In the 1930 census, the administrative area of the city of Vyborg had 52,253 inhabitants. There were a total of 19,986 inhabitants in the rural areas of Vyborg and in Uura, which was located outside the borders of Vyborg but was included in the census, and so the total population of the census area was 72,239.[33] Of the total inhabitants in the census area, 67,609 spoke Finnish, 2,103 Swedish, 1,807 Russian and 439 German.[34] In 1939, the population was slightly less than 75,000 and was Finland's second-largest (Population Register) or fourth-largest (Church and Civil Register) city, depending on the census data.[35] Vyborg had sizable minorities ofSwedes,Germans,Russians,Romani,Tatars andJews. During that time,Alvar Aalto built theVyborg Library, an icon offunctionalist architecture.
During theWinter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–1940, over 70,000 people were evacuated from Vyborg to other parts of Finland. The Winter War was concluded by theMoscow Peace Treaty, which stipulated the transfer of Vyborg to Soviet control, and the whole Karelian Isthmus, and those places were emptied of their residents, to Soviet control. It was incorporated into theKarelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic on 31 March 1940. As the town was still held by the Finns, the remaining Finnish population, some 10,000 people, had to be evacuated in haste before the handover. Thus, practically the whole population of Finnish Vyborg was resettled elsewhere in Finland. The town became theadministrative center ofVyborgsky District.
The evacuees fromFinnish Karelia came to be a vociferous political force, and their wish to return to their homes was an important motive when Finland sought support fromNazi Germany against the Soviet Union. As a result, Finland fought with Nazi Germany as a co-belligerent during theSecond World War.
Finnish soldiers marching in Vyborg on 31 August 1941
On 29 August 1941, Vyborg was captured by Finnish troops. At first, theFinnish Army did not allow civilians into the town. Of the 6,287 buildings, 3,807 had been destroyed. The first civilians started to arrive in late September, and by the end of the year, Vyborg had a population of about 9,700. In December 1941, the Finnish government formally annexed the town, along with the other areas that had been lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty.[14] However, the annexation was not recognized by any foreign state, even Finland's ally, Germany[citation needed]. By 1942, the population had risen to 16,000. About 70% of the evacuees from Finnish Karelia returned after the reconquest to rebuild their looted homes but were again evacuated after theRed Army'sVyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, timed to coincide with theBattle of Normandy. By the time of the Soviet offensive, the town had a population of nearly 28,000. The town was captured by the Red Army on 20 June 1944, but the Finnish forces, using war material provided by Germany, managed to halt the Soviet offensive at theBattle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle fought by any of theNordic countries, in Viipuri Rural Municipality, which surrounded the town, during which the town was seriously damaged.
In the subsequentMoscow Armistice on 19 September 1944, Finland returned to the borders set by the Moscow Peace Treaty and ceded more land than the treaty originally demanded. In theParis Peace Treaties (1947), Finland relinquished all claims to Vyborg.[14]
After the Second World War,Leningrad Oblast wanted to incorporate the area of Vyborg, but it took until November 1944 for the area to be finally transferred from the Karelo-Finnish SSR.[31] During the Soviet era, the town was settled by people from all over the Soviet Union. The naval air bases ofPribylovo andVeshchevo were built nearby.
In 1940s and the 1950s, new factories were built: shipbuilding (1948), instrumentational (1953). In 1960, a local history museum was opened.
The town lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, 130 km (81 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg, 245 km (152 miles) east of the Finnish capital Helsinki, and 38 km (24 miles) south of Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland.
Similar to many other areas along theBaltic Sea, Vyborg has ahumid continental climate (Dfb).[36] The climate is characterised by a fairly cloudy beginning of winter, but an increasing share of sunshine from February. Winter temperatures are being somewhat moderated by maritime effects compared to Russian cities further inland even on more southerly latitudes, but still cold enough compared to areas that are nearer theGulf Stream. The beginning of spring is generally sunny and rather low in precipitation. Summer is moderately warm. Autumn is generally cloudy and rainy. On average, daytime insolation on a horizontal surface is 2.79 kW/m². The most dominant are the south-west and south winds.
Climate data for Vyborg (1991–2020, extremes 1884–present)
Vyborg continues to be an important industrial producer ofpaper. Tourism is increasingly important, and the Russianfilm festivalWindow to Europe takes place in the town each year.
AnHVDC back-to-back facility for the exchange of electricity between the Russian and Finnish power grids was completed near Vyborg in 1982. It consists of three bipolar HVDC back-to-back schemes with an operating voltage of 85 kV and a maximum transmission rate of 355 MW, so that the entire maximum transmission rate amounts to 1,420 MW.[citation needed]
TheNord Stream 1 offshore pipeline runs from Vyborgcompressor station at Portovaya Bay along the bottom of theBaltic Sea toLubmin in Germany. It started operating in September 2011, enabling Russia to export gas directly to Western Europe. The feeding pipeline in Russia (Gryazovets–Vyborg gas pipeline) is operated byGazprom and is a part of the integrated gas transport network of Russia connecting existing grid inGryazovets with the coastal compressor station at Vyborg.[42]
Vyborg is amunicipal entity within theVyborgsky District of theLeningrad Oblast. Its official name is the municipal formation "City of Vyborg" of the Vyborg district of the Leningrad region; the abbreviated name is the municipal entity "City of Vyborg".
Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the decision of the Council of Deputies of Vyborg dated 16 June 2010 No. 63.[46]
The representative body of local self-government is the Council of Deputies, consisting of 20 deputies elected in municipal elections in single-member constituencies[47] for a period of five years. Per the results of the elections on 11 October 2009, all 20 seats were occupied by members of theUnited Russia party. The Council of Deputies is headed by the head of the municipality, who is elected by deputies from among its members, also for a period of five years. On 20 October 2009, Gennady Alekseyevich Orlov was elected as head of the municipality.[48] Since September 2014, the position of head of the Vyborg District Municipal District of the Leningrad Oblast has been occupied by Alexander Petrovich Lysov. Also in September 2014, Gennady Alekseyevich Orlov assumed the position of head of the administration of the municipal formation "Vyborg District" of the Leningrad Oblast.[49]
The executive and administrative body of local self-government is the administration. It is formed and headed by the head of the administration, who is appointed under a contract concluded based on the results of a competition for a period of five years.[50] From 2 August 2011, the head of the administration was Alexander Aleksandrovich Buyanov.[51] On 24 September 2014, the post of head of the Municipal Municipality "City of Vyborg" was taken by Alexander Petrovich Lysov. His candidacy was supported unanimously.[52]
Old Town Hall andTorkel Knutsson MonumentTown Hall Tower (c. 1500)
Vyborg's most prominent landmark is itsSwedish-built castle, founded in the 13th century and extensively reconstructed in 1891–1894. TheRound Tower and the Rathaus Tower date from the mid-16th century and are parts of the medievalVyborg town wall. Many of the buildings in the historic old town of Vyborg are still in poor condition today.[53][54]
TheViipuri Library by Finnish architectAlvar Aalto and theHermitage-Vyborg Center are a reference point in the history of modern architecture. There are also Russian fortifications ofAnnenkrone, completed by 1740, as well as the monuments toPeter the Great (1910) andTorkel Knutsson. Tourists can also visit the house where the founder of the Soviet stateVladimir Lenin prepared theBolshevik revolution during his stay in Vyborg from 24 September to 7 October 1917. The main street in Vyborg is calledProspekt Lenina (Russian:проспект Ленина; literally "Lenin Avenue"), formerly also known as Torkkelinkatu,[55] and along it, there is popularLenin Park [ru].
^Chloe Wells:"Vyborg is ours": remembering a 'lost town' in Finland. Paper presented at the European Association for Urban History 13th International Conference, Helsinki, Finland August 24–27, 2016.
^"Избран глава МО "Город Выборг"" [The head of the municipal municipality "City of Vyborg" was elected]. Портал «Город Выборг» [Portal "City of Vyborg"]. 20 October 2009. Archived fromthe original on 27 January 2011.
Законодательное собрание Ленинградской области. Областной закон №32-оз от 15 июня 2010 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Ленинградской области и порядке его изменения», в ред. Областного закона №23-оз от 8 мая 2014 г. «Об объединении муниципальных образований "Приморское городское поселение" Выборгского района Ленинградской области и "Глебычевское сельское поселение" Выборгского района Ленинградской области и о внесении изменений в отдельные Областные законы». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вести", №112, 23 июня 2010 г. (Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast. Oblast Law #32-oz of June 15, 2010On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Leningrad Oblast and on the Procedures for Its Change, as amended by the Oblast Law #23-oz of May 8, 2014On Merging the Municipal Formations of "Primorskoye Urban Settlement" in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast and "Glebychevskoye Rural Settlement" in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast and on Amending Various Oblast Laws. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
Законодательное собрание Ленинградской области. Областной закон №17-оз от 10 марта 2004 г. «Об установлении границ и наделении соответствующим статусом муниципальных образований Всеволожский район и Выборгский район и муниципальных образований в их составе», в ред. Областного закона №23-оз от 8 мая 2014 г. «Об объединении муниципальных образований "Приморское городское поселение" Выборгского района Ленинградской области и "Глебычевское сельское поселение" Выборгского района Ленинградской области и о внесении изменений в отдельные Областные законы». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вести", №27, 11 марта 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast. Oblast Law #17-oz of March 10, 2004On Establishing the Borders of and Granting an Appropriate Status to the Municipal Formations of Vsevolozhsky District and Vyborgsky District and to the Municipal Formations Comprising It, as amended by the Oblast Law #23-oz of May 8, 2014On Merging the Municipal Formations of "Primorskoye Urban Settlement" in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast and "Glebychevskoye Rural Settlement" in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast and on Amending Various Oblast Laws. Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
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