Hietaniemi Cemetery

For the adjoining beach, see Hietaniemi Beach.
Hietaniemi cemetery
Hietaniemi cemetery
Map
Details
Established1829
Location
Lapinlahti, Länsisatama, Helsinki
CountryFinland
Coordinates60°10′10″N 024°55′04″E / 60.16944°N 24.91778°E / 60.16944; 24.91778
TypePublic
Owned byFederation of Evangelical Lutheran Parishes in Helsinki
Websitehelsinginseurakunnat.fi
Find a GraveHietaniemi cemetery
An aerial photograph of the section in the cemetery where soldiers killed in the Second World War are buried

The Hietaniemi cemetery (Finnish: Hietaniemen hautausmaa, Swedish: Sandudds begravningsplats) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state funeral services and is owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Established in 1829, the cemetery includes a large military cemetery section for soldiers from the capital fallen in the wars against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany: in the Winter War (1939–1940), the Continuation War (1941–1944) and the Lapland War (1944–1945). In the centre of the military cemetery are the tombs of the unknown soldier and Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim, commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces during World War II, and the sixth president of Finland (1944–1946).[1] Other notable sections of the cemetery are the cemetery of the Finnish Guard, the Artist's Hill and the Statesmen's Grove. There are two Lutheran funerary chapels and a crematorium at the area.

Hietaniemi means "sand cape" and is a headland located centrally in Helsinki.

Description

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The cemetery is partly located at a promontory, and partly directly adjacent to the Hietaniemi Beach.

The cemetery is a popular tourist attraction, especially amongst Finns visiting the graves of relatives fallen in wars or the graves of the many famous Finns buried there since the 1820s.

Four other cemeteries are also located at the greater cemetery district of Hietaniemi: the Helsinki Jewish cemetery, the Helsinki Islamic cemetery, the Helsinki Orthodox cemetery and the cemetery of the St. Nicholas Orthodox Parish.

In the 2010s, it was confirmed that an extensive catacomb network was located beneath the Orthodox cemetery.[2][3][4]

Notable interments

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Grave of Zacharias Topelius
See also: Category:Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Heikki Meinander: City of the Dead
  2. ^ IS: Helsingin katakombiverkosto hämmästyttää: Maanalaisia portaikkoja ja perheiden hautahuoneita (in Finnish)
  3. ^ YLE: Hautausmaa kätki salaisuuden – muinaisten hautaholvien verkosto paljastui sattumalta (in Finnish)
  4. ^ Kotimaa: Helsingin hautausmaalta varmentunut jo 20 katakombia (in Finnish)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hietaniemi cemetery.
  • Hietaniemi cemetery (in Finnish)
  • Hietaniemi cemetery at Find a Grave
  • * "Famous Estonians and the Friends of Estonia at Hietaniemi" (in Estonian). May 25, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
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