Hanko - Finland´s southernmost port - in the 19th century

(Atlas de Finlande, 1910)

Hanko (Hangö in Swedish), on the southernmost tip of mainland Finland, has been used as a harbour already at least since the fifteenth century, probably much earlier. The commercial port of Hangö became operational in 1873, and the next year the Czar of Russia granted Hangö its town charter (at the time Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Czar). Later on in the 19th century the town became a fashionable summer resort, popular among both Finns and Russians.

The icebreaker Jääkarhu in the port of Hangö (photo from early 20´s)

Hanko was for a long time Finland´s only port which was open the year around (the others hade to close because of winter ice). The beginning of winter navigation between Finland and the outer world dates back to 1878, when the steamer Express opened the route Hangö - Stockholm. In 1878 the Express initiated a weekly sailing from 15 November to 15 May. The ordinary sailing time was 17 hours, but in bad ice conditions, the ship had sometimes to struggle for days to make the passage. In 1881, 1888, 1889 and 1893 winter operations had to be curtailed due to the ice.

At the turn of the 20th century over 400 000 Finns emigrated to America - for 250 000 of the emigrants the  journey began in Hangö.

The Hangö lighthouse

The book, Finland i 19de Seklet (Finland in the 19th Century), published in 1898, included a number of pictures from Hanko - drawn or painted by some of the best Finnish artists of the time.
Here are some of them:

(By Gunnar Berndtson)



(Drawing by Louis Sparre)



(Drawing by Alberg Edelfelt)