Photo: Jonik/Wikimedia Commons

Centuries old rivalry between the cities of Helsinki and Turku has flared up in the debate leading up to the decision of the host city in Finland. Fans have been having a sometimes very heated debate amongs others on the forums of YLE and Viisukuppila .

To understand this, a look in history is needed. Turku can trace it roots back to medieval times, when it was the biggest city in what was in fact a Swedish province of Finland from the year 1249. It is often said Turku (Åbo in Swedish) was the original capital of Finland, even though the country had no autonomy during the Swedish rule. Helsinki (Helsingfors in Swedish) was founded in 1550 by the King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden to compete against the Hanseatic city of Reval (Tallinn) across the Gulf of Finland. The original city was located north of the present day city and did not really develop into the force Sweden had hoped.

Russia had a short-lived occupation of what is today Finland twice during the 18th century, after which the concept of Finland as a separate entity became known. As Sweden lost Finland to Russia in 1809, the Russian Emperor Alexander I made Finland into an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire. Very quickly the Emperor ordered the city of Helsinki to be the new capital of the Grand Duchy to diminish Swedish influence in the country. Turku was seen to be too close to Stockholm and too far awy from the Russian capital. Helsinki city centre was moved south to the present day setting and a new administrative centre was built, in a style imitating the Russian capital of St Petersburg. Russia wanted to use Helsinki as their window to the west. From 1812 Helsinki was the new capital of Finland, even if some offices and what was originally Sweden’s second university (founded in 1640) remained in Turku. After the great fire of Turku in 1827 even these were moved to Helsinki, leaving Turku to a rapid decline, while remaining the largest city in the country for some time after.

Today Turku is the fifth largest city in Finland, and what is usually a friendly banter is heard between people from Helsinki and Turku. In the debate of Eurovision some people of Turku have said, that it should not be taken as a given, that Helsinki should get all the major events. The City of Turku has put together a package, where they have detailed their plans for organising the contest. At the same time there has been a total public silence from the City of Helsinki, leading to some wild speculation of this being a done deal.

Some sources on the net announced a few days ago that sources inside the EBU had already confirmed Helsinki as the host for 2007, which naturally made the debate rage even wilder. Also an official EBU website announces Helsinki as the host maybe a bit prematurely As YLE has repeatedly said, no decision has been made and is not to be expected until later, we just have to wait for the official word from the organisers, while the debate in Finland shows no signs of dying.