Kaivopuisto (Swedish: Brunnsparken), nicknamed Kaivari in Finnish or Brunsan in Swedish, is one of the oldest and best known parks in central Helsinki, Finland, and also a neighbourhood of about 500 inhabitants where the park is located.
The spa life, the consumption of mineral waters, and sea bathing were fashionable pursuits among the affluent classes of the 19th century, including in Saint Petersburg. The wave of revolutions in 1830 and the emergence of new ideologies alarmed the Emperor of Russia, who forbade the country’s nobility from travelling to the Central European spa towns. Several businessmen in Helsinki, led by industrialist Henrik Borgström, saw an opportunity in this restriction and in 1834 founded a joint-stock company to create a spa resort in the area now known as Kaivopuisto.[1]
In 1837, regular steamship traffic was launched between Saint Petersburg, Tallinn, and Helsinki. All three cities belonged at that time to the Russian Empire. The route was particularly attractive to wealthy residents of Saint Petersburg, for whom Helsinki represented a suitably exotic yet still domestic destination.[1]
The Kaivopuisto Spa opened in 1838. Its centerpiece was the Kaivohuone (Spa House), where visitors drank mineral waters according to medical prescriptions. There was no natural spring on site; instead, the mineral waters were supplied by chemist Victor Hartwall’s factory. By the shore stood the Sea Spa, offering therapeutic baths and wading in the sea within sheltered bathing houses. Between treatments, guests strolled through the spa park, which had been laboriously landscaped over the rugged coastal rocks. Evening entertainment featured concerts and balls held at Kaivohuone. Villas were erected on the eastern cliffs of Kaivopuisto to accommodate visiting spa guests. Kaivopuisto became an enormous success, drawing refined visitors from Saint Petersburg and the Baltic provinces.[1]
Villa Rauhaniemi.
The immensely wealthy Russian princess Zinaida Yusupova, a member of the Yusupov family, established, in keeping with the fashion of the time, an English-style landscape garden on a 3.5-hectare plot she had leased. In 1844, a large four-story villa, Villa Rauhaniemi, was also built in Kaivopuisto. From its balconies and spacious roof terrace, there were fine views of the sea and the islands of Suomenlinna.[2]
Of the original spa district villas, only two remain today: Kalliolinna and Villa Kleineh. After Finland attained independence, the area also became popular among foreign embassies.[1]
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Kaivopuisto was thoroughly redesigned into a public landscape park reflecting the ideals of the age. Open views reaching to the sea, scenic outlooks, and broad lawns that hosted celebrations and events invited the middle class to enjoy leisure time there. The first children’s playground in Finland was built in the park. As the culture of public recreation gradually relaxed, Kaivopuisto became a cherished site for children’s winter sledding and skiing.[1]
Kaivopuisto offers several hectares of parks, both on flat ground, and on cliffs. The park also includes traces of stone fortifications built in the 18th century. Every summer, thousands of Helsinkians come to Kaivopuisto to sunbathe, to have picnics, or to hold sport. The largest hill in the park is a favoured slope for tobogganing during the winter.
The height of Kaivopuisto's popularity is on Vappu day (1 May), immediately after the preceding Walpurgis Night celebrations in the city centre. On Vappu, Kaivopuisto is packed with tens of thousands of Helsinkians, who come to have a picnic with their friends and families. Fanciful costumes, loud music, and excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is the routine for a Vappu picnic. It is customary for all attendants who have graduated from the Finnish matriculation exam to wear their student caps at the picnic. A yellowed student cap is taken as a sign of prestige.
Since the mid-1970s, it has been common to hold a few concerts in the park during the summer, with classical music, but more often pop and rock music, and usually featuring Finnish artists.
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