As I told you earlier Rovaniemi has many memorials from the WWII 1939-1944 due to the fact that the war has had a great impact on what Rovaniemi is today. I will show you some of them here.
The Brothers in Arms Chain -statue is a memorial to the Swedish and Norwegian volunteers, who fought for Finland during the Winter War in 1939-1940. The statue is made by the Swedish sculptor Oscar Reutersvärd (1915-2002) in 1964, and stands in the Park on Pohjolankatu in Rovaniemi. It is amazing how strongly the enormous chain is put together and stands still.
The “Monument to the Reconstruction of Lapland 1944-1955” is a symbol for how Rovaniemi has risen from the ashes after being burnt down by the German soldiers in 1944, to the town it is today; a young and dynamic city. The sculptor Kari Huhtamo was born in 1943 in Rovaniemi. He has made more than 40 public works all over Finland and is also well-known abroad and even in Russia. This statue is made of clear stainless steel in 1977. At the time the statue was brought to Rovaniemi the inhabitants were a bit critical to it and it got a nick-name: the pigeons’ radar. I think this piece of art is beautiful and you can find it near the railway station in the slope between Ratakatu and Pohjolankatu, where it gives a very nice welcoming to the arriving guests of Rovaniemi.
Kati Huhtamo has also made the smaller work “Antinkulma” on the wall of Rovakatu 32. This he made in 1986. I have always thought this piece of art reminds me of a human face profile. But the explanation is that it is a symbol of abstract and non-material reality.
An artist with more realistic looking works is the Finnish sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen (1894-1966). He has used granite in many of his works. As Wäinö Aaltonen himself has experienced the wars WWI and WWII himself they have influenced him to do memorials of the wars. After the Peace as many other sculptors of Finland he got a lot of orders to make memorials to public places all over the country. On the cemetery of Rovaniemi stands his statue Pro Patria as a symbol for the 604 fallen soldiers from Rovaniemi in the war 1939-1945.
The graphic designer and heraldic Olaf Eriksson (1911-1987) has designed the memorial of the “6th Division” during the war in 1941. The memorial of quartzite stone was risen 1981 at Valtakatu in Rovaniemi.
A memorial of the peace in 1917 is the stone work “Broken Irons” (my own translation) of Ensio Seppänen (1924-2008). He was born in Kemijärvi in Lapland. The work from 1981 symbolizes the obtained freedom from Russia and is a memorial of the Jaeger movement in Finland at that time. The stone in the middle symbolizes the independent Finland rising and separating from Russian dominion. It stands in Jääkäripuisto in Rovaniemi at Lapinkävijäntie.
In my next chapter – part 3 – I will tell you about the female sculptors who have their works standing in Rovaniemi and also about the pieces of art at the Administrative Center of Rovaniemi.
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To my surprise (and much more…!) I read here that The Brothers in Arms Chain Statue – Memorial to the Nordic Volunteers during the Winter War 1939-40 in Rovaniemi is made by a certain B Lissegårdh.
That is totally incorrect and misleading! My father Oscar Reutersvärd
(1915-2002 / Swedish Artist och Professor in History of Art) was selected by Alvar Aalto to execute and make this great Chain, unveiled 1964. It’s shocking to read your false information!
I hope you immediately will correct the facts.
Hello Pontus. I can imagine your shocking reaction, when you read the post about official memorials in Rovaniemi on my website. I am really sorry to have caused that. That is absolutely not my intention. I have, myself, taken the picture of the statue, but today I do not remember what name I read on the memorial. I have at the time I wrote the post made reseaches on other official Rovaniemi websites and I found the information on the Art museum’s homepage. http://julkisetteokset.rovaniemi.fi/index.htm . Now, after your comment I will absolutely contact the Art museum of Rovaniemi and check it with them. If they confirm that the information is wrong, I will immideately correct my post. I hope you can accept my sincere excuse for having caused you such a shock. I understand you are proud of your father and definitely do not want his works to be mentioned in the wrong way.// grandma-in-lapland
Hello Pontus, I have now been in contact to Rovaniemi Art Museum. They have tried to do research based on yours and my request. They decided to accept your explanation even though they did not find any official document to prove it right. They found some older articles in the local paper, though, that, in their opinion, confirmed the fact that the memorial was really made by Oscar Reuterswärd. The Art museum has now changed the facts on their home page and your father is now mentioned as the artist of the memorial Brothers in arms. https://cumulus.rovaniemi.fi/rovtaide/. I have also changed the name in my blog. Thank you for your information. Best regards, Grandma in Lapland