sign in sign up
<<
Home , Finland Station, Gromovo, Kamennogorsk, Karelian Isthmus, Kuznechnoye, Lake Ladoga

The landscape of the and its imagery since 1944

GREGORY A. ISACHENKO

Isachenko, Gregory A. (2004). The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery since 1944. Fennia 182: 1, pp. 47–59. . ISSN 0015-0010.

This paper traces the correlation between the functions of landscape, its dy- namics under its human influences and the dominant images of its terrain. A great deal of attention is given to – the part of the Karelian Isthmus ceded by to the in 1940. The author considers the consequences on the landscape of population exchange and settlement after 1944, alterations in landscape due to increased recreation, forest protec- tion, the abandonment of agricultural lands, drainage and open-cut min- ing. The conclusions reached concerning the landscape imagery of the are based chiefly on an analysis of texts and pictures from between the 1950s and the 1980s, and the author’s observations and research data. Predominant- ly examined is the perception of the residents of Leningrad (now St. Peters- burg) as being the widest human cross-section vis-à-vis Vyborg Karelia at the period under examination. The radical changes in its imagery during the post- war period were wrought by: 1) great alterations in landscape functions and land use; 2) the loss of historical recollection of past landscapes in the present population; and 3) the strong ideologization of landscape perception during the Soviet period. An integral image, dominating up to now, embodies the principally “recreational model” of landscape development, one which is not completely adequate to the present state of the landscape. During the post- Soviet period, regional imagery becomes more complex and contradictory in regard to the increased transitional function of the Isthmus as a bridge be- tween and the .

Gregory A. Isachenko, Department of Geography & Geoecology, University of St. Petersburg, 10 line 33, V.O., 199178 St. Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: [email protected].

Introduction between the Baltic crystalline shield and the East European plain that is responsible for dividing the The Karelian Isthmus is a territory between the Isthmus respectively into rocky and sandy parts; and Ladoga, lying to the and 3) the shortage of land suitable for agricul- north of the River. For one thousand years ture owing to the broad spread of glacial and flu- at least, the interests of different countries, na- vio-glacial containing a great deal of cob- tions, confessions, landowners and administrative bles and boulders, plus granite ridges and an units were focused right here. Therefore, the ac- abundance of . tual landscape of the Isthmus is quite saturated The Karelian Isthmus also presents a prominent with the accumulated heritage of different histor- example of terrain where the role of landscape ical epochs. function is quite crucial in the creation of domi- Among the peculiarities of the territory that nant landscape images. In turn, landscape func- have exercised the most important effects on land- tion changes in the course of time, conforming to scape development one could mention: 1) out- the consecutive periods of the regional develop- standing opportunities for using water routes such ment. Every change of function will leave appre- as the Gulf of Finland, , and the Neva ciable traces in the landscape, giving rise to a new and lake river systems; 2) the contact zone landscape profile, forming a new visible land- 48 Gregory A. Isachenko FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) scape and correspondingly fresh enduring imag- chukhna. Chukhna was the common Russian es of the countryside. name for Ingermanland Finns (äyrämöiset and sa- This paper deals with the main changes in the vakot) and broadly applied to the Finnish people. Karelian Isthmus landscape during the latter half Until the mid-19th century, this image, expressed of the 20th century and their reflection in the im- by A. Pushkin, had prevailed in the minds of the agery of the territory. The main attention is given majority of Petersburgers when considering this to the territory of Vyborg Karelia by which is territory. Furthermore, Vyborg Karelia (and to a meant the part of the Karelian Isthmus ceded to greater extent Ingermanland, which surrounded the Soviet Union in 1940. Actually it includes the new northern capital) were perceived by the both the Vyborg and administrative ray- townsfolk as the curators of the most ancient strata ons (districts) of the , and part of of the regional history, strata evoking the Finnish the Kurortnyi rayon of St. Petersburg. The total past of this northern Russian capital. Numerous area is slightly more than 11,000 km2. legends about Finnish shamans and miracles, Conclusions concerning landscape imagery in which for many years cropped up in Petersbur- this region are based chiefly on an analysis of de- gian folklore, were also abundantly embodied in scriptions (newspaper and magazine articles, lo- Russian fiction over the first part of 19th century cal lore pamphlets, guidebooks, itineraries, pop- (Spivak 1998). ular songs) and pictures (book illustrations, em- The perception of Vyborg Karelia essentially blems, advertising images). Alongside all this, dis- changed over the last third of the 19th century. tinct images of the territory continue to penetrate Now it was connected with the economic growth daily communication and can even affect the be- of the , the strengthening haviour of people in their concrete milieu. The of Finnish national consciousness, and the inten- author uses his personal observations made in the sification of regional agriculture, oriented pre- course of an over 20-year study of the region. dominantly to the St. Petersburg market. The last Chiefly examined are the perceptions of St. Pe- important influence was railway construction and tersburg (or Leningrad, before 1991) populace as the consequent large-scale recreational develop- the broad totality of people in relation to Vyborg ment of the area. By the end of the 19th century Karelia during the period following 1944. the living standards of the rural population in the region had distinctly improved: the average Kare- lian-Finnish peasant was no longer so poor and A short excursion into the past wretched as he looked during the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. The first For the best understanding of the specificity of Russian guidebooks and itineraries devoted to Fin- Vyborg Karelia development during the Soviet land underscored the cleanliness and prosperity and post-Soviet periods it is necessary to point out of the Finnish villages along the Isthmus. the most crucial events in the previous history of The establishment of the railway line St. Peters- the region, events which had influenced the per- burg–Vyborg–Riihimäki (1870) and also Vyborg– ception of the area by St. Petersburgers as well. Antrea– (Serdobol) (1893), plus mass In a more detailed fashion such questions have (villa) construction along these railways led been examined in certain other works (Isachenko to the discovery of so-called by mem- 1997, 1998). bers of St. Petersburg’s upper and middle classes. At the beginning of the 18th century, when the Vyborg Karelia became the visiting card for the Isthmus and Ladogan Karelia were turned over to whole of Finland for the inhabitants of the Rus- Russian jurisdiction, and just when St. Petersburg sian capital and other great . The absorbing was founded (1703), the territory became practi- reality of Finland began at that time right at the cally a capital- zone. Nevertheless, despite the in St. Petersburg, where all the proliferation of landscape functions such as large- staff were Finnish. This was also the case along scale timber cutting, building-material excavation all the railway line, where station buildings had and the establishment of country estates by Rus- been designed by Finnish architects and engineers sian noblemen, in the consciousness of newly set- in the National Romantic style. Some of these tled Russian population (and in different social buildings can still be seen today. groups), the environs of the new capital were At the end of 19th and at the beginning of the known for a long while as a shelter for wretched 20th centuries, this Fennomania was strongly ex- FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery … 49 pressed amidst a Russian (notably Petersburgian) Population and settlement change creative intelligentsia that was also being stimu- lated by the National Renaissance current in Finn- after 1944 ish artistic life. But it should be stressed that this Vyborg Karelia landscape was being perceived The ceding of Vyborg Karelia to the Soviet Union not only as a pattern of wild (or pure) nature, but in 1940, and the cessation of hostilities in the war also in its intimate connections with the unhur- between the USSR and Finland in 1944 have ried, cyclical way of life of its Back-to-Nature in- marked the most crucial changes in the destiny habitants. These feelings were aptly depicted by of the region over last millennium. The popula- the very relevant Russian poet Osip Mandelshtam tion has been transformed totally: over the course (1971) who wrote: “I always vaguely felt the spe- of a few months in 1944 more than 200,000 Finn- cial significance of Finland for the Petersburgian: ish inhabitants of Vyborg Karelia were evacuated here he could ponder over the questions that he to Finland. People originating from the central and could not think about in St. Petersburg.” northern oblasts of , Byelorussia Such immersion in Finland’s imagery was one and Ukraine became the new settlers of the re- manifestation of the Way to the North, idealized gion. by Russian artistic intellectuals of the so-called This great ethnic change of 1944 has brought Silver Age. In a more realistic context autonomous about an ensuing disruption of the settlement sys- Finland was a European threshold for Russian tem that had developed over centuries. From the democrats and revolutionaries – implanted here end of the 1940s until the 1970s this process was were the democratic traditions and the casual planned and realized under such ideological slo- police surveillance that were not to be seen in any gans as “enlarge the kolkhozes”, “liquidate iso- other territory of the . lated farms (khutors)” and “liquidate unpromising After the proclamation of independence of Fin- villages”. By 1955, newly created collective farms land (1917) and the consequent civil war, which (kolkhoz) in Vyborg Karelia had 50–100 houses affected Vyborg Karelia as well, the state frontier and a respective population of 200–500 people between Finland and Soviet Russia (subsequently each. The isolated houses whose transfer to farm the USSR) became one of the sectors of the iron centres had been considered inexpedient, were curtain. Concurrently with the creation of defen- systematically destroyed. What is more, the fate sive zones on either side of the border across the of a great number of villages was predetermined Karelian Isthmus, and under the influence of the by such factors as their proximity to the new state dominant ideological lines, the fruitful interrela- frontier and the establishment of new military tion between Finnish and Russian culture almost units and artillery ranges. completely ceased. The liquidation of small villages has resulted in In the pre-war period, the leading agricultural serious toponymic changes as well. A new Rus- function of the area peaked. In the creation of sian name was generally assigned to a group of new arable lands, large areas of forest were felled, neighbouring houses (thus small villages) with marshes and were drained, and even the lev- their distinguishing Finnish names; therefore the el of some lakes was lowered. By 1939, the total total number of names assigned during the renam- extent of cultivated land in Vyborg Karelia had ing of the 1940s–1950s villages decreased 3 to 4 increased by 17–18% (according to some calcu- -fold. For example, to the south of Vyborg, the vil- lations, by even more than 20%). It was just then lages of Nuoraa, Tamminiemi, Niemelä, Pukkila the proportion of agricultural activity was at it and Hortana have been united under the common greatest in the history of the region. The forest area name of Sokolinskoje. of Vyborg Karelia correspondingly decreased to Inspection of the data from Table 1 shows that its minimum extent, namely less than 50%. Pre- over the course of 50 years the number of settle- war industrial development, however, could not ments in three volosts (parishes) of Vyborg Kare- essentially alter the dominant agricultural profile lia decreased by 2.5–4 times. If we try to take into of the region. account not only the settlements officially regis- tered by 1939, but also their isolated sectors bear- ing their proper names, the total decrease in ru- ral settlements could be 10 times estimated by the 1980s. 50 Gregory A. Isachenko FENNIA 182: 1 (2004)

Table 1. The decrease of the number of rural settlements in certain volosts (parishes) of Vyborg Karelia, 1939–1989.

The name of the parish Present name of the volost Administrative rayon Number of Number of (volost) in 1939 (district) 1989 settlements 1939 settlements 1989 Kaukola Sevastyanovo Priozersk 30 10 Sakkola Priozersk 29 13 Kivennapa Pervomaiskoe Vyborg 47 12

Throughout the post-war period such “sponta- The new functions of territory and neous” migration took place from the villages (particularly from those where there were no landscape alterations schools, shops or reliable communications) into the cities and new urban settlements. Since 1940, The new settlers in Vyborg Karelia had land-man- the number of in Vyborg Karelia has in- agement experience (notably an agricultural one), creased from two (Vyborg and Käkisalmi) to sev- not quite suitable for local environmental condi- en. Urban status has been given to the settlements tions. The inheritance of the agricultural traditions with reconstructed or newly created industrial of Karelian Finns was not altogether possible due enterprises: pulp and paper mills ( – to the kolkhoz-sovkhoz system based on such cor- former Enso, – Antrea, Sovetskiy nerstones as the enlargement of fields and remak- – Johannes), hydroelectric power stations (Le- ing of the old drainage network. Landscape struc- sogorskiy – Jääski), and war industries or similar ture, characterized by high local contrasts and a features. Over the same period numerous “agro- modest average size of arable plots, opposed such towns” (formally rural settlements with multi-sto- a method of land utilization development and rey houses and more than 1000 people) have agriculture on its own. Therefore, Vyborg Karelia been constructed: Pervomayskoe (former Kiven- lost quickly its former agricultural imagery (Figs. napa), Melnikovo (Räisälä), Sosnovo (Rautu), Gro- 1 and 2). The culture of rural life proper to “old movo (Sakkola) and others. Table 2 demonstrates Russia” has not emerged here so far. By 1991 the the transformation of Vyborg Karelia from a rural total proportion of agricultural land had fallen to into an urbanized area over the course of forty between 11–12% of the entire Vyborg Karelia ter- post-war years. The rural population of this region ritory. This process was terminated in the 1970s has decreased more than twice over during this and 1980s, when around 300 km2 of desolate same period. Clearly this process could not have land were cleared and drained for cultivation as proceeded without serious consequences for the a result of the campaign of “complex meliora- landscape. tion”.

Table 2. The dynamics of population (in thousands) and numbers of settlements in Vyborg Karelia, 1938–1989.

Characteristic Year 1938 1947 1953 1989 Rural population 210.0 35.0 76.4 95.8 Urban population 79.4 45.4* 59.6* 179.8 Total population 289.4 80.4* 136.0* 275.6 Number of rural settlements c. 1000 522 – 103 Number of towns 2 6 6 7** Number of urban settlements 0 3 3 4 * Excluding the population of Zelenogorsk (former Terijoki), which was incorporated in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), along with nearby settlements. ** Including Zelenogorsk, which now is part of the Kurortnyi rayon of St. Petersburg. FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery … 51

Fig. 1. The landscape of the northwestern Ladoga coast near Kaarlahti in 1939: (1) Forest, open woodlands, non- drained bogs; (2) Fire sites and clearings (predomi- nantly on granite hills); (3) Meadows and arable lands (predominantly on limnetic terraces); (4) First stage of meadows overgrowing; (5) Second stage of meadows overgrowing; (6) Third stage of meadows overgrowing (small-leaved forest); (7) Paludification of meadows; (8) Artificially stimulated peat overgrowth; (9) Stone indus- trial development; (10) Stone residential development. An- thropogenic sites: (11) Gran- ite quarries; (12) pits; (13) Dumps (overgrowing parts are indicated by point hatching); (14) Artificial reser- voirs. Borders (15) of land- scape sites; (16) of vegetation units. (17) Railways; (18) Main roads; (19) Houses.

Fig. 2. The landscape of the northwestern Ladoga coast near (former Kaarlahti) at the end of the 1980s. Legend as in Fig. 1.

During the Soviet period the forestry of Vyborg on the priority given to recreation. The reforesta- Karelia was greatly changed. Approximately 80% tion of areas subjected to cutting and fires during of the forest-covered area had been included in the war was carried out. A system of fire preven- the first group, where industrial tree cutting was tion using aeroplanes has been developed. In the strictly forbidden. The forest estimate depended near surrounds of Leningrad several recreational 52 Gregory A. Isachenko FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) forest parks (lesopark) have been established. As Karelia over the last 50 years. In 1946 a govern- a result, total forest cover in Vyborg Karelia in- mental decision concerning the creation of a creased and reached 60–65% by the beginning health-resort zone around Leningrad was issued. of the 1990s; in certain areas it approached 80%. At the beginning of the 1960s the total area of The increase of forest area is due to forest regen- this zone was approximately 150 km2, thus trans- eration in abandoned arable lands; the percent- forming the region into one of the largest recrea- age of the loss of cultivated land is estimated in tional territories of USSR-wide significance. The different parts of the region to be from 30 to 60%. health-resort zone included in particular the The establishment of a regime of forest protec- coastal area of the Gulf of Finland between Sol- tion on the Karelian Isthmus has been instrumen- nechnoje (former Ollila) and Smolyachkovo (Lau- tal in the active manifestation of natural dynamic taranta), i.e. the recreational core of the region at trends in forest vegetation. Thus, forest regenera- the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th centu- tion, stimulated by the wartime fires, has now re- ries. One former settlement, Terijoki, was trans- sulted in a predominance of 40–50 year pine formed into the of Zelenogorsk, now the stands on broad areas of sandy plain. In the ab- unofficial health-resort capital of the region. sence of fire and in conjunction with pine, spruce The Soviet recreational development of Vyborg regenerates most actively, subsequently supplant- Karelia followed a fast pace and was not limited ing the pine in timber stand. In consequence of only to the Gulf of Finland coastal area. From the this process, the share of spruce forest in the to- beginning of 1950s to the end of 1980s, the total tal forest-covered area of the Karelian Isthmus in- number of recreational institutions had increased creased from 21% in 1948 to 29% in 1983 and by more than 10 times. By the end of 1980s, there actually continues to rise. The share of the pine were 175 sanatoriums, rest homes, guest houses, woods, on the other hand, fell from 63 to 51% tourist centres, 55 camps for hunting and fishing, during the same period. The presence of alder and approximately 130 pioneer camps and sum- groves has been somewhat greater in recent dec- mer kindergartens in Vyborg Karelia. Establish- ades due to forest growth on abandoned fields ments, enterprises, and high schools preferred to and meadows. construct their resort facilities directly in Vyborg Bog drainage has also been a significant factor Karelia. The shores of the Vuoksi and other large in landscape change in Vyborg Karelia after 1944. lakes in the Isthmus have become dotted with rec- By the end of the 1980s, the total area of drained reational institutions. Simultaneously , ski- bogs and mires (completely or partially) had ex- ing, boating and bicycle tourism have been ac- tended to about 75 km2. Whereas the main goal tively promoted. of bog drainage before 1940 had been the en- Along with the building of state recreational largement of agricultural area, drained bogs and institutions (so-called organized recreation) from mires were mainly intended for forest growth and the beginning of 1950s, a great number of land peat excavation during the Soviet period. plots have been allotted for individual (es- The current aspect of the Vyborg Karelia land- pecially for gardening). Since the 1970s a wave scape cannot be visualized without a great of townsfolk-gardeners has accompanied the number of granite quarries and sand pits. Using flood of genuine leisure-seekers or tourists. The topographic maps of the territory (issued in the cultivation of individual gardens became compen- 1970s), we counted more than 30 operating open sation of a kind for the partial loss of the agricul- pits within a square of over 10 hectares each. tural functions in the Karelian Isthmus. It is no Only few of them were inherited from the Finn- exaggeration to say that for hundreds thousands ish period, but were subsequently extended (e.g. of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) residents of the ages Kavantsaari and Antrea to the northeast of Vy- of 40–80, the older generation, the image of the borg). Every large quarry or sand pit with its at- area is intimately connected with their activity on tendant dumps, precipitation tanks, logistical the famed 600 square meters (the standard size roads, and crusher enterprises modifies irreversi- of the individual land plot). bly and unrecognizably the nearby landscape to In the middle of 1990s, the total area of col- the several square kilometres or even more (see lective gardens along the Karelian Isthmus was Figs. 1 and 2). estimated at about 200 km2, including about Without exaggeration, we can determine rec- 100 km2 in Vyborg Karelia. The largest concentra- reation as being the prevailing function of Vyborg tion of gardens, possessing an area of more than FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery … 53

5 km2 each, is located near Roshchino (former were regarded as “ancient Russian towns”. Raivola), Gor’kovskoye (Mustamäki), and Sosnovo The role of in the development of the (Rautu). Over the summer period each large col- Karelian Isthmus was at least briefly covered by lective garden concentrates a population compa- popular publications, but the Finnish past of Vy- rable to that of a small town. On the one hand, borg Karelia was passed over in silence, particu- the cumulative effect of such collective garden- larly concerning the events of the 20th century. ing in the landscape results in the transformation For example, the texts of certain popular books of unproductive forest and bog sites into cultivat- and brochures did not even make it clear with ed and drained lands, bringing about a change in whom the USSR was at war with on the Karelian the local hydrographic network. On the other Isthmus in the years 1939–1940 and 1941–1944. hand, this mode of land use leads to the fragmen- Such vagueness was clearly dictated by the spe- tation of the landscape into numerous identical cial character of post-war Soviet-Finnish relations. cells and, in general, an increases the monotony The impact of geographical names on the im- of the area. agery of the territory is difficult to overestimate. Recreational needs on the Karelian Isthmus From 1948 to the middle of 1950s the total trans- come into conflict with the goals of nature con- formation of the toponymy of Vyborg Karelia was servation. The network of protected areas is rep- completed. Its aim was to eradicate the Finnish resented by six regional complex reserves (zaka- provenance of the names of settlements, rivers, znik), two hydrological reserves, one botanical lakes, bays and even bogs and mires. Only about reserve, one zoological reserve and eight natural ten Finnish names of railway stations have sur- monuments. Most of them are located in Vyborg vived (Kanneljärvi, Myllypelto among others). Karelia, occupying less than 5% of its territory. The The new geographic names in Vyborg Karelia low status of the existing protected areas cannot belong to three main categories: 1) in memory of provide any real control over activities carried out soldiers and officers of Soviet Army killed on the in their territory, and correspondingly to attain the Karelian Isthmus during 1941–1944: Simagino goals of nature protection. It is notable that dur- (former Joutselkä), Larionovo (Norsjoki), Tsve- ing the Soviet period not less than one third of lodubovo (Kauko-Lempiälä) etc.; 2) ideologically Vyborg Karelia was included in the frontier zone, coloured names: Lake Komsomolskoje (former and thus limited access to this territory proved to Kiimajärvi), Lake Pionerskoje (Kuolemajärvi), be indirectly beneficial for natural landscape con- Leninskoje (Haapala) etc.; and 3) neutral “land- servation. scape” names such as Berezovo (former Pukinnie- mi, from Russian bereza – birch), Lugovoje (Sa- apro, from Russian lug – meadow), Ozerki Ideological influence on imagery (Seivästö, from Russian ozerko – little lake) etc. It is interesting to note that many toponyms of the How have such essentially altered functions of the third type present a calque from Finnish names: landscape influenced the imagery of Vyborg Kare- Sosnovyi Island on Lake Ladoga (former Män- lia during the last half of the 20th century? Un- tysaari, both meaning ’pine island’), Bolshoi Ber- doubtedly, influences until to the beginning of ezovyi, an island on the Gulf of Finland (Koivis- 1990s were brought about under greatest pressure tonsaari, meaning ’birch island’) and numerous from Soviet Communist ideology. These main others. points of ideological pressure concerning land- Such manipulations of geographic names, scape imagery formation should be noted: along with the absence of guardians of historical 1) Inculcation of the idea of Vyborg Karelia as memory, the scarcity of reliable information con- primordial Russian countryside. Of course, the cerning the history of the region and the falsifica- ancient settlement of the region by was tion of the overview of certain periods, have en- acknowledged, but in so doing the peaceful co- hanced the fairly easy inculcation of ideological existence of Karelians and Slavic people (not al- clichés among the core of the present inhabitants ways supported by historical data) was nonethe- of Vyborg Karelia and Leningrad residents as well. less strongly underlined. Vyborg, founded by the To a large extent the image of “a landscape with- Swedes in 1293, and Priozersk (former Korela, out previous population and culture” was adopt- Kexholm, Käkisalmi – also was established by the ed, where only local peculiarities might be of in- Swedes, soon to be taken over by Novgorodians) terest. These notions were no obstacle to the pre- 54 Gregory A. Isachenko FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) dominantly recreational and touristic develop- Dominant images and their ment of the territory. On the other hand, the pre- correlation with the actual landscape ceding centuries-old experience of land cultiva- tion was not only ignored but was employed to Now we can point out the outstanding elements explain away “failures” in post-war agriculture of landscape, employing the image of the land- along the Karelian Isthmus. scape of Vyborg Karelia of the 1950s–1980s, 2) The sacralization of memorial sites of V. Len- based in the analysis of the appropriate texts and in on the Karelian Isthmus. A section entitled recent toponyms of the area. The majority of epi- “Lenin sites” was obligatory in all guidebooks thets are related to forest, indicating its prime role concerning the region and, as a rule, was the in the actual landscape: “enormous”, “stretching prime subject of appropriate publications. The to the horizon”, “evergreen”, “dark-green neck- places where Lenin “hid from the Bourgeois Pro- lace”, “picturesque”, “majestic”, “sublime”, visional Government of Russia in 1917” (e.g. Jal- “mighty”, “powerful”, “dense”, “thick”, “difficult kala near Terijoki, present Iljitchevo) were in the to traverse”, “venerable” (age-old), “primordial”, 1960s–1970s transformed into monumental me- “virgin”, “severe”, “thoughtful”, “misty”, “wonder- morial ensembles with exhibition pavilions, con- ful”. The most mentioned tree is pine: “powerful ference-halls, bus parks etc. Such hypertrophied pines”, “gigantic pines”, “rustle of pines”. Spruce, accentuation of “Lenin’s sites, dear to all progres- birch and larch (the latter is artificially grown) sive mankind” (a typical cliché from Soviet pub- appear in texts much more rarely, and aspen and lications of 1960s–1980s) determines the overall alder are almost never mentioned. perversion of the cultural heritage of the Karelian No less important place in the creation of the Isthmus, and Vyborg Karelia in particular. Places landscape imagery belongs seemingly to the fea- connected with Finnish figures (writers, artists, tures of inland lakes of the Isthmus: “extremely composers etc.) practically remained without picturesque”; “blue spots”; “light, quiet wood mention. lakes”; “mirror-like, calm surface of boundless 3) The creation of a virtual sphere of USSR-wide lakes”; “endless extent of lakes”; “small but very health resorts replete with the of the beautiful lakes”; “Lake Krasavitsa” (means “beau- Communist Party’s care of the Soviet working peo- ty”, there are several expressions for such topo- ple’s health. Thus, pictures of newly constructed nyms); “countless islands and islets”; “labyrinths sanatoria and guest houses, happy health-resort of islands”; “chains of islands”; “woody islands”; visitors, tourists with backpacks and kayaks fig- “rocky islands”; “little bays overgrown by tender- ured prominently in the publications from the end green reeds”. Such integrated definitions such as of the 1950s to the 1970s. “the land of lakes” and “land of blue lakes” ap- 4) The promotion of Soviet economic achieve- pear very often. The coasts of Lake Ladoga, which ments in the region, especially those of reorgan- is the largest lake in , are depicted in a ized socialist agriculture. The itineraries of the more severe tone: “long and narrow bays (gulfs), 1950s–1960s abound with recommendations to resembling Norwegian fjords”; “granite cliffs”; visit collective and Soviet farms (kolkhoz and “coasts, reared over by granite hills”; “sheer sovkhoz), fur farms, machine and tractor stations, walls”. The shore of the Gulf of Finland is de- new hydroelectric power stations, plants and fac- scribed as a contrast to the Lake Ladoga coast: tories. Every adjustment to Communist Party pol- “sea surf”, “sparkling surface”, “Laskovyi (‘caress- icy was peculiarly reflected. For example, a guide- ing’) beach”. The texts pay attention to other bod- book edited in 1962 (Ippo et al. 1962), focuses ies of water, mainly rivers and streams: “impetu- much attention on the cultivation of maize (!) in ous”, “quick”, “vigorous”, “dodging in stony riv- the sovkhoz fields of the Karelian Isthmus. The er-beds”, “thundering”, “whimsically twisting”, idea of maize growing in every region of the USSR “quiet-water”, “green tunnels”, finally – “the was advocated by Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet beauty of Vuoksi”. leader in 1953–1964. Since the 1970s, however, The climate of the Karelian Isthmus is charac- descriptions of subjects of this kind have occu- terized as being “mild”, “salubrious” or “temper- pied an increasingly modest position due to their ate”. The air is “wonderfully clear” or “saturated lack of attractiveness. with the aroma of warmed pine pitch”. Among the different forms of relief most often are named hills, valleys, narrow and steep river FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery … 55 and lake shores, terraces, crests, rocky ridges, As to their stand composition, the imagery of steep granite rocks, granite islands, stony or sandy forests of the Karelian Isthmus, while reflecting cliffs, corridors made from granite rocks, enor- correctly the actual dominance of pine, neverthe- mous granite massifs, conglomerations of granite. less can distort the total picture. The foregoing in- Such geomorphological terms as kames and esk- dicates the increase in area covered by spruce ers are also used. It is notable that bedrocks are forest, along with its proper features: gloom- cited only as the crystalline rocks of the Baltic iness, high moisture content, poverty of plant shield along with sand. The terms “clayey and composition etc. At the same time the Karelian loamy lacustrine terraces” (which is a “gold re- Isthmus has a large coverage of small-leaved serve” of agricultural land on the Isthmus) are woods (mainly consisting of birch and aspen), practically absent. Glacial boulders, a very impor- occupying about 20% of the forest area. This pro- tant landscape element, are always depicted as portion may rise due to the overgrowth of deso- “enormous”; “as though thrown about by some- late fields and meadows. body’s huge hand”; “covered with moss”, “of With regard to the “virginity” of the “age-old” whimsical forms”. woods of Vyborg Karelia, the forest inventory data As to the works of man, the most varied set of of 1983 expressively demonstrates that the total images was specific to the town of Zelenogorsk area of woods with a median age over 180 years (former Terijoki, at present a district of St. Peters- on the Karelian Isthmus can in measured by tens burg): “garden-town”, “northern health-resort”, of hectares. Could, however, the “primordial “Northern Riviera” (also the name of a guest taiga” (more precisely, the term taiga is not even house). mentioned in the itineraries) be maintained on the Considering the correlation between the above- Isthmus if its forest area was reduced to a mini- listed definitions (epithets) and the real (objective- mum by 1939, while protected woods were not ly observed) features of landscape, it should be in existence? At the moment, the region is char- remembered that the quoted features, as a rule, acterized by the dominance of stands of post-war do not bear epithets of negative value, express- generations, i.e. 50–60 years old. ing unattractive aspects of the described land- According to the research data (Table 3), re- scape. Nevertheless we cannot ignore the influ- spectively 71% to 72% of the respondents esti- ence of information of this kind on the “image ar- mate that forest and particularly pinewoods to be ray” available to the general public. the “most expressive features” of the Karelian Isth- For understandable reasons, guidebooks and mus, 20% of respondents affirm the same with itineraries do not concern themselves with land- respect to spruce forest, and only 3% distinguish scapes generally considered unattractive or des- birch woods. As to the agricultural peculiarities olate, such as bogs and wooded peatlands, which of the Isthmus, 83% of respondents regard them occupy more than one third of the area of the Isth- as insignificant or not even present. Hence, such mus. Agricultural lands (fields, meadows, pas- above-cited traits of the Karelian Isthmus land- tures) that take up more than 10% of the territo- scape perceived by Peterburgians in 2000 do not ry, would be mentioned only as featureless very much differ from the image created by the “kolkhoz (sovkhoz) fields”. itineraries of the 1950s–1980s.

Table 3. The results of a survey of the residents of St. Petersburg regarding their perception of the Karelian Isthmus (2000), % of the total number of respondents (50).

Qualities (features) of the Karelian Isthmus Degree of expression (prevalence in the territory) High Moderate Weak Absent Forest coverage 71 29 0 0 Agricultural land 2 15 66 17 Pine wood 72 26 2 0 Spruce wood 20 46 32 2 Birch wood 3 34 56 7 Collective gardening 37 51 7 5 56 Gregory A. Isachenko FENNIA 182: 1 (2004)

The present imagery perhaps most adequately a nature preserve. It is agreed, by following such reflects the abundance of lakes on the Isthmus. a mode of thought, that any economic develop- In this case, however, an enormous number of ment of the region is not only valueless, but also lakes with inaccessible shorelines, surrounded by bad for the landscape. floating bog, will be passed over in silence. Inter- The cultural icons of the Karelian Isthmus that estingly enough, the descriptions of tourist routes were inherited from previous ages are not partic- generally concern the great physical-geographic ularly numerous. Primarily there are Vyborg cas- border between the Baltic crystalline shield (or tle, the main stronghold of Swedes in the region Fennoscandia) and the East European (Russian) until the beginning of 18th century, and the Mon- plain; this border divides the Isthmus into the repos landscape park, created on an island near rocky and sandy parts respectively. Vyborg by the Duke of Württemberg and the Such graphic representations of the post-war Nikolai family – active in Russian serv- landscape of the Karelian Isthmus generally cor- ice. Finally, Repin’s Penaty symbolize the affec- respond to its textual images. The above-cited tion felt by the Russian artistic intelligentsia to- guidebook (Ippo et al. 1962) has ten graphic illu- wards the lonely coastline around the Gulf of Fin- minations, seven of which present “pristine na- land. This tradition was to some extent preserved ture” (with tourists and children in two illustra- in the Soviet period when in Repino, Komarovo tions). Only three pictures contain clear evidence (former Kellomäki), Zelenogorsk there appeared of human activity: Vyborg , a house in a for- the summer cottages (dachas) of Leningrad cul- est and a road with a car. Similar relationships tural workers, and the “Academic settlement”, between illustrations are characteristic of other guest houses for writers and composers. We tourist outlines of the Isthmus edited in the 1960s should point out that the above-named cultural and 1970. Besides the predominant “natural” symbols are not strongly connected to Finnish his- views (usually with tourists), there are the monu- tory proper. Not one of the Finnish churches ments of Vyborg and Priozersk, Penaty (the estate (some ten of which are still preserved, chiefly the of the Russian artist Ilya Repin in former Kuokka- most representative ones) was incorporated into la) and the pier at Vuoksi. the current imagery of Vyborg Karelia due to the By such means and owing to mass recreation, reasons cited above. the “romantic-touristic” image of Vyborg Karelia The post-war mythology of Vyborg Karelia per- as a “realm of sandy plains, rocky hills, thousands haps received the greatest input from tourists, fish- of lakes and pine woods between the Gulf of Fin- ers and mushroom-pickers, penetrating into the land and Lake Ladoga” has been formed over the most desolate places and generally having quite last 50 years. At present the landscape that can wild ideas about local history. When coming be represented by such an image takes up no across numerous building foundations, made from more than half the area of the Isthmus. Moreo- big granite blocks, quite often in the middle of ver, traces of human activity can be discovered the forest, travellers used to take them for the everywhere: from the former meadows, now cov- “remnants of the ”. The figure of ered by dense forest, to the forest fire areas, the Marshal of Finland and former general in the caused by excursionists of the beginning of the Russian army embodied for them all military and 21st century. political figures of Finland before 1945. “Manner- We might even say that the post-war period was heim’s dachas” appeared here and there. A large a time when the myth of primordiality (or virgini- selection of prominent “Finnish” constructions ty) of nature in Vyborg Karelia was created and were reckoned to be in this category (in fact Man- promoted. The ideological background of this nerheim never had his own villa in Vyborg Kare- myth is quite evident: it allowed the denial of the lia). cultural heritage of the “Finnish period” in the “Finnish origin” was even attributed to build- landscape thereby confirming the “Russian pri- ings that were newly constructed during the post- mordiality” of the territory. war years. For example, one long wooden house, The notions of the wilderness present in the built in the 1950s in the area of the field study Karelian Isthmus in particular might serve as the station of St. Petersburg University (near Kuznech- basis for the agenda of extremists of the Green noje, former Kaarlahti), was believed to be a Movement, and even certain biologists, who in- “Finnish spy school” by the local people. Over sist on making the greater part of the Isthmus into the past decade, Finns – natives of Vyborg Kare- FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery … 57 lia before 1944 – have had the opportunity to visit oped on the Isthmus, all with their non-official their birthplaces and to contact present-day in- centres: slalom (–Kavgolovo, Korobitsino, habitants, among whom were those who actively Jukki–Mistolovo), rock-climbing (Lake Jastrebino- developed highly mythologized views relating to je near the border with ), wa- the “ happy life of Finns before the war”. Accord- ter slalom (the Losevskaja stream, former Kivinie- ingly, such myth creation might be considered for mi), and snowboarding (Orehovo–Sosnovo) etc. a variety of “lost history”. Tourists and other categories of travellers played the role of discoverers of Vyborg Karelia during the Soviet period. This rediscovery of the region New tendencies in the post-Soviet by inhabitants of Leningrad – St. Petersburg (and period visitors from other parts of the USSR as well) had a more mass popular character than it did at the The post-Soviet development of the Karelian Isth- end of the 19th and the beginning of 20th centu- mus is extremely contradictory, and even conflict- ry. One of its results, apart from the above-men- ing. The significant change in the geopolitical sit- tion, has been an entire system of “tourist topon- uation of Russia after the collapse of the USSR ymy” which does not agree at all with official ge- caused a need for new seaports on the Gulf of ographic names (i.e. those indicated on the topo- Finland. One of these ports, devoted to oil and graphic maps): the Cape of Friendship on Lake oil products exports was taken into use in 2001 Balakhanovskoe (former Torhonjärvi), numerous near Primorsk (former Koivisto). This new seaport Bays of Tourists, Forgotten Lake, Cheery River, etc. is connected to the centres of oil extraction and The toponymical establishment of a new imagery oil processing by a pipeline, traversing the Kare- of the Karelian Isthmus thus took shape. lian Isthmus (the so-called BTS, or Baltic pipeline Tourism and recreation in the region have con- system). The construction of this project and oth- tinuously evolved through the post-war decades. er schemes of creating new communications The tourists of the 1950s, on foot, skiing and in through the Isthmus not only affect the interests boats, “explored” Vyborg Karelia as exotic mys- of different stakeholders and land-users in the ter- terious ruins, left by previous inhabitants of the ritory, but also open up serious economic contra- country, with overgrown roads and place-names dictions between the Leningrad oblast and St. Pe- in a misunderstood language – in addition to free- tersburg. ly abounding in closed areas. In the 1960s and Moreover, new port and BTS construction is 1970s kayaking and bicycle tourism became very being seriously attacked by the Greens and other popular, more and more private cars appeared on adherents of nature conservation. Since the latter the roads, and the Karelian Isthmus (except the half of the 1980s, with the growth and strength- frontier zone) began to be considered as a “home ening of the environmental movement in the post- training ground” for tourist-debutants. Communist USSR and Russia, the imagery of the By the end of the 1980s, with the construction Karelian Isthmus has been penetrated by environ- of numerous rest houses, the improvement of mental notions of its serving as a kind of “lungs roads, the organizing of bus traffic, and a certain of St. Petersburg”. Stark images of Lake Ladoga facilitation of access to the frontier zone, the ex- perishing from water pollution, and the Gulf of tent of recreational development of the territory Finland being lost due to the “Leningrad dam” had been raised to its maximum. In many popu- were being actively inculcated into mass con- lar places along the main railway lines, Lenin- sciousness. grad–Vyborg and Leningrad–Priozersk, the recre- The other process transforming the landscape ational digression of the landscape has been ap- of the Karelian Isthmus over the last 10–15 years preciable. On the other hand, among “serious” is the secondary development of abandoned vil- tourists the Isthmus was not really highly regard- lages and arable lands, termed the reconquista ed, and it was usually seen as a place for country (Isachenko 1997). Since the end of 1980s, mass walks and picnics. This recreational stereotype building of country cottages has spread every- was in particular expressed in a well-known song where over the area. As a rule, the new cottage of the 1980s with the words: “ I’ll go to Komar- settlements occupy the sites of desolated villages ovo for a week…”. At the same time, other kinds and nearby fields and meadows. The appearance of sport connected with nature have been devel- of these cottages and especially the scale of re- 58 Gregory A. Isachenko FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) lated investments serve to form an enduring im- ents regard the Karelian Isthmus to be “cultivat- age of a “New settlement”. It is notable ed” (lived-in) rather than a “wild” area, but only that this form of settlement is temporary (general- 49% think that the Isthmus “has been settled since ly over the summer period) and, what is impor- ancient times”. tant, it hardly involves inheriting the agricultural The fall of the Iron Curtain has provided for the functions of the landscape. In view of this back- transformation of the Russian-Finnish border from ground, the landscape input of such newly creat- semi-penetrated (i.e. penetrated mainly by Finn- ed farms, following, within certain limits, from the ish citizens) to being accessible from both sides. land-use system of the “Finnish period” has thus Now a weekend trip to or Helsinki far remained quite modest. is not such an outstanding event for an average Due to the post-Soviet economic crisis, the Petersburgian. These circumstances together with Karelian Isthmus almost lost its function as a geopolitical changes – the narrowing of the Rus- “USSR-wide” or All-Russian health resort area. sian “Window to Europe” and Finland joining the The recreational use of the territory, nevertheless, EU – make for the creation of a new image of the does actively continue, being transferred from the Karelian Isthmus. Many residents of St. Petersburg state sphere to the private sector. For practical and other big cities of Russia now perceive the purposes, hiking is no longer seen. Total motori- Isthmus as a bridge between St. Petersburg and zation of the population and the opening up of Finland, and the shortest land route from both formerly closed areas (military sites, sections of Russian capitals to the EU countries. frontier zones etc.) have made the region almost Using the new “” motorway, one completely penetrable. can traverse the Isthmus from St. Petersburg to the Under post-Soviet conditions, the system of for- Finnish border at Torfyanovka or Brusnichnoye in est preservation (see above) does not function in two hours. Taking into consideration that the any full measure. Moreover, certain large forest north-western margin of present-day “Greater St. areas were officially excluded from the most pro- Petersburg” has penetrated into Vyborg Karelia for tected premier group. The operation of numerous a distance of more than 30 km (now reaching temporal forest companies in the absence of any former Lautaranta), the sense of crossing a bridge effective state control of felling provokes serious will be scarcely noticeable in the near future. damage to the forests of the region. Nowadays, every visitor to the forest of the Isthmus has a chance to see quite recent open clearings (i.e. Concluding remarks under the rubric of “landscape clearings”). However, despite clearly increasing press re- We have thus followed the correlation between ports of anthropogenic impact on the landscape, functions of the landscape of the Karelian Isthmus it will be a long way to the utter demolition of over the period after 1944, its dynamic under dif- the image of primordial nature firmly imprinted ferent human influences and the dominant (en- in the minds of generations of tourists and leisure- during) images of the territory. It was established seekers. It seems that for a long period the natu- that while conserving several stable dominant per- ral priorities in perceptions of the area will domi- ceptions, the images of the region have radically nate the cultural values. Nevertheless, the first changed over the last 50 years. Accordingly, es- signs of animation or historical memory have now sential substitution of regional imagery was influ- appeared. We mean here the publication of Rus- enced by: sian periodicals referring to the forgotten past of 1) Change in landscape functions and land-use Vyborg Karelia, the publishing of guidebooks, re- systems; constructing the lacunae of the history of the 2) The lack of a historical memory of landscape “Finnish period” (Balashov 1996–2002), above all of the past possessed by the present population the activities of local heritage societies and asso- of Vyborg Karelia; ciations. These processes are not at all one-sided 3) The strong ideologization of landscape percep- because of the opportunity for contact with Finns tion during the Soviet period (up until the mid- were born in Vyborg Karelia, or who are now ac- dle of the 1980s). tively investigating its history. It is not out of pass- The previous integral image, dominating up to ing interest that a survey of the residents of St. now, principally embodied a recreational model Petersburg (in 2000) showed that 66% of respond- of territorial development and is not quite ade- FENNIA 182: 1 (2004) The landscape of the Karelian Isthmus and its imagery … 59 quate for the present state of the landscape. In the REFERENCES near future, as the inertial pressure of the previ- Balashov EA (1996–2002). Karelskiy peresheek. ous ideological toolbox is decreased, the array of Zemlya neizvedannaya. Part 1, 2, 3, 5. Novoe landscape images should become more complex, vremya, St. Petersburg. and even more contradictory. These processes will Ippo BB, NN Turchaninov & AN Shtin (1962). Karel- be stressed in the post-Soviet development of the skiy peresheek. 422 p. Lenizdat, Leningrad. region, including the conflicts of interests be- Isachenko GA (1997). The Karelian Isthmus and the tween different kinds of stakeholders and land Ladogan area: function and image of landscapes in changing political conditions. In Landgrén L-F users as well as the revival of historical memory & M Häyrynen (eds). The dividing line. Borders through the elimination of lacunae in the history and national peripheries. Renvall Institute Publi- of the Karelian Isthmus. Finally, the extension of cations 9, 113–121. the transition function of the Isthmus serving as a Isachenko GA (1998). “Okno v Evropu”: istoriya i bridge between Russia and the European Union landshafty. 476 p. St. Petersburg University Press, should play a key role in the future development St. Petersburg. Mandelshtam O (1971). Finlandia. In Collected of the territory and its imagery. works. Mezhdunarodnoe Literaturnoe Sodruz- hestvo, New York. Spivak DL (1998). Severnaya stolitsa. Metafizika Pe- terburga. 427 p. Tema, St. Petersburg.