Sörnäinen Curve
After the war, Finnish magazines perpetuated the traditionally bad reputation of the area around the curve, Vaasankatu and Linjat. At the time, the restless reputation of the curve mostly resulted from the thousands of children and youth of the residential area taking control of the streets unaware of their own "dangerousness". The homeless shelters and dormitories in the area also contributed to the restlessness. Apu magazine published provocative reports of the Sörkka underworld in the 1950s, but this fell out of use in the 1960s, and only the moonshine smugglers on Vaasankatu attracted media attention. "The restless Helsinki" began to concentrate more around the Helsinki central railway station. The Vaasanpuistikko square near the curve has had a restless reputation up to the 2010s. It has been called Piritori ("Amphetamine Square") in colloquial speech.
Slightly to the south, around the Itäinen Viertotie street (now known as Hämeentie), a group of working-class quarters called Suruttomien villat ("The villas of the carefree"), which were mostly dismantled in the early 1930s. On the second day of the Winter War, five explosion bombs hit the Vaasanpuistikko square, causing great fragment and window damage to the nearby houses.
In 1937, a large building called Perämiehen talo after the restaurant located in it was built on the corner of Hämeentie and Helsinginkatu. Elanto bought the house in the 1950s, sold off the apartments as shares and renamed the house as Hämeentähti. Later the house was called the Kurvi house.
Sources
- Nenonen, Kaija—Toppari, Kirsi: Herrasväen ja työläisten kaupunki. Helsingin vanhoja kortteleita 2, p. 258 and 270-273. Helsingin Sanomat, 1983. ISBN 951-9135-03-0.
References
- ^ Schulman, Harry; Pulma, Panu; Aalto, Seppo: Helsingin historia vuodesta 1945, pp. 209-211. City of Helsinki, 2000. ISBN 951-37-3057-3.
- ^ Ikuisen vapun Piritori, Elävä arkisto 4 August 2015, Yle. Accessed on 9 April 2017.
- ^ Jan Alanco, Riitta Pakarinen: Signe Brander 1869–1942, Helsingin valokuvaaja – Helsingfors fotograf, pp. 9–10. City museum of Helsinki, 2004. ISBN 952-473-335-8.
- ^ ALAPIHA - tarina Kurvista ennen sotia!, Kallioilainen. Accessed on 29 March 2014.