Lapinjärvi Educational Center
Encyclopedia
Lapinjärvi
Lapinjärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
in southern Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
The main purpose of the Educational Center is training for civilian service. Finnish civilian service law requires a compulsory general training period at the start of the service. Civilian service training periods are held 16 times per year and are three weeks long.
As well as civilian service, the Educational Center can be used for other schooling. Institutions wishing to hold schooling periods can rent parts of the Educational Center for the duration of the period.
The center is sometimes called Lapinjärvi legion (fi: Lapinjärven legioona) in Finnish slang.
Location
Lapinjärvi is located in the eastern part of southern Finland, near the cities of LoviisaLoviisa
Loviisa is a municipality and town of inhabitants on the southern coast of Finland. About 43 per cent of the population is Swedish-speaking.The municipality covers an area of of which is water...
and Kotka
Kotka
Kotka is a town and municipality of Finland. Its former name is Rochensalm.Kotka is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of Kymi River and it is part of the Kymenlaakso region in southern Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water....
. It is roughly 90 km away from Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and 107 km away from the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n border.
The Educational Center is not actually located in the main Lapinjärvi residential area but instead roughly 5 km west from it.
History
The oldest part of the Educational Center area is the Sjökulla mansion, built in 1886 although its history dates back to the 14th century under SwedishSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
rule. The mansion itself is not used for schooling but is preserved as a historical monument. Between the 14th and 20th centuries, the mansion has frequently switched owners.
In 1896, the mansion and its auxiliary buildings served as a schooling facility for farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s. The farming school was closed down in 1911.
The current schooling facility buildings were originally built in 1936–1938. From 1934 to 1937 the facility served as a temporary workplace for young unemployed men who wanted to try their hand at getting employed or re-employed.
In 1937, the facility became a rehabilitation center for alcoholics. This continued until 1939, when the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
forced it to become a base for a military mobile infantry group. After the war ended in 1940, the facility was restored as an alcoholism rehabilitation center, which continued until 1986.
In 1990, the facility became a reception and temporary habitation center for foreign immigrants. The center was closed in 1995.
The facility finally became a civilian service training and general-purpose schooling facility in 1997, when the civilian service training was moved from Vaasa
Vaasa
Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
to Lapinjärvi
Lapinjärvi
Lapinjärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
.
In 2000, one more building was built as a dormitory for civilian service trainees.