History of Mikkeli city

The first traces of human settlements in these places can be observed in the area of the village of Ristiina (which is now part of Mikkele municipality), where the Astuvansalmi rock with petroglyphs dating back 4000-2000 years BC is located.

The settlement on the site of present-day Mikkeli is mentioned in the treaty between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic in 1323 (treaty of Nöteborg). The village and region received its current name in the 16th century in honor of the Archangel Michael.

In January 1597, a significant battle of the so called Cudgel (Club) War took place in the area of the village, in which 200 rebel peasants fell on the battlefield.

In 1789, at the battle of Parrassalmi, a couple of kilometers south of Mikkele, a Swedish army consisting mainly of local Finns stopped the advance of Russian troops deep into Savo region.

In 1831, the province of Mikkele was formed with its center in Heinola, but in 1838 our village of the same name became its center, and received city rights in the same year. From then the city was officially called by Russian authority as San Michel in the Swedish manner.

During the Finnish Civil War of 1918, the headquarters of the White Army was located in Mikkeli. The movement of Reds to the north of the country was stopped just 20 km away from Mikkele at Mäntyharju railway station.

Also during the Second World War, the headquarters of the Finnish army (Mannerheim Headquarters) was located in Mikkel. The military occupied the secondary school building for Headquarters and the Operations Department, and set up a Communications Center nearby in the rocky dungeons. Due to the large number of military targets, Soviet aviation heavily bombed Mikkele city, so that practically nothing remained of the pre-war architecture there.

After the war, Mikkele was restored relatively quickly, since it was mostly wooden and one-story. Among some events, the hostage case in 1986 can be mentioned. A bank robber took three hostages in Helsinki, drove to Mikkeli, where the police shot him at place.

Since 1997, Mikkele became the center of the newly formed province of Eastern Finland. In 2025, NATO's Multi-Corps Land Component Command settled in Mikkel.

Impressions

I visited Mikkel several times, both while passing through and with overnight stays, but once I managed to stop here by on a national holiday - the birthday of K. G. Mannerheim, which the Finns celebrate every year on June 4th.

So my impressions are quite festive, since here you have military music in the streets, a military parade, dancing, and you can walk around for fun. Also, all museums are open and free for visiting guests, including the marshal’s personal railway carriage.

All events of the day are displayed in the photo galleries of this section.