Toijala is a former town and municipality of Finland, located some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Tampere. On 1 January 2007, it was consolidated with Viiala to form the town of Akaa.
Toijala is known as an important railway crossroads. The Helsinki–Tampere and Turku–Tampere tracks meet at Toijala railway station.
Toijala is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality had a population of 8,305 and covered an area of 58.60 square kilometres of which 7.72 square kilometres is water. The population density was 163.2 inhabitants per square kilometre. The municipality was unilingually Finnish.
History
The first signs of people settling in Toijala and other areas of the former municipality of Akaa date back to the fourth millennium BC. Ancient finds in Haittila and Hallanmäki. Toijala was first mentioned in documents as a village belonging to the parish of Akaa in 1460 . The land register of 1539 mentioned that there were 35 houses in the later Toijala area, 12 of which were in the village of Toijala.
Schools and services
The first elementary school in Akaa parish began operations in Toijala in 1867 and Toijala Savings Bank was founded in 1877 . Toijala Joint School was founded in 1906 and became the leading educational institution in 1923 .
Railway
The life of Toijala in the central village of Akaa was revolutionized when it became the intersection of the railway between Hämeenlinna and Tampere and the Turku line , which was inaugurated in 1876 . Toijala station was originally built slightly away from the population center on the border of the villages of Toijala and Pätsiniemi. The old village center of Toijala was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1886 , after which the focus of settlement shifted to the railway station. In 1880, 27 railway clerks and workers lived in Toijala; the corresponding figure in 1920 was already 129. The first branch of the Finnish Railway Association was established in Toijala in 1890 . Lanes were also built from Toijala station to the port on the shores of Vanajavesi in 1927 and to Valkeakoski in 1938 . Most of the harbor line was demolished as it remained under the highway in the late 1990s.
Industry
Thanks to the transport connections, industry also gradually came to the locality. Already in the year of the introduction of the railways in 1876 , the Brewery started operating , which, from the order of the municipality, produced only soft drinks from the 1890s. In 1898 , the Toijala Handrail Factory was founded, whose best-known products were looms . At the turn of the century, Toijala became a major center for the wallpaper industry. In 1903 , the Toijala Wallpaper Factory began operations, in 1927 the New Wallpaper Factory and in 1930Pihlgren & Ritola’s Wallpaper Factory, and for a long time 60 percent of all wallpaper produced in Finland was completed in Toijala. In the 1970s, three of the then six wallpaper factories in Finland operated in Toijala.
Regional and management changes
In 1911, the first proposal was made to turn Toijala into a merchant. The old municipality of Aka began to disintegrate when Kylmäkoski became independent in 1910 , and Viiala also resigned from Aka in 1932 . The municipality of Akaa was abolished at the beginning of 1946 and the remaining part of it was formed into the township of Toijala. Nevertheless, the name of the parish remained the parish of Akaa. At the beginning of 1975 , the area of Tyriseva, about 17 square kilometers, which had previously belonged to Sääksmäki , was transferred to Toijala from the city of Valkeakoski . Pursuant to the amendment to the Municipal Act, Toijala changed from a township to a town at the beginning of 1977.
Neighborhoods and settlements
Hietanen, Jokiranta, Junkkari, Kilsa, Kirkkokangas, Lastumäki, Lentilä, Nahkiala, Paulamäki, Pätsiniemi, Rauhanummi, Savikko, Terisvuori, Tyrisevä, Korkeamäki, Kurvola.
Places to visit
- Toijala wooden church (1817)
- stone box (15th century)
- Toijala Wallpaper Museum
- View art event (summer)
- locomotive museum
- Lake Nahkialanjärvi
- Lastumäki Frisbee Golf Course
- Toijala has the world’s largest mummy factory and the city hosted the 2005 World Championships in mummy eating.
Food culture
In the 1980s, Toijala’s pastries were called fattening and mashed potatoes , or mashed barley
