Riihimäki (literally “Drying barn hill”) is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about 69 kilometres north of Helsinki and 109 kilometres southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, railway tracks go to Helsinki, Tampere and Lahti from there. Würth Oy has its Finnish Headquarters and logistics center in Riihimäki. Valio has a major dairy in Herajoki part of Riihimäki. The famous Sako rifles are produced in Riihimäki. Finland’s 2nd highest flagpole is located in Riihimäki.
The town is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The town has a population of 28,740 and covers an area of 125.56 square kilometres of which 4.54 km2 is water. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Riihimäki is home to the Riihimäki Prison, which is with the Turku Prison one of prisons in the country with the highest security rating (A+) and is home to the country’s most dangerous prisoners.
Services
Education
Riihimäki has eleven primary schools : eight primary schools and three upper secondary schools.
Primary schools
- Southern school
- Haapahuhta school
- Herajoki school
- Glass factory school
- Patastenmäki school
- Peltosaari school
- Northern school
- Uramo School
Upper Level
- Harjunrinne school
- Kara school
- Pohjolanrinne school
Pre-school education is organized in connection with both kindergartens and schools. Riihimäki has one day high school and one adult high school . The Hyria school company includes the former Riihimäki vocational school from Riihimäki and the Riihimäki unit of the Hyvinkää-Riihimäki adult education center . Riihimäki also has the Finnish Environmental College SYKLI and the Riihimäki unit of Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK), which houses the traffic teacher training of Häme University of Applied Sciences’ subsidiary Häme University of Applied Sciences. In addition, the city has a civic college , an art school and a music college .
The school activity also includes the city library and the Learning Materials Center. Riihimäki has a two-year study line for those who want to become security guards as adult education.
Health
The Riihimäki Regional Health Center is responsible for the primary health care of Riihimäki residents and the Riihimäki Unit of Kanta-Häme Central Hospital (RYKS) is responsible for special medical care.
Culture
Riihimäki has six museums . The Finnish Glass Museum and the Finnish Hunting Museum are located in Riihimäki . The basic collections of the Riihimäki Art Museum include several works by Helene Schjerfbeck . In addition to the professional theater , there is a youth theater and an amateur theater in the city . The Häme Reserve Orchestra operates in Riihimäki. Other cultural services include city library and annual events.
Transportation
Riihimäki is along the Finnish main line and the Finnish end of the historic St. Petersburg line . Riihimäki railway station is the northern terminus of commuter trains in the Helsinki metropolitan area . It is still an important junction station, the station even though the number of trains stop there fell Lahti direct line was completed in September 2006. Riihimäki passes through the Helsinki and Tampere between Highway 3 and Hollolan and Tammela between the road 54 .
