Varkaus is a Middle-Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between city of Kuopio and town of Savonlinna.

The municipality has a population of 20,279 and covers an area of 524.48 square kilometres of which 138.45 km² is water.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Oddly enough, ‚Varkaus‘ translates to ‚theft‘, even though it is not the reason for giving that name to the city. In old Finnish the same word also meant strait, and this city is located in the lake district on straits between two parts of Lake Saimaa. An extension of the Saimaa Canal passes through the town.

History

Varkaus was born in the late 19th century as an industrial community of the A. Ahlström paper mills. It was a part of the municipalities of Leppävirta and Joroinen until 1929 when Varkaus became a market town. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 the town was taken over by the Reds, but because of its isolated location in rural Finland, it was soon taken by the Whites on the Battle of Varkaus 19–21 February. The whites proceeded to execute every tenth Red soldier.

The municipality of Kangaslampi was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005.

Attractions

The historic Taipale Canal area is one of the major attractions in Varkaus. In the area you can see the old canal from the 19th century, as well as the modern one of Finland’s most important canals and the canal museum .

The Museum of Mechanical Music is located in Varkaus . There is also a park named after actor Esa Pakarinen . Well-known sights in Varkaus include the main church in Varkaus , known for its funk style and the largest fresco in the Nordic countries , painted by Professor Lennart Segerstråle .

Another attraction was the Warkauden Klubi , a former civil servants‘ club whose main building was brought from Terijoki in 1876 to Päiviönsaari in Varkaus. The villa originally served as a residential building for the ironworks cartridge and later in 1909–1946 as the residence of the local director. The club was then used as a hotel, restaurant and officials club. The wooden Warkauden Klubi was completely destroyed in a fire on February 27, 2021. 

Schools 

There are seven primary schools in Varkaus. There are schools in Kangaslammi , Luttila, Puurtila, Könönpello , Häyrilä (Lehtoniemi) and Repokangas . In 2017, Päiviönsaari School and Kuoppakangas School were merged, creating a unified school called Waltter School . In addition, a small Swedish-language primary school has operated in Varkaus , but it has been decided to close it.

Secondary education can be pursued at Varkaus High School or at the Savo School Consortium Sakky Vocational Education. Sakky is also responsible for organizing high school education in Varkaus.

In Varkaus, it is also possible to study at Savonia University of Applied Sciences .

Sports Clubs 

• Warkauden Pallo -35 plays men’s hockey at the main league level in the Band League .
• Warkauden Athletes is a more than 100-year-old athletics club.
• Varkaus Tarmo general club – the best known in volleyball in recent decades.
• Varkaus Field Fields – Athletics Club. The club created by the merger of WU and Tarmo’s yu chambers.
• Moonfreeze (bboy crew): 4-time Finnish champion, swedish bboy master -2003, European champion -2006
• Enso Pallo or EPa plays longball in the Finnish Championships.
• Warkaus JK plays football for Nelonen
• Warkis plays hockey in the men’s fourth highest league level in Division 2.
• Puurtila’s Kisa-Pojat plays baseball in the women’s and junior series.
• WJK Juniors Association (WJK) is a junior football club from Varkaus.
• VarU Swimmers of Varkaus
• VUR Varkaus Sports Riders Association
• Keski-Savon Pateri (home matches were played halfway in Pieksämäki. Today the team plays under the name Savo Volley
• Hu-Pa Hukka-Pallo plays floorball in the 5th division.
• VarkUA Varkaus Sports Sports Drivers Association
• Varps aka Service and Companion Dogs of Varkaus
• VarTP Varkaus Workers‘ Ballers – merged with WP-35 to become Warkaus JK (2000) and football juniors to become WJK Juniors (2001).
• Mainarit in Varkaus is a bowling club that bowls in the Finnish Championship. Mainers include e.g. professional bowler Joonas Jehkinen .
• Regional League

Food culture

In the 1980s, castrock , or pea soup , and blueberry bran were named the main dishes of Varkaus .