Ampialan kartano

Käkisalmi interview with Tapani Ampiala

If the first, unsuccessful attempt is not counted, Tapani Ampiala has made around a dozen trips to Käkisalmi and her/his childhood home, Ampijala Manor.

He has promoted Karelianism from Käkisalmi by nurturing a large collection of movable property and objects rescued from the manor.

Ampiala has maintained the celebration and cultural heritage of Käkisalmi by participating in organisational work, seminars and the organisation of numerous events.

She has been actively involved in the work of the Käkisalmi Foundation, currently serving as the deputy chair of the supervisory board.  

Now retired, Ampiala made his life's work as an earth-moving contractor and in management roles.

Tapani Ampiala's father Aimo Ampiala made a home region trip to Käkisalmi in 1959 and told his son about the journey in detail.

– I remember very well when he set off with three other friends on a package holiday by bus. The journey went from Helsinki to Leningrad, from where they, with a slight command of Russian, managed to talk their way into a taxi ride to Kakhisalmi.

It was then that father first realised the state into which the house had been allowed to fall after the war.

– During his father's time there had been 100 hectares of cultivated fields. Now the crops had reverted to woodland and even the ditches were overgrown with brushwood. In the cottage yard there was a small potato patch in the Russian style.

However, during that visit, the father did not manage to visit the Ampijala manor house.

The site manager's office was in the former bailiff's residence. None of the people present there dared to grant the foreigner a visiting permit. A new visit was agreed for when the manager would be present.

The group set off to look for the other mates' homes, but that came to a halt as well when the road was blocked sideways by a Moskvitch.

– The militiamen checked their papers and then announced that the journey would continue straight to Leningrad. When father asked if it might be possible to visit Ampiala before leaving, they agreed.

The party returned to the manor office.

–         The visitors offered the office staff Western cigarettes. The chat proceeded in all friendliness and the building would be shown with pleasure. The attitude changed in an instant when it dawned on the manager that father was the former master of the house.

The visit came to an immediate end and the manor house was left unseen.

For father, it was a double blow. Afterwards, it transpired that the film in the new camera father had bought for the trip hadn't wound.

Numerous photographs that he had taken of his home region were never seen by Aimo and his family.

Father had set off on the trip with enormous enthusiasm and had to return disappointed. Only later did I understand what the failure of this initial visit meant to him. Among other things, he had been raving that once Karelia was taken back, they would move to Kexholm. Later, he never spoke of the matter.

Tapani Ampiala has no childhood memories of Kakhisalmi, as he was under two years old when he left for evacuation. His first attempt to visit his home place only took place as an adult, in 1962. This trip would also end in disappointment.

– Two of my cousins, Reunasen The brothers lived in Mikkeli and we decided with them to go, just like my father did in his time, on a package tour to Leningrad and from there by taxi to Käkisalmi.

Motivation was increased by the fact that the Reunanen family had left behind five sawmills in Kexholm, the current condition of which would be set out to inspect. Therefore, the sawmill's former chief engineer was taken along as an interpreter.

– In Leningrad, my male cousin suggested that the chief engineer should talk them into getting a taxi to Käkisalmi. The chief engineer flatly refused. We still tried to get a taxi by other means, but it fell through due to our lack of language skills.

Upon returning to the Finnish side, the reason for the chief engineer's refusal became clear.

– Now he dared to tell us, very sheepishly, that while we were in Leningrad, he had been severely threatened that if we tried to get to Käkisalmi on our own with this party, it could have very unpleasant consequences for us.

Finally, in 1989, the border for free tourism from the Soviet Union opened.

Ampiala left with her sister Cloudberry and the bailiff's son of Ampiala, Leo Koposen towards Käkisalmi rural municipality and Ampiala manor.

– We set off from Heinola and the journey continued via Vyborg to Priozersk. Family accommodation and dining at Hotel Korela, the former Hotel-Restaurant Vuoksenhovi. We set off towards Ampiala in the family Moskvitch.

Upon arrival, it turned out that a camp centre for young ”pioneers” had been established by the state at Ampiala Manor.

–         The large halls of the main building, as well as the large rooms, had been divided with light partition walls into accommodation spaces, as had the hayloft. They looked like chicken coops.

Ampiala estimated that there were around a hundred beds in the main building and about one hundred and fifty beds in the hayloft of the cowhouse. A camp dining hall had been set up in the cowhouse.

– We were unable to get any further inside to have a look around. At least we were able to be in the yard and reminisce. I remembered how we had just finished a 60-cow cattle barn there, right when the Winter War began.

Now a picture of Lenin adorned the wall of the cowshed.

– We took photographs and walked around the grounds. Past the side of the manor house ran a river, on the opposite bank of which were small summer-visitor buildings with their potato patches, chicken coops and domestic animals.

Still, the fields had not been cultivated.

The overgrown fields and ditches were a sad sight to behold.

Among the memories of that trip, one must also mention a mishap that was caused by the restaurant food at Hotel Korela.

– The group caught such a nasty stomach bug that about 80 per cent of the party were pretty much laid up. Fortunately, effective medication for the ailment was available at the local chemist's.

Tapani Ampiala's second journey was organised by the Käkisalmi Foundation in July 1990.

– On that occasion too, we stayed with a local family. We went for meals at a restaurant in Norsjoki. The difference from the previous trip was that this time we also got to go inside Ampiala Manor.

The manor house was still used as accommodation for the pioneer camp.

– And then, if I remember correctly, we even got inside the house to see the hundreds of beds in the accommodation quarters. Outside, we paid attention to the greenhouse, which I assume was there originally in our time.

The greenhouse was shown by a couple, the male of whom appeared to be the campsite gardener.

– One glassed-in room was used for growing cucumbers, the other for tomatoes. At the other end of the building was the heating plant. The bailiff gave me a tomato as a souvenir of the visit.

The manor house could be recognised as original from the outside.

It certainly was quite disturbing that the house had later been extended onto the balconies by turning them into enclosed cubicles. More space had been gained that way, but at the same time the original manor house architecture had been ruined.

–          

Ampiala made his third trip to Kexholm in May 1993.

– It didn't differ very much from previous visits. We went to the manor, but also to Kalliosaari, which was a charming swimming spot before the wars and seemed to be during our visit as well. There was a large group of Russian swimmers about.

The destination was also the Orthodox church by the edge of the market square.

– It was truly charming and well maintained. On the edge of the market square there were also stone buildings surviving from the Finnish era. All the wooden houses had been burnt down by the Russians as they withdrew from the town.

Among the stone houses that survived the bombing was that of Aunt Ampiala, the Reunanen house. Now the house operated as a kindergarten. In the other stone house was the land survey office.

Ampia's fourth journey was in June 1995.

– This time there were even more of the Ampiala family as well as Aulis Kaikkonen.

Kaikkonen's father and his family had once worked at the manor.

– As the Norsjoki river was approached, Aulis knew the locations precisely and who had lived where. When they reached the birch avenue of the Ampiala estate, he was utterly shocked by the sight, remembering how the fields had once been situated on both sides of the road and had now turned into a thicket.

The disappointment was understood when one knew how much work had once been put into the fields.

– Aulis described how, when harrowing fallow fields, he had walked behind a horse for perhaps 40,000 kilometres, almost all the way around the world. Aulis had brought along a bottle of cognac, and a wee dram was taken to remember the old days.

Local contacts, friendships and cultural encounters from the trips were barely left in hand.

– If I think back on the trips from this perspective, the estate's current bailiff and his wife were the people we got to know best. They were very kind to us and knew a word or two of Finnish.

Also the director of the Käkisalmi Museum Maria Liihaja became familiar to Ampijala. Liihaja visited the Käkisalmi Festival in Heinola the following summer, even giving a speech there.

Later, when cultural relations between Finland and Russia improved and I was on a trip organised by the Käkisalmi Foundation, we were invited to Käkisalmi Town Hall. We spoke there with the mayor, through an interpreter.

At that time, Tapani Ampiala was a member of the supervisory board of the Käkisalmi Foundation, in his capacity as vice-chairman of which he invited the Mayor of Käkisalmi on a return visit to the Käkisalmi Festival held in Heinola.

– He did promise to come, after all. However, when the time of the party eventually arrived, he had to cancel his visit.

During his visits, Ampiala noticed that old memorials erected by Finns had in many places been damaged or destroyed.

–         At first there were difficulties getting them restored, but eventually, Arvid Lindgren's A memorial, funded by the foundation, was erected in the courtyard of Käkisalmi Church. After that, when visiting the site, wreaths were laid at the memorial.

Although even during the visit of Ampiala's father there might have been no fears among the Russians of Kexholm that the Finns would come to demand their properties back, Tapani Ampiala did not notice such an attitude later.

– When my dad’s group visited Kexholm in 1959 to look at an old friend's childhood home, the residents who had replaced the Finns actually asked whether they were coming back and if they themselves would have to move out. Personally, however, I haven’t come across such questions.

Tapani Ampiala has been involved in promoting Karelian culture in Finland for several decades and the work continues still.

– The influence of having roots in Käkisalmi has been present since childhood. My father was a founding member of the Käki Foundation, established in 1948. As a child, I attended the Käkisalmi Festival in Heinola, and that tradition has continued over the years. Back then, the event involved the rare treat of staying in a hotel and other excitement in life.

The Keksholm celebrations were held in a banquet hall called Kodinsuoja in Heinola.

–         The hall was full of people from Käkisalmi and Karelia in general. Not everyone even managed to get a seat. The festivities lasted two days, if not often three. I also remember the Heinola Music Lovers brass band, which I admired. The clarinetist had dark curly hair.

At the party my father once met Taavetti Komonen, who before the wars had won, among other things, the Boston Marathon.

– Taavetti suggested a running trip to Karelia to my father, saying: ”come on, Aimo, let's run the Petsamo Marathon. We'll leave from Helsinki, and for every ten kilometres I run, you'll run just one.” The lads never did run that marathon.

Certain Käkisalmi festivities remained in Ampijala's memory because Lieutenant General spoke there Aarne Blick.

– I still remember his speech, because he evaluated the Moscow Peace Treaty between Finland and Russia in quite harsh terms. Blick stated aptly that ”the ink on the peace treaty was hardly dry before it was already being violated”.

According to Ampiala, the Keuruu Karelia Society has been very active.

– I have been involved in it mainly as a rank-and-file member. Keuruu is one of the resettlement parishes for people from Valkjärvi. After the war, 2,500 Karelian evacuees arrived in the locality, which meant a quarter increase in the local population. Therefore, people from Valkjärvi also play a leading role in the activities of the local Karelia Society.

Karelians have their own house in Keuruu, where there are all sorts of hobbies. Karelian culinary traditions are also cherished.

– I once asked my father why we didn't join the Keuruu Karelian Society. He just said that they were from Valkeasaari, and we were from Käkisalmi. That was how associations and clubs were organised back then.

The work in the Käkisalmi Foundation has had a special significance for Ampiala. At present, he is the vice chairman of the supervisory board.

This position of trust is an honour for me. Through the foundation, I have gained a truly interesting perspective on Kexholm culture and Karelian heritage. This position of trust involves a wide range of tasks, events and gatherings.

Ampila feels that the foundation's activities have recently become more active.

– Kun Kari Kaikkonen was elected chairperson, things really started to pick up pace. New tasks arise from, among other things, changes to the Foundations Act.

Ampiala supports the development of the foundation's operations within the framework of the rules.

– Profits generated by investments, among other things, must be used effectively to support and continue the cultural heritage of Käkisalmi.

When the border closed and natural contacts with the Russian side of Karelia are now cut off, the work related to fostering the heritage of Käkisalmi is at a new, unexpected crossroads.

It is certain that I, for one, will not live to see the opening of that border. That is why it is important to cherish the heritage of Käkisalmi at home and to support related projects by all possible means.

Methods include the transmission and recording of festive, culinary, and clothing traditions, as well as oral traditions.

– The festive tradition continues well. There is an urgent need to collect oral tradition, as contemporary reminiscers are becoming few.

Awakening the younger generation to continue the tradition is important.

– The continuation of Karelian culture in new generations would be of paramount importance, but is not easy. For the last Käkisalmi Festival, I managed to bring my son and his three small children along. Perhaps they just peeked through the door to see what it was like there. In the future, events that interest young people are needed.

The refugee and evacuee issues that have emerged with the war in Ukraine are burning everyday topics.

When you listen to and read the accounts of Ukrainian refugees, they feel exactly the same as leaving Karelia. Very similar sentiments are in the air.

The current political situation has increased understanding of those once evacuated from Karelia and made younger generations think about the matter in concrete terms.

– I believe that the situation of us who have lost our home region is now better understood and talking about things is permitted. There are quite a lot of Ukrainians in Keuruu at the moment, and local organisations have joint activities with them.

ESA ARVEKARI

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• Tapani Ampiala
  Born 26.12.1942 in Käkisalmi (Räisälä)
  Savitaipale lower secondary school 1958
  Army 1962 pioneer second lieutenant
  Helsinki Technical School, Road and Water Construction, Master Builder 1969
  Has had a career since 1964 as a partner and in management positions at Asfaltti Osakeyhtiö Tietoime, Murskaustekniikka Oy, and Karamurska Oy.
  Companies have carried out quarrying and crushing contracting for the National Board of Public Roads and Waterways.
  Worked as a site manager on the sites of Lohja Rudus Oy and Lemminkäinen OyJ.
  Retired in 2006.
  Married, spouse Riitta Ampiala (d. 2020). Two children and seven grandchildren.