History of the Raikuu area

 

 

The Raikuu area has been strategically important for centuries. One of the earliest mentions relating to defense equipment is a complaint by Russia’s tsar from 1546, when he told that Swedes have cut down trees ”on Russians’ land in Orivesi and Virtasalmi”. The latter might mean Raikuu’s Virtasalmi, because its place names Vartiosaari (the Guard isle), Linnansaari (the Castle’s isle, nowadays Lintusaari) and Linnansalmi (the Castle’s strait, nowadays Lintusalmi) refer to existence of some kind of outpost. A canal was dug through the isthmus in the 18th century; it was possible to keep watch the route between Orivesi and Puruvesi. During Pikkuviha (1741-1742) there was an outpost in Raikuu and also a battery in time of the Kustaa III War (1788-1790).

 

During the First World War (1914-1918) Russians fortified the east shore of the canal Raikuu being afraid of Germans’ assault through Finland to St. Petersburg. The Raikuu and the Villala village in Kesälahti were heavily fortified during the Moscow peace 1940-1941 and the Continuation War in summer 1944. The first outpost parallel to this was built already in Villala during the Winter War (1939-1940). After the Winter War the 3rd Army corps considered fortification around the isthmus to be important; in October 1940 five ferroconcrete dugouts were under construction.

 

In total six concrete dugouts with trenches and anti-tank obstacles were built along the canal Raikuu. Additionally in the area of the main station Raikuu there are machine-gun nests, fire control spots, artillery emplacements and one cave. in Raikuu the defense basis was made up from the machine guns' side firing net, and additionally antitank guns were placed in concrete dugouts by banks of the watercourse. At the beginning of 1944 the lieutenant general Hägglung noted, that the firing net of well-equipped fixed fortifications was practically perfect.