History

Gustav III

The City of Tampere was established by King of Sweden Gustav III in 1779, on the bank of The Tammerkoski rapids.

Tampere has been an industrial pioneer in Finland since the very beginning. Finland’s first paper mill started operation in 1783, and the first paper machine was engaged at the J.C. Frenckell & Son’s factory in 1842.

The cotton factory established in 1820 by James Finlayson grew to become the country’s first large-scale industrial establishment. The first electric light in the Nordic countries was also lit in Finlayson’s modern production facilities in 1882.

The city’s engineering industry was bolstered by the manufacturer of grinding machines and water turbines Tampereen Pellava- ja Rauta-Teollisuus Oy (Tampella), which was established on the upper reaches of the Tammerkoski rapids in 1861.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Tampere was the largest industrial city in Finland.

Tampere is still the centre of Finnish industry today. Versatile research and education and cooperation between companies and universities have maintained and further developed the competitiveness of the region’s industry.

World firsts

High-tech innovations in Tampere:

• 1974 NMT phone call


• 1978 automatic teller machine


• 1984 bioabsorbable implant (Bioscience/Bionx)


• 1985 electromechanical film


• 1988 micro-chrystallized chitosan (Novasso)


• 1991 GSM phone call


• 1993 analogue Cellular Data Card (Nokia)


• 1994 GSM Data Card (Nokia)


• 1995 walking forest machine (Timberjack)


• 1995 internet phone call (Sonera)


• 1996 Personal Digital Assistant (Nokia)


• 1998 digital X-ray image (Imix)


• 1999 WAP phone and WLAN (Nokia)


• 2001 games and image phones (Nokia)


• 2002 eCard (eTampere/Infocity)