Published in: Helsingin Sanomat, 19th of August, 2004

- SALPALINJA IS BEING TURNED INTO A TOURIST ATTRACTION

- ALREADY TEN COMPANIES ARE USING SALPALINJA IN THEIR BUSINESS

- THE SMALL FRAGMENTS OF SALPALINJA ARE SUPPOSE TO BE GATHERED TOGETHER, TO MAKE A COMPREHENSIVE PRESENTATION OF THE FORTIFICATION 

- Miehikkälä. Three rows of stones, 1 and a half meters high are forming a single line in a forest. Here goes the Salpalinja. The guide is leaning to one of the stones and asking that how many kilograms one of the stones in the anti-tank obstacle did weight? To save time, the guide answers himself, three tons. One of the people says in the group, that he would have guessed one ton. Well, how many stones are in the defensive line? The people are astonished when they hear the number: some 370 000 stones are erected to the anti-tank obstacle.

- In the Salpalinja museum in Miehikkälä it's hard to get a clear picture how huge the defensive fortification was. The anti-tank obstacles, trenches and bunkers mined into the rock are hidden in the forest and it's not easy to think that those are just a small piece of the defensive fortification, stretching all along the 1 200 kilometer long border of Finland. Salpalinja however is a huge entirety, it still holds the title of the biggest construction effort in Scandinavia. It was constructed secretly during the war time. Small fragments from the fortification line is scattered all over Finland. Now the idea to turn them into a national tourist attraction is developing. The Southern Finland provincial government is financing a project, which is intended to develop the travel and tourist business around Salpalinja. Almost in every borough they have renovated fortification areas, says the project leader. The problem so far has been, that every borough have worked on their own. The project is however trying to figure out, how to gather together all the small fragments from the fortification, so that people would get a clear picture of the Salpalinja. 

- The traveling to Salpalinja started in the seventies when the Finnish defensive force gave a permission to the veteran organizations to renovate the fortifications, which were run over by the vegetation. To that point, Salpalinja had remained a secret and it wasn't allowed to talk about it. At first, the only people who were interested about the fortification were the people who were into the military history, but now even families visit the fortification. Time has passed from the second world war and now it's a normal thing to talk about the different aspect that are related to the war, says the project leader from the Kaakonkulma Salpalinja-project. The mission for the project leader is to turn the Miehikkälä museum into a place, that would gather together all of the information, investigations and tourist services that concern Salpalinja. The goal is that the center is ready in 2010. There has been a lot of request that the work would be coordinated. When boroughs and people work on their own, it doesn't last that long, says the project leader.

- The activities around the Salpalinja has increased in the past years. Already some then companies are using the Salpalinja as part of their business. The Salpalinja tradition society are trying to write a book to the visitors and internet is growing constantly from even more information about the Salpalinja. This is a future target.

NATURE TOOK OVER THE FORTIFICATION 

- The fortification line which stretches from Gulf of Finland to Lapland, is a 1 200 kilometers long. The construction was started after the Winter War in the spring of 1940. The busiest time in the construction was the spring of 1941, when 35 000 men worked in the defensive line. The Continuation War took all of the men to other duties, but in 1944, the construction was started again. As the most strongest defensive positions were build to the area between Gulf of Finland and Saimaa, the defensive line was first called as a Luumäki line. In the summer of 1944 it received it's name, Finnish Salpa and is now know as either the Salpalinja or as Salpa-position. The position is a very descriptive word, as in fact Salpalinja is formed from a many different and supportive defensive positions. 

- The Salpalinja was never tested in a real situation. The fact that it did exist is however thought to be one of the reasons, why Soviet Union wasn't willing to continue the attack in 1944. After the war ended, all of the armament was removed from the line, as well as every item that could be taken away. Left alone, the nature took over the defensive line. The defensive line is still visible in the nature and even in the middle of residential areas. For example in Lappeenranta, the roof from one the bunkers is peeking from the asphalt ground in a yard of one appartment house.