The Törngrens’ Laukko was one of the most thriving estates in the Finnish Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire (1809-1917), and a meeting place for the nation’s economic and cultural elite. In the 1820s Agapetus and Eva Törngren engaged the services of Elias Lönnrot – later famous as the collector and compiler of the archaic poetry in the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala – as a tutor for their son. He later became a family friend and spent long periods at Laukko.

 

Encouraged by the lady of the manor, the young Lönnrot noted down the ballad of Elina sung in the nearby villages. It was from Laukko that he set sail on his journeys collecting poetry. Years later he returned to Laukko to sign the final version of the Kalevala, dedicating it to Eva Törngren.

 

From 1859 onwards Laukko heeded the command of Adolf Törngren, an industrialist who left his mark on many sectors of the Finnish economy. He it was that sowed the seeds of such companies as Tako and Tampella in Tampere.

 

In the late 1850s Törngren’s engineering works built a paddle steamer called Laukko that began to ply the route from Laukko to Tampere. As shipping increased, a lively trading post grew up near Tampere Bridge that came to be called the Laukontori Marcket Place.