It is no coincidence that Hanko has a Mannerheim Street. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867–1951) was officially registered as a resident of Hanko from 1919 to 1935. He owned a villa on the outskirts of the town and also purchased a small café on a neighboring island.
Mannerheim spent time in Hanko during his civilian years and had friends and relatives there who also owned villas. He greatly enjoyed life in Hanko and is known to have said that he had never been as happy anywhere else as he was in his villa in Hanko.
“It is known that Mannerheim spent his summers in Hanko already in his youth and visited the town during his years in Russia as well, as his uncle and guardian, the industrialist Albert von Julin (1871–1944), owned Villa Familiaris on the shores of Plagen,” says Hanko guide Elina Lahtinen.
The Marshal’s cousin, Nils Adolf Lindsey von Julin (1876–1946), lived in Villa Angleterre on Appelgren Street. “The cousin, known as Atte, originally ran a pharmacy in Hanko, but in 1910 he founded the Finnish-English Biscuit Factory, later known as Hangö Biscuits. Atte also managed Bellevue Spa Hotel on the shores of Kolaviken for thirty years and eventually owned it in its entirety,” Lahtinen explains.
Marshal Mannerheim enjoyed Hanko’s social scene and actively participated in its events. He had, among other things, a regular table at the Hanko Casino. He also spent time at Bellevue, which offered high-quality accommodation for spa guests.
“The history of Bellevue recounts that the Marshal’s cousin Atte had a private corner apartment on the ground floor, where Mannerheim is said to have spent Midsummer in 1935. The chronicle also tells a story according to which Carl Gustaf once rode a horse through the entire one-hundred-meter-long corridor on the ground floor,” Lahtinen adds.
A private villa as a spiritual retreat
Eventually, the Marshal fell in love with the beautiful island of Stora Tallholmen near Hanko and wished to own it. The city leased the island to him for the symbolic rent of one mark per year, and later sold it to him for a similarly nominal sum.
Villa Stormhällan on Tallholmen became Mannerheim’s spiritual retreat, a place where he could enjoy peace and solitude. The local newspaper frequently noted General Mannerheim’s arrivals in Hanko, writing for example:
“The General enjoyed the beauty and pleasantness of the locality, breathed in the invigorating sea air, and became tanned by wind and sun. Boys lift their hats in respectful greeting, and girls curtsy deeply, very deeply.”
Mannerheim often entertained guests at his villa. Visits by distinguished international figures were carefully recorded in the local press. In 1927, Countess Mathilde Emilie Francisca Maria von Rosenburg, married to Prince Aage of Denmark, visited the Marshal. At the end of July 1929, Prince Consort Hendrik of the Netherlands arrived.
The Four Winds Tavern
General Mannerheim also owned a café in Hanko located on the island next to his villa. Its original name was Lilla Tallholmen, and it was founded around 1900. Around 1908 it was renamed Café Africa. During the Prohibition era (1919–1932), it is said that “strong tea” was served there.
According to tradition, Mannerheim was disturbed by the lively atmosphere of the café, which led him to purchase it in 1927. He transformed the café following the model of a French country restaurant. Blue-and-white checkered textiles and matching faience tableware were imported from France; the chairs were dark-stained with rope-woven seats. Each table had small brass service bells resembling Rococo dolls. Candles adorned the walls, reed mats covered the floors, and red geraniums filled the windows.
The café was renamed The House of the Four Winds. Instead of “strong tea,” “English five o’clock tea” was now served. The café had its own coffee blend and cake recipes, and tea was imported from Great Britain.
According to legend, Mannerheim ate his breakfast every day at nine o’clock at the same corner table. He always ordered the same meal: coffee and a sandwich with an egg boiled for exactly four and a half minutes. Only after the General had finished his breakfast was the café opened to the public. At closing time, astonished guests might see the General himself step in to count the day’s takings.
Mannerheim gives up his villa
In 1931, Mannerheim sold his Hanko villa to his Helsinki neighbor, Mrs. Adele Lerche, for 290,000 marks. In his farewell letter, dated Eastern Park, Helsinki, November 15, 1931, and addressed to the Chairman of the Hanko City Council, the General wrote:
“Since, owing to the increasingly evident uncertainty in economic life at present, I have deemed it prudent to divest myself of my villa property located in Hanko, I have, by the deed of sale signed by me on 31 October of the current year, transferred ownership of the aforementioned property together with the buildings situated thereon to Mrs. Adele Lerche, a widow residing in Helsinki.
Mrs. Lerche’s strong interest in flowers and gardening constitutes a guarantee that the plantings and arrangements carried out at Stormhälla will continue to be maintained and developed, and I venture to express the hope that the city authorities will show support and goodwill toward Stormhälla’s new owner.
In respectfully bringing this matter to the attention of the City Council, I take this opportunity to extend to the council members and to the authorities of the City of Hanko, with whom I have been in contact during my nearly ten-year stay in the locality, my sincere and heartfelt thanks. Respectfully, G. Mannerheim.”
It is said that the people of Hanko immediately picked plants from the flowerbeds after Mannerheim sold the villa, and that seagulls ate the goldfish from the pond. During the war, the villa was severely damaged.
Today, the only remaining structure from Mannerheim’s time on Stora Tallholmen is the kitchen building, which also housed the servants’ quarters. The island now features the private luxury villa Stormhälla, which is also rented out for private events.
Sources: Birgitta Ekström Söderlund, “Mannerheim’s Summer Paradise in Hanko”, Skärgård magazine 2/2015; stormhalla.fi
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