The story
The site was already known by sailors in the 15th century. Petroglyphs from that time are carved into the rock at the Hauensuoli (Swedish: Gäddtarmen, English: Pike's Gut) island.
Hanko has a long history of wars and battles. The Battle of Gangut between Swedish and Russian navies was fought in 1714 in the archipelago north of the peninsula. The battle was the first-ever victory of the Russian regular fleet.
The fortification works on the Hanko Peninsula had already been started by the end of the 18th century, when the Swedish constructed three separate forts on the outlying islands. The forts were taken over by Russia in 1809, and were later bombarded by the Royal Navy during the Crimean War and were eventually blown up during the hostilities by their own defenders.
The city was founded in 1874, soon after the Hanko-Hyvinkää railway was inaugurated in 1872. The Imperial Charter for the city was granted by Emperor Alexander II.
The Hanko area is suitable for quarrying granite, and in 1886 Ab Granit Oy (The Granite Company, Ltd.) began to do just that. Hanko granite was exported worldwide, and was used in construction of the Ateneum, the Helsinki Central Station, and other iconic Helsinki buildings, as well as buildings in St. Petersburg and elsewhere.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Hanko was the port of choice for emigrants leaving Finland for a new life in North America. A memorial statue, showing birds in flight, commemorates this.
In the late 19th century, while Finland was still a Grand Duchy under Russia, Hanko was a popular spa resort for the Russian nobility. Some of the buildings from that period survive, notably the Hanko Casino (which is not a gambling establishment, but a former banquet hall of the spa). It is currently a restaurant. The Hotel Continental (1901) (now the Hotel Regatta) was designed by architect Lars Sonck in the notable Jugendstil style of the time; after falling into disrepair, the hotel was restored to its former glory in 2013.
Field Marshal C. G. Mannerheim owned a café, De fyra vindarnas hus (Finnish: Neljän Tuulen Tupa, English: The House of the Four Winds), which is still popular among tourists and residents alike.
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The Bengtskär lighthouse, situated 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Hanko, is the tallest (52 m or 171 ft) in the Nordic countries. It was built in 1906 and was the first lighthouse museum in Finland.
Soviet naval base
In the Moscow Peace Treaty that ended the Winter War on 13 March 1940, Hanko was leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base for a period of 30 years. During the Continuation War, Soviet troops were forced to evacuate Hanko in early December 1941. The Soviet Union renounced the lease formally in the Paris peace treaty of 1947. As a curiosity, it can be noted that the short Russo-Finnish front across the base of the peninsula on the Finnish side was held in part by volunteer troops from Sweden. A museum has been established at this location, among the trenches and other remnants of the war.
The role of the Hanko naval base was replaced by Porkkala in the Moscow Armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union of 19 September 1944. Porkkala was returned to Finland in January 1956.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hanko, Finland, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5