Finland isn't the kind of country you expect to be teaming with blue-blooded aristocrats. But there are thousands. Oulu even has something close to one.
Finlands Riddarhus
Many Finns take pride in how egalitarian their country is with some saying things like, 'We don't have an aristocracy in Finland.' Others assert that there is a 'kind of aristocracy' composed of wealthy 'Swedish-speakers'. But neither of these statements seems to be true.
'There are 6000 Finnish nobles' explains Lord Johan Grotenfelt of the Finnish House of Nobility. 'About 4000 live in Finland and of those I would say approximately 40 percent are Finnish-speakers, 50 percent are Swedish-speakers and the rest speak some other language.'
Lord Grotenfelt is an 'untitled nobleman' ('Adlig') which seems to roughly translate as 'Lord.' He works at the 'Finnish House of Nobility' in Helsinki.
Until 1906, Finland was governed by a Parliament made-up of four 'Estates' - 'The House of the Nobility', 'The House of Clergy', 'The House of Burghers' and 'The House of Peasants.' When it was part of Sweden (until 1809) Finnish nobles sat in the Swedish House of Nobility. Under Russian rule, Finland had its own separate 'Diet' of the Estates which the Tzar would consult if he felt like it. Like the Swedish king, the Tzar had the power create nobles. The head of the each noble family would represent their family in the Diet.
'We recognise someone as noble if they have an ancestor who was given a noble title either by the Swedish King or the Tzar and they are a descendant through any male line,' explained Grotenfelt. To count, the ancestor, after having been given the title, had to be formally 'introduced' to the House of Nobility
'About 2 thirds of the nobles were created by the Kings of Sweden,' remarks Grotenfelt, 'and about one third by the Tzar.' This, he claims, at least partly explains why fewer than might be expected are Swedish-speaking.
Unlike in many countries, in Finland any descendent of someone given a title through any male line is 'noble' and, in almost all cases, is allowed to use the family title. A daughter would remain, for example, a 'Countess' until she got married but if she doesn't marry a noble then her children are not 'noble.'
'There are a few titles where it doesn't work like that. For example, the eldest son is a 'Count' but everybody else is a 'Baron' but in 99 percent of cases, that's how it works' says Grotenfeldt.
There are five ranks in the Finnish nobility. Furstlig (Prince or Duke), Grevlig (Count), Friherrlig (Baron) and Adlig (Nobleman or Lord).
The Estates stopped being part of the Finnish Parliament in 1906 (when it became fully democartic), the last title was granted in 1912 and the whole system was abolished in 1917. But unlike the other 'estates', the House of Nobility is still going strong.
The House of Nobility is open to people that want to use its library for Family History research. It publishes a calender of the Finnish nobility and it remains a gathering point for Finland's 4000 resident nobles. The House of Nobility continues to 'meet' in a kind of Parliamentary gathering every three years and it has used its current location since 1863. After the meeting, Grotenfelt informs me, there is a 'Ball.'
In fact, the house can be rented out for Balls, concerts . . . whatever you want really. The House of Nobility even recommends certain catering services some of which seem to be run by nobles.
There are also social organisations within the House of Nobility. Count Henrik Creutz runs the Finnish Noble League, which was established in 1925.
'We are very close to the House of Nobility,' he tells me. 'We organise day trips to the countryside for our members and there is a Youth Ball for young nobles on Independence Day.' The League also welcomes any foreign noble who finds themselves in Finland to meet Finnish nobles if they wish to. Count Henrik's league is very cheap to join. 'There is a nominal fee of about 10 euros' he says.
Diana
The House of Nobility's website includes a list of all of Finland's noble families and it's interesting how many are significant in Finland. Finnish nobles, unlike elsewhere, couldn't just live off farming so had to get involved in the army, business and so on. The list includes 'Ehrnrooth' (Adolf Ehrnrooth, who died in 2004, was a Winter War general voted the '4th Greatest Finn'), Mannerheim (one-time President and miltary leader C. G. Mannerheim was voted the Greatest Finn),Snellman (J. V. Snellman - 24th Greatest Finn), Agricola (Protestant reformer - 7th Greatest Finn), von Wright (Finnish philosopher who died in 2003) . . . The list goes on . . .
Finding nobles in Oulu has not proved that easy but the nearest thing the city seems to have is Diana Alfthan. There are two noble 'von Alfthan' families though Diana insists that she is not the same family because her surname doesn't have a 'von' before it. But she is a 'direct descendant' (via her great-grandmother) of Lord Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (Regent of Finland 1918-1919, President 1931 - 1937). Her great-grandmother was the 3rd President's daughter.
So not quite a 'noble' but of quite recent noble descent. 'They even invited me to their family get together thingy' Diana told me.
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