‘WARNING: this video deals with delicate topics, like the existence of allegedly imaginary
characters and allegedly real countries.
It has been certified safe to watch by children of all ages’]
Welcome to a special, festive episode of Geographics.
In today’s exploration, we will visit the location that can officially boast the title
of ‘Home of Santa Claus’, or ‘HQ of Father Christmas’.
And no, I am not talking about the North Pole.
It would make very little sense for the father of Christmas to set his base up there.
Are we talking about the magnetic North Pole, or the Geographic North Pole?
It’s too vague a location, which could cause a logistics nightmare any time a hopeful child
attempts to write a Christmas letter.
No, I am talking about the official home of the Big Man in Red and everything Christmasy:
the Finnish town of Rovaniemi.
The Largest City in Europe Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland, in Northern
Finland, and it is placed just a smidge over the line of the Arctic Polar Circle.
Unsurprisingly, the climate is positively freezing during the winter months.
The average temperature recorded in February 2018 was 13 degrees Celsius below zero.
In the Fahrenheit world, this is more or less Alaska.
[Caption: 8.6 Degrees Fahrenheit] Rovaniemi has a relatively small population
of 62,420 inhabitants, yet the community still encompasses 90 different nationalities, according
to the town’s Tourism Board.
It is not clear if these figures also include inhabitants with antlers or pointy ears.
Either way, this population is spread out over a surface of 8,016 square kilometres,
or 3,100 square miles.
By comparison, London occupies an area of 1,572 square kilometres, or 607 square miles.
You could fit all of Rovaniemi’s population into London’s Olympic Stadium, and yet its
surface area is five times that of the English capital.
Technically, this makes Rovaniemi the largest city in Europe!
Some basic arithmetic tells us that the average population density is only 7 inhabitants per
square kilometre.
Inhabitants here may feel pretty lonely; alternatively, they may also enjoy plenty of space to breathe.
I guess it all depends on whether you enjoy or loathe human contact.
But even committed hermits may feel the need for human contact during the winter months,
and at this latitude, throughout the winter, most of the hours in the day are claimed by
darkness.
On the shortest day of last year, December 21st, the recorded duration of daylight in
Rovaniemi was only 2 hours, 14 minutes and 38 seconds.
I wouldn’t know what’s worse, having to cope with 22 hours of darkness, or facing
the period from the June 7 through July 5, 2020, in which the sun will be up for 28 straight
days.
It will start setting down again on the 6th … and stay down for a full 30-minute night!
I realise all of this is pretty standard for our friends who live around those latitudes,
but for us ‘southerners,’ it’s pretty mind boggling.
So, for those who do not cope well with extremes of light and darkness, I would recommend visiting
Rovaniemi during Spring and Autumn, when “daytime” and “nighttime” appear relatively normal.
Coincidentally, these are also the best seasons to admire the Northern Lights, according to
local photographer Alex Kuznetsov.
The Northern Lights are caused by the interaction of the solar wind - a stream of charged particles
escaping the Sun - and our planet's magnetic field and atmosphere.
As the solar wind approaches, it distorts the Earth's magnetic field and allows charged
particles from the Sun to enter the Earth's atmosphere at the magnetic poles.
Then, as these charged particles "excite" gases in our atmosphere, they make them glow
in a spectacular display.
Kuznetsov’s recommended spots to photograph the northern lights in Rovaniemi are the Arctic
Garden, the Science Centre, and the Museum Arktikum, which hosts exhibitions about the
culture of Lapland and life in the Arctic.
These are only some of the many attractions offered by Rovaniemi, which contribute to
its tourist appeal.
Even in photographs, Rovaniemi stands out as a pleasant, tidy, happy city – even if
it were not blessed by the presence of a certain Mr. Christmas.
And yet, the history of the capital of Lapland is darker than one may expect …
Rebirth from the Ashes We’ll begin our story of Rovaniemi in the
1930s, when it was a quiet trading town of about 6,000 people.
After the Finns fought the Soviets in the Winter War of 1939-40, they formed a protective
alliance with Germany, an insurance policy against further incursions from Joseph Stalin.
Finland never became a formal member of the Axis Powers, but they were referred to as
a ‘co-belligerent’ country.
The Wehrmacht created a base in Rovaniemi, and the garrison doubled the town’s population.
They built an airfield and some barracks on a site that would later become known as Santa
Claus Village … but let’s not jump ahead yet.
At the onset of Operation Barbarossa, in June 1941, the Finnish Army under Field Marshal
Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim joined its Axis friends in an invasion of the Soviet Union.
The goal of the Finns was simply to recapture the territories lost to the Soviets a year
earlier in the Winter War, and their campaign became known as the Continuation War.
When the Red Army’s counterattack pushed the Axis into a retreat, the Finns were pressured
by Stalin to expel the Germans from their country.
The Germans evacuated Rovaniemi in October of 1944, employing scorched earth tactics
to burn everything to the ground.
About 90 percent of the town’s structures were destroyed.
Pieces of burnt wood and metal can still be found in Rovaniemi’s gardens.
At the time of the destruction, most of the residents had already relocated -- many of
them to Sweden -- but 279 died in the process.
A further 200 inhabitants died on their return, killed by landmines left by the German Army.
Nearly 10 percent of the original population of Rovaniemi had perished as a result of the
operation.
After V-E Day, the Helsinki government began organizing the reconstruction of Rovaniemi,
and the Association of Finnish Architects handed over the task to one of its more prominent
members: Alvar Aalto.
Born in 1898, Aalto graduated as an architect in 1921.
His work initially followed the style of Nordic Classicism, then Modernism, before settling
on a Functionalist phase.
As you might expect, functionalism adopted the principles of user friendliness and functionality
as key priorities, which Aalto enriched through the use of organic forms and natural materials.
His signature style was to treat each building as a complete work of art, from its load-bearing
walls all the way down to the furniture and light fittings.
When Aalto was greeted by the desolate wasteland that was Rovaniemi, he saw it not as a challenge,
but as an opportunity to create an ideal, modern town in the wake of Nazi destruction.
Aalto’s idea was to rebuild the city with affordable houses specifically designed for
the Arctic climate.
They were – and still are – very spacious, to allow families to live comfortably indoors
during the long, cold, dark winter months.
At the same time, they were designed for maximum energy efficiency -- each structure had as
little north-facing facade as possible, and maximum external exposure to the sun in the
south-west.
This would allow to save on heating and electricity consumption.
Next, Aalto had to conceive the new street plan for the city.
He paid homage to Lapland’s most iconic animal by designing a “reindeer antler”
street grid.
He simply imposed the outline of the head of a reindeer on existing topography: coincidentally,
it matched the natural shape of the territory.
In a brilliant touch, the football stadium became an eye, and the reindeer head of Rovaniemi
was born.
Aalto’s ultimate plan was to divide the reindeer into three different functional areas
-- one for commerce, one for residential buildings, and one for administrative offices -- but
this was never fully realised.
He did design three buildings for the administrative areas, which are considered some of his finest
works: an undulating concert hall, a town hall, and a library.
In 1950, the architect expanded his plans to the rest of the Lapland region, an area
the size of Holland and Belgium combined.
Still concerned with efficient energy, Aalto planned for the construction of several hydroelectric
plants, ensuring first that they would not have a negative impact on the environment,
on the indigenous Sami people, on the reindeer herding communities, nor on the microclimate.
Throughout all of this elaborate planning, Aalto had to operate on a shoestring budget.
While the rest of war-torn Europe could count on financial aid from the Americans’ Marshall
Plan, Finland had been forced to reject Uncle Sam’s aid because of Soviet pressure.
The only relief came from some financial support provided by the United Nations Relief and
Rehabilitation Administration, at the insistence of its patron, Eleanor Roosevelt.
In June 1950, Roosevelt decided to pay a visit to Lapland, as she wished to visit the Arctic
Circle.
The welcome committee had a log cabin built near Rovaniemi airport, on the site where
the German barracks used to be.
This cabin subsequently became a tourist attraction, visited by 20th century world leaders like
Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev and Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.
Alvar Aalto died in 1976, so he never witnessed the full expansion of ‘his’ city in the
early 1980s.
In the decade following Aalto’s death, tourism in Rovaniemi finally exploded, thanks in part
to thousands of adventurous visitors who wanted the Arctic Circle up close.
By 1984, incoming tourism was so regular that a Concorde service was set up to allow tourists
to zoom straight into Rovaniemi’s small airport.
It was around this time that Eleanor Roosevelt’s cabin was expanded with additional facilities
-- a few shops, a picturesque post office, and a station for reindeer rides.
This became the foundation for Santa Claus Village.
What to do in Rovaniemi Now, let’s be clear about this.
Despite claims to the contrary from the Rovaniemi tourism board, Santa Claus Village is not
where Father Christmas actually lives and works.
I am sorry to break such disappointing news to you all.
The village is simply a theme park where Father Christmas and his associates do show up to
entertain guests, raise funds, and occasionally recruit new helpers.
The real location of Santa’s base of operations is still a closely guarded secret.
Many believe Santa’s lair to be Korvatunturi, or “Ear Mountain,” a rock formation shaped
like an ear.
According to legend, it is through this ear that Father Christmas can hear the wishes
of every child in the world.
Korvatunturi is a 258-mile drive (415 km) to the north of Rovaniemi, and is located
on the Russian border.
A trek to Korvatunturi may present some difficulties, especially if you are travelling with children,
but we do recommend you pay a visit to Santa Claus Village.
Here you can cross the magical Arctic Circle.
You can meet Father Christmas in his chamber, every day of the year, where alongside his
elves, he is happy to meet new visitors and their four-legged friends.
The elves will also be on hand at the local Post Office, which is where Father Christmas
receives letters from all over the world.
Skeptics may point out that the giant ear at Korvatunturi should be enough to convey
the wishes of the children.
Why even rely on letters?
Well, skeptics should open their own giant ears and pay attention: as I’ve already
mentioned, Korvatunturi sits on the Russo-Finnish border, meaning military-grade communications
equipment and air control surveillance may have been jamming incoming wishes since the
height of the Cold War.
If the air around the Arctic Circle is a bit too chilly for you, then how about you go
underground?
You can visit Santa Park, an indoor expansion of the theme park, located in a former underground
nuclear shelter.
By entering Santa Park, you can access plenty more activities: an Elf workshop, a magic
train, an Ice Gallery and an Ice Bar.
But the standout feature is Elf School -- after a brief course on toy making, aspiring winter
helpers can receive an Elf Diploma to take home.
Some believe this to be some sort of underhanded scheme to identify promising candidates permanent
elf positions… but more on this later.
If you feel like stepping outdoors again, your next stop is Joulukka, the Secret Forest.
Here, you can participate in more Christmas crafts and toymaking with the help of the
elves.
If you’re lucky, you will get a glimpse of the northern lights; if you are really
lucky, elves will take you to Santa’s replica Christmas Command Centre, which may be a sign
that you could be considered for a regular elf job.
From inside the Secret Forest, you’ll be able to access the Snow Hotel, which is…
well, a Hotel made of Snow.
This may not be to everyone’s taste, as even the Rovaniemi tourism office admits:
“It is true that not everyone wants to stay overnight in the Snow Hotel …
but the venue is a sight in itself!”
I would like to specify at this point that this video is NOT sponsored by the Rovaniemi
tourism board, nor by any of the attractions I have just mentioned.
However, if any member of such organisations would like to make a donation out of gratitude,
well, who am I to say no?
My bank details are here on the screen [Caption on screen: Simon Whistler, account
number 666-616 sort code 112358, Global International National Unlimited Bank Ltd, Cayman Islands]
Scepticalicism [Note to Simon, Shell, Chase: what follows
is a mix of true facts and silly fiction.
There is a conspiracy vs Finland, there is an immortal jellyfish and the Panama and Mitrokhin
leaks are historical facts.
But everything else is pure invention.
I just thought this could be a fun and different development for a Geographics episode, it
can be read ironically by an adult, but if children are listening, it will not shatter
their beliefs.
Let me know if you like the approach, if not I can expand on the more factual sections
above.
If you decide to go ahead, I recommend for Simon the most deadpan-est delivery ever …]
I hope you agree with me that, during this holiest of seasons, all you really want to
smell is ginger and cinnamon, rather than the stench of skeptic conspiracies.
But allow me to delve into them now, so that I might deconstruct them, one at a time, like
blocks in a rickety rhetorical Jenga tower.
Conspiracy theories regarding Santa and Rovaniemi can be broadly divided into two categories:
theories that create an alleged truth that is not immediately visible, and theories that
deny the existence of obvious truths which are clearly visible.
Historiography and propaganda have always regaled us with scores of conspiracy theorists
who have denied major historical events.
A powerful clique of authors, reporters, and broadcasters have been denying the existence
of Father Christmas for generations now, a claim that flies in the face of logic.
These Christmas Deniers, desperate to come up with yet another outrageous claim, have
recently adopted a blanket approach, beyond simply denying the existence of Father Christmas.
They could have denied the existence of his operations in Rovaniemi and at Ear Mountain
… but no, they just had to go and deny the existence of the entire country of Finland!
That’s right.
According to these crafty concocters of conniving conspiracies, the landmass known as ‘Finland’
is actually occupied by the Baltic Sea.
At the end of WWII, a secret Soviet-Japanese treaty allowed for Japanese fishing boats
to plunder unlimited catch in those waters.
The fish would be allowed to travel back to Japan via the Trans-Siberian railway, and
Soviet authorities would get a cut of the catch in exchange for free passage.
These Finland truthers claim that ‘Finland’ was invented by government agents in Moscow
and Tokyo in order to convince the world that this big Baltic sea did not exist!
Thus allowing for the Japanese trawlers to fish undisturbed.
This, of course, led to a massive cover up which included the creation of a Finnish language
and the falsification of maps and satellite pictures.
So, back in the present day, the Finland Deniers are spreading their so-called truth, believing
they can fool us into removing from our consciousness the existence of Father Christmas and the
country that hosts him and his operations.
If you want proof of existence of Finland, I have a simple method.
Just look at the northern lights’ photos of Alex Kuznetsov, mentioned earlier.
By looking at the angle and positioning of stars in the background it is easy to calculate
the coordinates of the spot from whence he shot said pictures.
And by looking at the terrain in the foreground it is evident that the photographer was not
standing on a barge in the Baltic Sea.
Now that I got that out of the way, let’s address the elephant in the room – and I
hope he understands this is not a reference to his size.
I am talking about Father Christmas, whose non-existence has been ‘proven’ with ill-constructed
logical arguments.
#1 Immortality How can this person be alive after so many
centuries, still distributing gifts?
First of all, immortality should not be discounted entirely.
Turritopsis dohrnii is a jellyfish that has been demonstrated to be virtually immortal.
After completing the reproductive cycle, the jellyfish reverts to a juvenile state – over
and over again, in a potentially eternal cycle.
If the dohrnii is not physically harmed, it can live forever.
But I understand immortality is not to everybody’s taste, so I would rather focus on a theory
put forward by Anthropologist Sirpä Lehkönen of Jyväskylä University – a name and town
that carry more umlauts than a Mötörhead album.
According to Professor Lehkönen, historical records have confused our idea of Father Christmas
– this name does not indicate a person.
Rather, it is a title, a mantle, that is handed over from generation to generation.
Notable and illustrious historical figures from the past and present have taken on this
role, usually after retirement or presumed death.
Normally these honorees would be male, bearded, and sporting a belly that shakes like a pot
full of jelly.
Previous alleged Father Christmases include the advisor to Henry V, Sir John Falstaff;
Italian Renaissance man Leonardo Da Vinci, who may have contributed to the technology
behind the sleigh; King Henry VIII; French writer Alexandre Dumas – the beard was grown
later; American author Ernest Hemingway … and so on.
A potential future candidate is British Actor Brian Blessed, who once remarked,
“GORDON’S ALIVE?”
#2 ELVES I can understand the skepticism about thousands
of elves working in a toy factory, all year long.
Elves are not, in fact, an autochthonous ethnicity to Finland -- unlike Trolls, who clearly hail
from Norway, where they lurk beneath bridges and comment sections.
But this can be easily explained.
In 2016, the scandal known as the ‘Panama Papers’ blew up on front pages all over
the world.
An unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files related to legal and not-quite-legal financial
transactions, managed by offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca.
Among these files, several made a reference to an exclusive offer to invest in a Finnish
pension fund identified as “Representatives and Toy Manufacturers”
or in the local language “Edustajat ja Lelujuen Valmistajat”
Or ‘ELV’
I daresay that Finnish ‘ELVes’ are the beneficiaries of such a fund: toy makers and
other professionals employed by Father Christmas.
And not just your ‘traditional’ elves.
A setup that surely favours diversity and meritocracy over the employment of a single
ethnic group, regardless of how allegedly skilled they may be at toy making.
Speaking of leaks, the Mitrokhin archive of secret KGB files published in 1999 revealed
why Father Christmas dons a red outfit: it’s not because of Coca Cola’s marketing strategy,
but rather, another pressure imposed by the Soviet Union on Finland at the onset of the
Cold War.
The Moscow Politburo insisted for a red coat to match their flags, and the tradition stuck.
Makes sense to me.
#3 Night Time Delivery This is my favourite one.
Our friends the skeptics wonder how can a single person deliver hundreds of millions
of gifts in a single night, in only 12 hours of darkness?
Well, my dear know-it-alls, first of all it is not just one single night.
Orthodox communities celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January, while children in many
Spanish speaking countries receive their gifts on the 6th of January.
I have already tripled the available time.
Next: I mentioned the length of the nights around the Arctic Circle, didn’t I?
It’s about 22 hours.
So, by establishing his operations around Rovaniemi and Korvatunturi, Father Christmas
has made a perfect choice.
From there he has easy access to the Arctic Circle, and by flying along this parallel,
the Big Man in Red can gain 10 extra hours of darkness.
I have just doubled again the available time.
Finally, Father Christmas can – and does- buy extra time by travelling against the rotation
of the earth, thus ensuring that he spends as much time as possible within the dark side
of the planet.
Time.
Doubled.
Again.
Check and mate for Whistler.
But I will end it there, as I do not want to fan the flames of controversy.
I’d rather fan those of my fireplace.
And I don’t want to stir the animosity of trolls, I’d rather stir my eggnog and spice.
But I do hope that you enjoyed today’s video and that you discovered a fact or two about
the most Festive place on Earth.
Whether you are a skeptic or a believer, the story of the rebirth of Rovaniemi is undeniably
inspiring.
I will take my leave by wishing everybody a Merry Christmas and as usual … thank you
for watching.