Today, on 05 February, we celebrate our national poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg. He was born in 1804 in Finland, then part of Sweden and died in 1877 when Finland had become a Grand Duchy under Russia.
His most famous poem is ” Our land” , the national anthem of Finland to which Fredrik Pacius composed the music.
J.L. Runebergs statue stands in the Esplanade Park. The beginning text of “Our land” is depicted there, in Swedish, the original language of the poem.
The day is celebrated with a special cake: Runeberg ´s cake, which is still baked following his wife Fredrika’s original recipe. Here are mine – small but good!
