Tervetuloa taidemaalari Emil Danielssonin Kivilinnaan

The Artist Emil Danielsson

Artist Emil Danielsson (1882-1967) was born on 7.August 1882 in Tula, Russia. In 1886 Danielsson’s family moved to Turku, where Emil attended a Swedish-speaking classical middle school. The young man had high hopes for the future: He was supposed to become a rich man and a pharmacist. He even had a pharmacist’s apprentice position arranged, but ended up applying for drawing school.

Emil Danielsson began his art studies aged 16, at the Finnish Art Society drawing school in Turku. He received his certificate from school in 1901, as well as his first and only grant of 200 marks; for the rest of his life he refused to apply for artist grants. In 1903 artist Danielsson came to spend the summer at Heinoo in Karkku. Between 1904 and 1905 Emil Danielsson studied in Florence, Italy. He also made journeys to study in Italy in 1901 and 1904, and a long study journey to France and Italy in 1925.

Danielsson tried a number of styles whilst searching for his own. He felt that an artist must try things, but a responsible artist has to know his own limits. He himself settled on clean realism.

Danielsson’s works have been exhibited publicly since 1901. His works have been exhibited abroad in Stockholm and Oslo in 1929 and in Antwerp and Amsterdam, Holland, in 1931. He has also held his own exhibitions around his home regions and at the Stone Castle on Pirunvuori. An exhibition in his honour was held at the old vicarage in Vammala in 1982.

Devil’s Mountain (Pirunvuori) and the Stone Castle (Kivilinna)

In 1906 Emil Danielsson had the Pirunvuori atelier castle built, using natural stones. The building was erected in its rocky nature setting using the strength of a few local men. The upper parts of the castle were made using a kind of crane; three timber pillars were stood up in the ground and nailed together with a nail, a cylindrical block placed between the pillars, a crank and some chains. The chains were placed around the stones and they were winched up. No mortar or other material was used between the stones; they were simply shaped with a sledge hammer and chisel so they fitted together, and then laid on top of each other.

Emil Danielsson and his wife Aurora (maiden name Andelin, known as Saga) always came to Pirunvuori for the summers. Their winters were spent in their other homes in Helsinki, Turku and Tampere until, in the 1930s, they bought the Rokka house on the south-east slope of Pirunvuori. The last summer that Emil Danielsson spent at Pirunvuori was the summer of 1966. He died in Helsinki on 16.7.1967.

Pirunvuori and the Karkku region were popular places to visit already in the mid-1800s. A lookout tower was built on the hill in 1905 and boat trips from Karkku to Pirunvuori were started. The artist brought water and sandwiches to the castle and sold them to tourists.

The Danielssons left the Stone Castle to the Tyrvää Region Local Association in their will, and the Association became the castle’s owner in 1975. In 1983, after Mrs. Aurora Danielsson’s death, the Local Association also received 18 of Emil Danielsson’s paintings and sketches, statues of Yrjö Liipola and Richard Rautalin and various other personal items, to be kept as a collection of memorabilia.

In a gift deed dated 14.2.1990, the Local Association donated the Stone Castle and the above mentioned works and memorabilia to the Town of Vammala.

The renovation of the Stone Castle began in the autumn of 1997, during which the inside wall surfaces, floors and the shingle roof were renewed. The renovation was partly funded by the EU’s regional development fund and the state, with the Town of Vammala bearing most of cost. The work was completed and the opening ceremony for the newly renovated Stone Castle was held on 4.9.1998.

There are many stories and legends about Pirunvuori and the Stone Castle. Tradition has it that people would go to the mouth of the cave that leads into the depths of Pirunvuori to ask for answers. The answer would echo back from the depths of the cave. One was not to stay for too long, however, or the weather would turn and the visitor would be caught in the clutches of the ensuing storm. Just a little tip for anyone wishing to see whether the old tale holds any truth.

Guided tours from Sastamala tourism office or 0400 229142 available in Finnish, Swedish, English and German. 

Devil’s Mountain in Finnish

Pirunvuori on ollut upeiden maisemiensa vuoksi 1800-luvun puolivälistä lähtien suosittu matkailukohde ja on sitä edelleen. Pirunvuorella sijaisee luonnonkivistä rakennettu taidemaalari Emil Danielssonin (1882-1967) erämaa-ateljee. Kivilinna rakennettiin vuonna 1906 yhden kesän aikana muutaman paikallisen miehen voimin ilman nykyaikaisia rakennusvälineitä. Emil Danielsson saapui Saga-vaimonsa (o.s. Aurora Andelin) kanssa joka kesä Karkun Pirunvuorelle lähes kuudenkymmenen vuoden ajan.

Sastamalan kaupunki pitää Kivilinnaa auki kesäisin, ja tällöin kivilinnassa on vaihtuvia taidenäyttelyitä. Lisäksi milloin tahansa, myös talvikaudella, Pirunvuoreen ja Kivilinnaan voi tutustua paikallisoppaan johdolla. 

 Pirunvuorella käyvät voivat jättää autonsa Ellivuoren hotellin pihaan (Ellivuorentie 131, Sastamala). Hotellin pihan tuntumasta, VuoriCaravan-asuntovaunualueen vasenta reunaa pitkin lähtee hyväkuntontoinen, reilun kilometrin pituinen polku Pirunvuorelle ja Kivilinnalle.

Pirunvuoren opastus kestää n. 2 tuntia ja maksaa 120e (sis. alv 24%)
Oppaan voi tavata Ellivuoren hotellilla, josta matka jatkuu yhdessä kävellen Kivilinnalle.
Matka on n. 1 km hyväkulkuista hiekkatietä ja aivan loppupätkä Kivilinnalle on myös helppokulkuista polkua. Siitä edespäin on kivikkoisempaa metsäpolkua, eli Pirunvuoren laelle ja Pirun luolalle.
Opas kertoilee alueesta ja Pirusta pitkin matkaa ja on hyvin tykätty kävelykierros.

Opasvaraukset tai 0400 229142 opastuksia saatavana suomeksi, ruotsiksi, englanniksi ja saksaksi.