Louis Philip's park

Louis Philippe park was built in honor of the 150th anniversary of Muonio municipality and is located in the center of Muonio. This charming park offers a peaceful place to relax and enjoy nature for locals and tourists alike. The park is named in honor of Louis Philippe, who was the king of France and a famous explorer. In the park, there is a sculpture of Louis Philippe designed by Sofia Saari. Louis Philippe Park serves as both a monument to Muonio's long history and a recreation area for future generations.

 

Background

Ludvig Filip, then Duke of Orléans, fled France on the way to the revolution in 1793. He adventured across Central Europe and Scandinavia with two companions until he finally landed on the Nordkapp. On his escape journey through Lapland in September 1795, he ended up as a guest of Mathias Kolström, vicar of Muonionniska parsonage.

The eyes of Beata Caisa Wahlbom, the attractive sister-in-law of the vicar and the young prince, who used the pseudonym Muller, met. Nine months later, Beata Caisa gave birth to an illegitimate child, Erik Wahlbom, who was nicknamed Puolikko-Erkki in Muonio. He later moved to Norway and took the surname Kolström and bought a farm in Maskjoki, Tanavuono. Puolikko-Erk's royal descent is the legend of Lapland, about which Zachris Topelius first wrote a fairy tale-like story.

Louis Philip

An exile, the duke of Orléans, appearing under a pseudonym, later in 1830–1849 King Louis Philippe of France, appeared in Muonio's rectory. Ludvig Filip had fled his home country of France during the raging revolution as a suspect and lived as an adventurous vagabond in different parts of America and Europe. He had earned his living mainly as a home teacher. In 1795, he lived in Sweden, Norway and Finland.

In the same year, he arrived at the Muonio rectory and got an apartment there from the chaplain Mathias Kolström. Beata Katariina Wahlbom, the sister of Brita Elisabet Kolström, the vicar's wife, was the housekeeper in the rectory. The young and sympathetic 22-year-old prince who has experienced the world immediately got the head of the 27-year-old but inexperienced and dreamy bourgeois woman. Beata Katariina became attached to the prince, and he knew how to take advantage of her deep affection. And so time passed for the lovers and the moment of separation came. The prince, who wanted new adventures, soon left Muonio, and Beata Katariina remained unhappily mourning her friend.

Shortly after Ludvig Filip's departure, the people of the rectory noticed that Beata Katariina was not doing well. She was expecting a child. At first the rectory tried to hide the matter, but in the end when it could no longer be covered up, Beata Katariina was transported to the rectory's fish pond on the shore of Keräsjärvi Hirvaslompolo, located behind Lake Liepimäjärvi, about 10 kilometers northeast of the village of Muonio. There, Beata Katariina gave birth to a healthy baby boy. When the child was born into the world, a meeting was held in the rectory about how to get the mother and child out of Hirvaslompolo inconspicuously. Someone came up with a way to go fishing in Hirvaslompolo. That's what was done and the line was pulled a little bit. To the surprise of the fishermen who were fishing, in the half (½ barrel) where the fish should have been put, clothes were placed on the bottom as a cushion and on top of them a small child who was swaddled, who was thus carried out of the boat.

Some of the people from the rectory, who were on the fishing trip, forbade servants to talk about it to anyone. So the boy was then brought to the parsonage in a fish half, so that bystanders would not have paid attention to the matter, but would have thought it was Hirvaslompolo's whitefish in the half. The child was baptized in time, and he was named Erik. However, the rengs who were on the Hirvaslompolo trip couldn't keep their mouths shut, and so Erik was nicknamed "Half-Erkki" all his life. Erik Wahlbom was raised to full manhood in the Muonio rectory together with the rectory's own children. There he learned to read and write and became a vigorous and decent man.

He married Margareta Juhontytär Heta from Heta in 1824. Over the years, the family and family harmony in the Muonio rectory was disrupted and the Puolikko-Erk family moved to Norway, following the example of many young couples. Erki's mother, Beata Katariina, also accompanied the family to Norway. In Norway, the family's last name officially changed to Kolström. On the shores of Ruija, the "Half-Erkki" family swelled in number. Today, the family includes civil servants, fishermen from the Arctic Ocean and some reindeer herders from Lapland. And so the blood of the French royal family flows through "Half-Erkki" in several hikers of the Kaarasjoki and Kautokeino fells. This branch of the family could not have been born without the great revolution in France, which forced Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans to flee, whom Finnish historians know as Ludvig Philip.

Ludvig Filip returned to his homeland in 1804 and, according to his constitution, married Princess Amĕlia of Naples. As a modest man, Ludvig Filip lived more like a wealthy burgher than a noble prince, which slowly raised him to the people's favor. In July 1830, King Karle was overthrown and Ludvig Filip was elected in his place by popular vote. However, his overly simple lifestyle and timid foreign policy led to a new revolution 18 years later, and the deposed king was allowed to go into exile with his family in England, where he died at the age of 77 in 1850.

Young Ludvig's escape journey lasted at least fifteen years. Only after Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France in 1804 did he dare to return to his homeland. Ludvig went on an escape trip to almost all European countries and also North America. He stayed in Scandinavia for a year. Here he first arrived in Trondheim, from where he continued, accompanied by the bishop's letter of protection, by sailboat to Havösund, from there to Nordkap, back to Havösund, from there to Alta and from there by land via Kautokeino to Muonio. From there again through different stages to Stockholm.

"Mr. Muller" received generous help from all the authorities during his escape. The crown heads of Europe were no doubt willing to help out of mutual solidarity. Ludvig Filip's "Ruija" family branch is also recognized today in France. In 1974, one of the members of the family received an invitation to participate in an event in Paris, where the invitee was the Count of Paris, a direct descendant of Ludvig.

"You never know if they had made me a prince," laughs Olaf Kolström, who unfortunately could not travel to Paris at the time. Olaf Kolström has also assisted Italian researchers who have investigated Ludvig's escape journey. Olaf has a pleasant hobby of finding out his family history for his retirement years. Relatives are not of much interest when young, but over the years, one's own family roots start to feel much more important, thinks the great-great-grandson of the King of France.

Address of the park

Puthaanrannantie 1, 99300 Muonio

Sources:

Vuorio Onni. 1980. Muonion kairoilta II. Muonio: Lions Club Muonio, Pages 85–88

Jussila Pentti. 1980. Muonion kairoilta II. Muonio: Lions Club Muonio, Pages 89–92

Picture of the escape trip of Ludvig Filip 1793–1800: Hiilivirta.fi