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The construction of the sea fortress Sveaborg outside Helsinki started in 1748 and caused an enormous influx of military staff into town; the soldiers far outnumbered the civilian population. The locals’ hospitality towards the army was not voluntary; the law obliged all burghers to accommodate military staff in their own homes. The biggest risks when soldiers arrived in town were related to public health, public order, and the billeting of soldiers. In mid-eighteenth-century Helsinki public health was not yet a concern, but the large-scaled billeting was an acute problem. Public order was a pressing concern too, to avoid conflicts the social order had to be maintained, everyone should know their proper places and behave accordingly. Since the army arrived in peacetime to its own country, the army and the local authorities constantly negotiated about the terms of the hospitality to maintain a safe and peaceful co-existence. The townsmen remained masters of their own houses and their own town, but they still had to submit to the state, the social hierarchies, and the common good. But the billeting also provided new economic opportunities for the burghers in the tavern and alcohol business, as well as skilled workforce for bold entrepreneurs.

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This chapter discusses the soldier billeting system, in which the townspeople were obliged to lodge soldiers in their homes. The article shows that, even though the billeting was a heavy burden to the local burghers in Helsinki, the co-existence of soldiers and civilians in same houses and rooms was in itself surprisingly peaceful. One of the reasons is that the garrison soldiers began, from an early stage, to interact closely with the local community, demonstrated for example by the numerous marriages between them and the local women.

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