Justice Court of Appeal Olof Langenstein.
A Profound Jurist, Humanist and Library
Man Inspired by the Age of EnlightenmentErkki Rintala
Two hundred years ago, on August the 2nd 1794, the first public library was founded in Vaasa, a small town on the coast of Ostrobothnia. From that library books could be borrowed against a small payment. In Swedish the library was called Läse-Bibliotheket i Wasa, in Finnish Vaasan lukukirjasto. The library was situated in the house of the Court of Appeal and from 1794 until about 1810 it was taken care of by Justice Court of Appeal Olof Langenstein, who was one of the founders of the library. In the light of research Langenstein is also considered to be the primus motor of the idea of establishing a public library.
The library was closed down in 1844. This is mainly due to the reactionary forces which in those days reigned in Russia and also affected the circumstances in Finland: there was a strict cencorship and books were confiscated (the era of Tsar Nicholas 1)
Olof Langenstein was born in Stockholm on October the 29th 1751. His father was a bodyguard corporal Olof Langsten, his mother Margareta Kjellman. Langenstein died on June the 8th 1833 in Vaasa.
Langenstein was orphaned when he was 14 years old. He moved to Finland, studied here and qualified as a jurist in the Academy of Turku in 1774. He entered the employment of the Vaasa Court of Appeal in 1776 and was normally advanced in the career of a justice.
As a justice Langenstein was a profound and gifted professional. He was also an "eager beaver" who took part in all activities of the court. He gave money to the religious work for charity, contributed in the distribution of Bibles, donated his valuable Fennica-collection to the library of the university of Helsinki etc. According to the ideals of that time he was not only a government representative but also prepared to serve Finland and her people.
The founding of The Court of Appeal in l776 brought to Vaasa a number of civil servants who were very young but highly educated. Like King Gustav III, the founder of the Court, these men supported the ideals of Enlightenment. Many kinds of cultural interests were born in their "college" for the good of those around them. One ot these interests was the founding and maintenance of the library.
The biograph of Benjamin Franklin was published in Swedish in Stockholm in 1792. The book was bought to Vaasa and it might be so that Franklin's library was a model for the public library in Vaasa.They had similar rules.
In 1776, when The Court of Appeal began its work, it founded a juridical library for itself. In collecting that library the channels for buying books became familiar. This of course made it easier to found the public library 18 years later.
Translated by Anne Heimola