Jahr reisten mehr als eine Million Menschen
über den Hafen Helsinkis, während fast drei Mil-
lionen Fluggäste über den Flughafen fuhren. Vor
einigen Tagen, als ich um die Mittagszeit die
Esplanade entlang spazierte, fiel es mir auf, dass
Passanten fast alle anderen Sprachen als Finnisch
sprachen.
Die letzten Jahre haben deutlich gezeigt, dass
gerade die Finlandia-Halle das Tagungs- und
Kongresszentrum unserer Stadt ist. Helsinki hat
zum grossen Teil der Finlandia-Halle zu verdan-
ken, dass es eine starke Position als internatio-
nale Kongress-Stadt bekommen hat. Im Jahre
1975 wurden in diesem Gebäude insgesamt 120
Konferenzen und Kongresse veranstaltet. Die
Gesamtzahl der Kongresstage erhöhte sich auf
250 und ausserdem wurden im Gebäude 150
Konzerte gegeben. Die Zahl der Besucher im vo-
rigen Jahr war 367000.
Ich wünsche dem dreizehnten Kongress der In-
ternationalen Gesellschaft für Photogrammetrie
einen erfolgreichen Verlauf. Ich hoffe, dass Sie
sich in Helsinki wohl fühlen werden und dass
Ihnen die Atmosphäre der Stadt, ihr pulsierendes
Leben und ihr Treiben gefallen werden. Ich hoffe
auch, dass Sie in reichem Masse berufliche Er-
fahrungen von Ihrer Kongressreise mitbringen
und unsere Stadt in angenehmer Erinnerung be-
halten werden.
Translation:
Mr. Minister, Distinguished Congressists, Ladies
and Gentlemen.
In the name of the City of Helsinki | have the
honor to wish you all welcome to Helsinki and
to the Finlandia Hall. Human interaction, tourism,
conventions and congresses form the network
of contacts that is the basis for trusting and
friendly relations between the inhabitants of dif-
ferent countries and states. The meeting in Hel-
sinki of thousands of scientists and profession-
als, representing all the member countries of the
International Society for Photogrammetry at this
Congress, in a remarkable way brings together
professional theory and know-how and offers at
the same time an opportunity for strengthening
the ties between the peoples of the world and
promoting their mutual understanding and peace-
ful coexistence.
This great aim also complies with the active peace
policy of Finland. This past summer Helsinki
had the honor to host an event at which this
peace policy was made manifest, i.e., the last
stage of the Conference on Security and Co-
operation in Europe. | can assure you that we
felt we were serving a most important cause in
receiving the leading statesmen of the world
here in Finlandia Hall.
In recent years Helsinki has developed into a
convention and congress center. The city has
become an international meeting point, a ground
for people from east and west, from north and
south, on which to meet and discuss their com-
mon problems. Meanwhile Helsinki has attracted
increasing numbers of tourists. Last year more
than a million people travelled via the ports of
Helsinki, while close to three million flight pas-
sengers passed through its airports. A few days
ago, as | walked along the Esplanade at noon, it
EG EA
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occurred to me that passers-by spoke almost all
languages other than Finnish.
These past few years it is Finlandia Hall that has
proved to be the convention and congress center
of our city. Helsinki owes to a great extent to
Finlandia Hall its well established position as an
international congress city. In 1975 in all 120
conferences and congresses were held in this
building. The total number of congress days
mounts up to 250, in addition to which 150 con-
certs were given in this building. The number of
visitors in the previous years was 367000.
| wish success to the Thirteenth Congress of the
International Society for Photogrammetry. | hope
that you will enjoy your stay in Helsinki and that
the atmosphere of the city, its hustle and bustle
will appeal to you. | also hope that your partici-
pation in the Congress will bring you a wealth of
professional experience and that you will take
with you a pleasant memory of our city.
Next the Congress Director called upon the host
of the congress site, the Rector of the Helsinki
University of Technology, Dr. Pentti Laasonen.
Rector Pentti Laasonen:
Your Excellency, Distinguished Delegates, La-
dies and Gentlemen.
Now that | have the opportunity to present the
address of the Helsinki University of Technology
to the International Congress for Photogrammetry
being opened, my attention is drawn to the rapidly
growing importance and the constantly extending
field of activities of photogrammetry as one of
the spheres of training and research in our Uni-
versity. Our University has had its Chair of Pho-
togrammetry for only nineteen years, and by last
spring it had been occupied by only one profes-
sor, the late Professor Halonen who so suddenly
passed away last summer. Thus it is all the more
remarkable that this Chair has gained the firm
and esteemed position generally acknowledged
in the course of years.
Those working in the directorate of our University
have, with great interest, observed how the meth-
ods developed by our Institute of Photogram-
metry, adjusted to our resources, have found
their way to practical surveying. As early as twelve
years ago we acquired a precision stereocom-
parator which was effectively used from the start
— first to meet the needs of our own country,
and shortly thereafter also to serve the developing
countries in the Near East and Africa.
We have been satisfied also to find that certain
ideas of our research workers — for example in
the field of analytical photogrammetry — when
developed into serviceable methods, have been
internationally adopted and have in this way con-
tinued the tradition begun half a century ago by
the ingenious soldier and scientist General Ne-
nonen.
We are naturally delighted about the fact that
photogrammetry, which originally served mainly
the needs of map production and, perhaps in
particular, of military security, is now radically
expanding its sphere of application. In addition
to various measurements of technical engineer-
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