Hämeenlinna (Swedish: Tavastehus) is a city and municipality of about 67,000 inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the province of Southern Finland. Nearby cities include the capital Helsinki (98 km/61 mi), Tampere (73 km/45 mi) and Lahti (72 km/45 mi).

The medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city.

The municipalities of Hauho, Kalvola, Lammi, Renko and Tuulos were consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009.

There has been a settlement called Vanaja by the lake Vanajavesi where the city now stands since the Viking Age. The castle was built in the late 13th century to secure Swedish power in central Finland. A village was established near Häme Castle to provide services and goods to its inhabitants.

The village was granted city rights in 1639 and soon after that the King of Sweden moved it one kilometre south to the hill on which it still stands.

Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli (born August 17, 1977) is a Finnish singer-songwriter and composer. She is a full lyric soprano and has a vocal range of three octaves.

Turunen studied singing at Sibelius Academy and Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. She is well known as a professional classical lied singer but best known as the former lead vocalist of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, which she founded with Tuomas Holopainen and Erno Vuorinen in 1996. Their combination of hard and fast guitar riffs with Turunen's classical lead vocals quickly achieved critical and commercial popularity. Their symphonic metal style, soon dubbed "opera metal", inspired many other metal bands and singers.

Turunen was dismissed from the band on October 21, 2005 for personal reasons. She started her solo career in 2006 with the release of a Christmas album called Henkäys Ikuisuudesta. In 2007, Turunen released My Winter Storm, an album featuring various styles, including alternative rock and symphonic metal and started the Storm World Tour. Turunen released her third album, What Lies Beneath, in 2010. She performed several concerts in Europe, playing in metal festivals including the Graspop Metal Meeting and the Wacken Open Air, before starting the What Lies Beneath World Tour, scheduled to last until April 2012.