Past and present
The first buildings in Höljäkkä village were erected next to the lake at the beginning of the 17th century when people travelled by boat and horse driven sledge. However, archaeological findings from Suomalanniemi have shown that the area was inhabited as early as in the stone age. They are now on display at the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki. Oldest permanent homesteads are Suomala and Pyyjoki situated on the shores of Lake Pielinen.
Suomala
Pyyjoki
The origin of the name "Höljäkkä" is unknown but presumeably it is related to the widest point in the straits of Lake Pielinen between the continent and the island of Retusaari. Other explanations name the village after a local medicine man.
Höljäkkä village is the home town of Höljäkkä Ltd./Iivari Mononen Ltd., a company which has specialised in impregnation of wood products like telephone poles and railway sleepers. In general, forestry together with farming are important sources of living in Höljäkkä. In 2007 there are only two farms left in Höljäkkä.
The report kyläsuunnitelma (Village Plan 2001, in Finnish) about Höljäkkä village gives detailed information on the past, the present and the future of the village. This plan includes several photos of the landscape and buildings of interest.
Onni Meriläinen painted in the 1990's the farm houses of Höljäkkä. His pictures are permanently exhibited in Höljäkkä auditorium at Hyvärilä Course Center in Nurmes.