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[[Image:Ungdomshuset.jpg|thumb|Ungdomshuset as seen from the street]]
[[Image:Ungdomshuset.jpg|thumb|Ungdomshuset as seen from the street]]
'''Ungdomshuset''' (literally "the Youth House") was the attributed name of a building located in [[Copenhagen]] on Jagtvej 69, [[Nørrebro]], which functioned as an [[underground scene]] venue for music and rendezvous point for varying [[anarchism|anarchist]] and [[leftist]] groups from [[1982]] until [[2007]]. Due to the persistence of the municipal government of Copenhagen and the anti-democratic poo-communist activists who have [[squatting|occupied]] it, however, the building has been at the centre of intense debate since the mid-[[1990s]].
'''Ungdomshuset''' (literally "the Youth House") was the attributed name of a building located in [[Copenhagen]] on Jagtvej 69, [[Nørrebro]], which functioned as an [[underground scene]] venue for music and rendezvous point for varying [[anarchism|anarchist]] and [[leftist]] groups from [[1982]] until [[2007]]. Due to the persistence of the municipal government of Copenhagen and the anti-democratic pro-communist activists who have [[squatting|occupied]] it, however, the building has been at the centre of intense debate since the mid-[[1990s]].


Police began clearing the building early at about 0700 local time ([[Central_European_Time|CET]]), Thursday, [[1 March]] [[2007]], and the house is currently being demolished, beginning at 0800, [[5 March]] [[2007]].<ref name="tv2demolition">[http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-6293092.html Nedrivning af Ungdomshuset i gang] ''TV2 News'' 5 March 2007 {{dk icon}}.</ref><ref name="politikendemolition">[http://politiken.dk/indland/article257400.ece Nedrivningen af Ungdomhuset indledt i morges] ''Politiken.dk'' 5 March 2007 {{dk icon}}.</ref>
Police began clearing the building early at about 0700 local time ([[Central_European_Time|CET]]), Thursday, [[1 March]] [[2007]], and the house is currently being demolished, beginning at 0800, [[5 March]] [[2007]].<ref name="tv2demolition">[http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-6293092.html Nedrivning af Ungdomshuset i gang] ''TV2 News'' 5 March 2007 {{dk icon}}.</ref><ref name="politikendemolition">[http://politiken.dk/indland/article257400.ece Nedrivningen af Ungdomhuset indledt i morges] ''Politiken.dk'' 5 March 2007 {{dk icon}}.</ref>

Revision as of 23:09, 5 March 2007

Ungdomshuset as seen from the street

Ungdomshuset (literally "the Youth House") was the attributed name of a building located in Copenhagen on Jagtvej 69, Nørrebro, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendezvous point for varying anarchist and leftist groups from 1982 until 2007. Due to the persistence of the municipal government of Copenhagen and the anti-democratic pro-communist activists who have occupied it, however, the building has been at the centre of intense debate since the mid-1990s.

Police began clearing the building early at about 0700 local time (CET), Thursday, 1 March 2007, and the house is currently being demolished, beginning at 0800, 5 March 2007.[1][2]

History

File:Facade Jagtvej 65.jpg
Grafitti in Danish: "We're the ones the others don't want to play with". A quote from a well-known Danish song by Kim Larsen, slightly changed from "we're the ones the others aren't allowed to play with"

The building was completed on 12 November 1897, with the name "Folkets hus" (The People's House). The house functioned as one of the resorts for the then-incipient labour movement of Copenhagen. Seeing that labour organisations were not very popular in the eyes of the authorities, and reprisals often were carried out against them, the organisations had to build their own headquarters — Folkets Hus was the fourth of these to be built.[3] The roots of several demonstrations and meetings were planted in Folkets hus, and as a result it enjoyed a significant connection to the great demonstration against unemployment in 1918 when workers stormed the Danish Stock Exchange (Børsen). In 1910, The Second International held an International Women's conference at the house, declaring 8 March as International Women's Day.

During the 1950s it was still primarily the different sections, associations and unions of the labour movement that took lodgings in the house, even though all sorts of different activities took place; among others, these were boxing meetings and end-of-season dances.

Several years later Brugsen, a Danish chain of supermarkets, bought Folkets hus, planning to tear down the building and build a supermarket in its place. However, as this was prohibited due to the historic importance of the place, Brugsen sold the ground to the folk music ensemble Tingluti in 1978. For economic reasons Tingluti had to sell the ground to the municipality of Copenhagen after a number of years. The price at the time was DKK 700,000; equivalent to USD $57,285 (in 1978 dollars).[4][5]

In 1982 Folkets hus was assigned to a group of young people — the original founders of Ungdomshuset — although the municipality of Copenhagen still owned the building. It was at this time that the building was given its current name: Ungdomshuset.

In January 1996 Ungdomshuset was ravaged by a fire and discovered to be plagued by fungus and rot. The municipality of Copenhagen made plans to renovate the building for safety reasons, but encountered resistance from the squatters.

In 1999 the building was set for sale to the highest bidder by the municipality following controversy on the renovation of the building and a refusal from the inhabitants to pay the rent agreed upon in the original contract. This prodded the users of the building to post a large banner on the facade with the message: "For sale along with 500 autonome, stone throwing, violent psychopaths from hell.". Despite this ominous warning, a company called Human A/S bought the building in December 2000 (although ownership did not actually change hands until 2001), after which Human A/S was sold to the independent Christian sect[6] "Faderhuset".[7] However, the squatters refused to leave the house. Until 1 March 2007 the young squatters used the house as if the change of ownership had not happened and the new owners were not allowed inside at any time.

Recent controversy

1 May 2006 demonstration

In August 2003, Faderhuset served a writ upon Ungdomshuset and its users and claimed ownership of the building. In December the same year, the trial began at the Copenhagen County Court.

On 7 January 2004 the verdict from City Court arrived, stating that Faderhuset was in its right to sue four activists (rather than Ungdomshuset itself) since Ungdomshuset functions without a hierarchical management and is therefore not regarded as an organisation. The court, however, denied Faderhuset compensation.[citation needed]

Both sides appealed against the decision; Faderhuset demanding compensation and Ungdomshuset demanding future right of usage. On 28 August 2006 the National Court stated, as the City Court did, that the right of ownership and usage of Ungdomshuset belongs to Faderhuset and it is free to evict the inhabitants.

Originally, this decision ordered the current occupants out by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of 14 December 2006.[7] Ungdomshuset was also denied the possibility to take the case to the Supreme Court, meaning that there were no further options within the legal system. The police, however, stated that they would not evict the activists until 2007.[8]

The activists refused to leave the house and barricaded themselves inside. In addition, an open-letter stating "Troublemakers of the World; We bid you Welcome!" has been sent to different autonomous groups around the world, asking for help defending the house in the event of a forced eviction.[9]

On 12 December, Faderhuset refused an offer from the foundation "Jagtvej 69" to sell the house for DKK 13 million.[10][11]

On 16 December, around 2000 activists, some of them foreigners, demonstrated in Copenhagen in support of Ungdomshuset. The police had not been notified of the demonstration. Many of the demonstrators wore maskings or helmets which is not permitted by law during demonstrations in Denmark. The police ordered the demonstration to break up and the demonstrators to disperse. The demonstrators attacked the police; rocks and fireworks were thrown at the police and local shops were destroyed. The demonstration degenerated into what the police characterised as the worst riots in Denmark in many years — they used teargas, which is a very rare occurrence in Denmark.[12] The community was vandalized, and later looted.[13] Both police and demonstrators were injured.

By the end of the night, around 300 people had been arrested.[12] The majority of those arrested were released the following day, 17 December.[14][15] The total number of demonstrators arrested is amongst the highest for a single event in Denmark since World War II. The fury of the demonstrators has been described by the police as the worst since 18 May 1993, when another violent demonstration (this time against Danish EU membership) by the extreme left injured 92 officers and 11 demonstrators. Subsequently the head of the public information department at the police has characterised the autonome demonstraters and squatters as comparable to a "fascist organisation", which does not hesitate to resort to "violence and vandalism".[16]

Clearance

File:Ildaktivister.jpg
Rioters constructing a burning barricade during 1 March 2007 riot.
The rear of Ungdomshuset as it is being demolished on 5 March 2007

On 1 March 2007 Ungdomshuset was cleared of its occupants by the police at 7:00 in the morning. The area surrounding the building was sealed in a radius of 50 metres. The building was taken with assistance from a military helicopter, an airport crash tender and two boom cranes, used as a form of modern day siege towers. Special forces entered the house from the roof, the windows and the ground, while the house was covered in foam to diminish the effect of possible counter attacks with molotov cocktails. Afterwards the supporters of Ungdomshuset announced that it was "either an Ungdomshus or a battle for an Ungdomshus — the clearing will never be forgiven". Resulting riots broke out, including the blocking of Nørrebrogade, the main street of Nørrebro, and fires were started in the area surrounding Freetown Christiania and the area south of Nørrebrogade itself. Riot police had used tear gas on several occasions throughout the riots; more specifically CS gas (2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile) gas was used.[17]

On 3 March 2007, there was more riot action outside Ungdomshuset,[18] and by 00:36 local time, the area Nørrebro was completely overrun. At the same time further riots were taking place in the area around Freetown Christiania. Rioters used cars and garbage containers to build barricades and fires in the streets. A bonfire spread to a nearby kindergarten,[19] although the fire was quickly extinguished.[20] In a high school, the library and media room were ransacked and books and computers were burned on the street. Cost of the damages at the school are estimated to be around 1 million kroner.[21]

In the morning of 3 March 2007 police raided 6 to 8 addresses in Nørrebro in an attempt to find and deport foreign activists.[22] Although foreigners were the primary objective a large number of those arrested are Danes. The members of Ungdomshusets legal support group (retsgruppen) are supposedly among the arrested, but police describe it as being purely coincidental if the group's members are among the arrested.[23]

Demolition of Ungdomshuset began at 8:00 am on 5 March 2007.[1][2] A demolition crane started its work at the back of the house with the top floor. At about 10am the demolition was interrupted due to concerns about dust and presence of asbestos. The demolition resumed at 11 am. At 4 pm, about one third of the house had been removed. The demolition was broadcast live by webcam on TV2 News' website.[1]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c Nedrivning af Ungdomshuset i gang TV2 News 5 March 2007 Template:Dk icon.
  2. ^ a b Nedrivningen af Ungdomhuset indledt i morges Politiken.dk 5 March 2007 Template:Dk icon.
  3. ^ Bymuseum er ikke hørt om nedrivning af Jagtvej 69. Politiken 24 Jan. 2007 Template:Dk icon.
  4. ^ Inflation Calculator.
  5. ^ Currency Exchange Rate, Google.
  6. ^ Faderhuset af Birger Langkjer - Dialogcentret.dk Dialogcentret.dk Template:Dk icon.
  7. ^ a b Copenhagen's calm broken by riots over eviction of squatters
  8. ^ Indland, JP.dk.
  9. ^ Letter to troublemakers of the world. Accessed 5 March 2007.
  10. ^ Faderhuset afviser at sælge Ungdomshuset Artikel i Jyllands Posten d. 12 December 2006 Template:Dk icon.
  11. ^ Faderhuset beholder Jagtvej 69 Artikel Berlingske Tidende d. 12 December 2006 Template:Dk icon.
  12. ^ a b Voldsomme gadekampe på Nørrebro.
  13. ^ "Butikker bliver plyndret på Nørrebro" (in Template:Dk icon). Politiken. 2006-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  14. ^ Nørrebro: 130 anholdte løslades, TV2 Denmark.
  15. ^ Ti anholdte løsladt af byretten, TV2 Denmark.
  16. ^ Politi: Autonome i Ungdomshuset er som fascister, politiken.dk Template:Dk icon.
  17. ^ Rydningen af Ungdomshuset — minut-for-minut, DR.dk Template:Dk icon.
  18. ^ Danish protests spark 100 arrests, BBC News.
  19. ^ Børnehave på Christianshavn udsat for hærværk, politiken.dk Template:Dk icon.
  20. ^ Jan M Olsen (March 4, 2007). "Copenhagen erupts over squatter action". Scotland on Sunday. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ Hærværk på gymnasium koster en million, politiken.dk Template:Dk icon.
  22. ^ Politiet ransager aktivisters tilflugtssteder, politiken.dk Template:Dk icon.
  23. ^ Lea Wind-Friis and Sune Sølund (2007-03-03). "Foldschack: Politiet optrapper konflikten". Politiken.dk.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ungdomshuset.

55°41′38″N 12°32′54″E / 55.69389°N 12.54833°E / 55.69389; 12.54833

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