Ungdomshuset

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 216.13.68.182 (talk) at 17:33, 1 March 2007 (→‎External links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ungdomhuset 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 illegally as an underground scene and rendezvous for varying extreme left-wing political organisations until 2007. Due to the persistence of the municipal government of Copenhagen and the activists who have occupied it, however, the building was at the centre of intense debate since the mid-1990s.

Police began clearing the building early (about 0700 local time) Thursday, March 1st 2007.

History

File:Facade Jagtvej 65.jpg
Danish graffiti (En: We are the ones the others don't want to play with.). This is a pun on a well-known Danish song title.

The building of Ungdomshuset was completed on the 12 November 1897, although its name was at first "Folkets hus" (The People's House). At that time, 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.[1] Several demonstrations and meetings were planted their roots 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 1950's 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). [2] [3]

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 rotten. 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. Which prodded the users of the building post a large banner on the fascade with the message: "For sale together 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 group "Faderhuset".[4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

On 12 December, Faderhuset refused an offer from the foundation "Jagtvej 69" to sell the house for DKK 13 million [8][9].

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, thus rendering it illegal by Danish law. In addition, 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. 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.[10] The community was vandalized, and later looted. [11] 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. [13] [14] 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 characterized the autonome demonstraters and squatters as comparable to a "fascist organization", which does not hesitate to resort to "violence and vandalism"[15].

On 1 March 2007 Ungdomshuset was cleared by the police at 0700 in the morning. The area surrounding the building was sealed in a radius of 50 metres and neighbours were warned, so they had the opportunity to remove cars. The building was taken with assistance from a military helicopter that landed four police officers on the roof. The users of Ungdomshuset, however, announced that it was "either an Ungdomshus or a battle for an Ungdomshus - the clearing will never be forgiven". Resulting riots therefore broke out, including the blocking of Nørrebrogade, the main street of Nørrebro, and fires were started in the area surrounding Freetown Christiania.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Bymuseum er ikke hørt om nedrivning af Jagtvej 69. Politiken 24 Jan. 2007.
  2. ^ http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/InflationCalculator.asp#results Inflation Calculator
  3. ^ http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html#currency Google's Currency Exchange Rate tool
  4. ^ Copenhagen's calm broken by riots over eviction of squatters
  5. ^ Copenhagen's calm broken by riots over eviction of squatters
  6. ^ http://www.jp.dk/indland/artikel:aid=4110200/
  7. ^ Letter to troublemakers of the world
  8. ^ Faderhuset afviser at sælge Ungdomshuset Artikel i Jyllands Posten d. 12 december 2006
  9. ^ Faderhuset beholder Jagtvej 69 Artikel Berlingske Tidende d. 12 december 2006
  10. ^ Voldsomme gadekampe på Nørrebro
  11. ^ Butikker bliver plyndret på Nørrebro
  12. ^ Voldsomme gadekampe på Nørrebro
  13. ^ Nørrebro: 130 anholdte løslades TV2 Denmark
  14. ^ Ti anholdte løsladt af byretten From TV2 denmark
  15. ^ Politi: Autonome i Ungdomshuset er som fascister (Danish)

See also

External links

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

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ungdomshuset&oldid=111865980"