Ungdomshuset

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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 ongoing conflict between the municipal government of Copenhagen and the activists occupying the premises, the building has been the subject of intense media attention and public debate since the mid-1990s.

Police began clearing the building early on Thursday, 1 March 2007 and demolition began on 5 March 2007 and was completed two days later.^[1]^[2]

1 History
2 Notes and references
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

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 the 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 co-operative 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. As a consequence of a burst water main which they were unable to afford to pay to repair, Tingluti had to sell the ground to the municipality of Copenhagen. The price at the time was DKK 700,000.

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 occupants.

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^[4] "Faderhuset".^[5] 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.

[edit] 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.

May 1st and 2nd riots of 2006

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]

May 1st and 2nd riots of 2006

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. The vanguard of the demonstration 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; stones 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.

Vandalism from the May 1st and 2nd riots of 2006

By the end of the night, around 300 people had been arrested.^[10] The majority of those arrested were released the following day, 17 December.^[12]^[13] 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".^[14]

[edit] Clearance

The rear of Ungdomshuset as it was being demolished on the morning of 5 March 2007

The site after demolition

On 1 March 2007 Ungdomshuset was cleared of its occupants by the police at about 7:00 (CET) in the morning. A 50 metre area surrounding the building was sealed off. 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 building from the roof, the windows and the ground, while the house was covered in foam to diminish the effectiveness of possible counter attacks such as 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". Rioting broke out, including a blockade of Nørrebrogade, the main street of Nørrebro, and fires in the areas surrounding Freetown Christiania and south of Nørrebrogade. Riot police used tear gas on several occasions throughout the riots; more specifically CS gas (2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile).^[15] There were as well demonstrations in Oslo carried out by the Blitz community. The Police moved out with police dogs and were prepared to use tear gas^[16]

On 3 March 2007, there was more rioting outside Ungdomshuset,^[17] and by 12:36 am local time, the area of Nørrebro was completely overrun.^[18] At the same time further riots were taking place in the area around Freetown Christiania. Rioters used cars and rubbish bins to build barricades and set fires on the streets. One fire spread to a nearby kindergarten^[19] but was quickly extinguished.^[20] In a secondary 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 Danish kroner (135,000 euros).^[21]

Also that morning, police raided 6 to 8 addresses in Nørrebro in an attempt to find and deport foreign activists.^[22] Although foreigners were the primary target of these raids, a larger number of those arrested were Danes. The members of Ungdomshuset's legal support group (retsgruppen) are supposedly amongst those arrested, but police describe that as 'purely coincidental'.^[23]

[edit] Demolition

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. The logos on the crane were covered and workers wore masks to conceal their identity. The union which favours Ungdomshuset was on the ground trying to persuade the workers to stop working and reveal the company they were working for. At 10 am the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet) had the demolition interrupted due to reported concerns about dust and the potential 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]

In protest at the eviction of the centre, demonstrations have been held across Europe.^[24] Germany has seen more than twenty actions^[25] and there have also been solidarity protests in Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Poland.^[26]^[27]^[28] There were also protests in front of Denmark's UN Consulate in New York City^[29] — although it only counted eight persons during the -8 Celsius weather.

On 16 March, 2007, Danish police admitted to having mistakenly used a potentially lethal form of teargas. The gas, known as Ferret 40, was used against human masses during the riots following the demolition, although it is designed to penetrate doors and walls.^[30]