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The demolition of the Youth House and what places like The Youth House mean to young people.

Yesterday hundreds of young people said goodbye to the Youth House. As an unknown company tear down the house in front of hundreds angry protesters. The 5 March around 8 AM the demolition of the house began, it ended around the 6 March 11 PM, it was a scary 39 hours of work the workers, risking their life's, just to build a homeless shelter, even after 13 years they still haven't built anything on the ground.

The Youth House has been an important place for the youth underground culture ever since it was established in 1982. It was a kind of sanctuary for young people who did not fit in anywhere else; a place, where they could be themselves.

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The history of the youth house
When Ungdomshuset had been put up for sale, they received an offer from the Foundation for the Promotion of Permanent Organic Balance. This fund wanted to buy the house to ensure that young people could stay. An offer was also received from the Christian Free Church Faderhuset. but the citizens' representation declined both offers and decided in May 2000 to let Ungdomshuset remain under municipal auspices if a serious buyer did not come within six months. In October 2000, an offer was received from the public limited company Human A / S under foundation, which bought Ungdomshuset on 16

The purchase was an attempt to ensure that the young people could continue to use it. But the HUMAN A / S was owned by a lawyer named Inger Loft. She quickly chose to hand over the house. But there was some kind of a deal so the government would need to have the chance to buy it back. But the government could not prevent HUMAN A/S from changing the owner. In September 2001, all shares in the company were sold to Faderhuset, which were now the rightful owners. They announced that they would arrange the house as a Christian youth house. There was a lot of speculation about who was hiding behind the name HUMAN A / S. Some people thought that it was a political party who had bought the house, so the young people had a place to be.

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The demolition of the Youth House and what the place mean to young people

On the 1th march 2007 the police started to clear out the youth house. They made all the protesters and users of the youth house sit on the ground with their hands tight up, and in a long line. They started the demolition of the Youth House the 5th of march.

All of the protesters were very angry, and it was very difficult for the police to get them all out. They screamed and they fought back. Throwing rubbles at the police, and lit cars on fire. It was very rough and hard to watch.

A lot of machines and different equipment were used to demolish the youth house. Young people stood outside watching the workers begin the demolition of the youth house, while crying and fighting against the police to try to save the youth house.

The youth house was a place where the young people who didn’t necessarily fit it to the rest of society could build their own community. Where they could find a place to fit in and feel welcome and at home. The demolition of their home and safe place provoked the people who found a home in the youth house. To these people it feels like their home, safety and maybe even their happiness has been stolen from them. It was like any other youth house. A place to feel welcome. A place to be with equals. These people have been outsiders their entire life until they found this place to feel belonging. And now that they have found this place to fit in they don't have to feel wrong, misplaced or like they’re not good enough anymore.

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The history of the Youth House

The Youth House was opened on the 12th November 1897, located on Jagtvej 69, Nørrebro. It was a place where labourers could go to drink and socialise.

The place was run by anarchists so there was also a lot of scheming against the government but other than that it was a democratic place where all the chores were shared equally.

A lot of well-known people have visited the house since it was opened. Celebrities such as Björk and Nick Cave have played there and even the communist Vladimir Lenin visited at some point.

fun fact: the women's march in 1915 was said to have been planned there.

Before 1982 the house was called "Folkets Hus" but it was renamed to "Ungdomshuset" when it was given to the youths.
After the Lord Mayor (overborgmesteren) at the time gave them the house he got a round of "buksevand" (practical joke) and so the tensions between the Danish government and the Youth House began.

In 2001 the house was sold to the christian group "Faderhuset" and, well, the house was run by anarchists so of course they didn't let it go lightly. Violent riots and demonstrations ensued but in the end the Youth House was taken down and now there's only the ground on where it stood which by the was is now called "Ground 69".

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The house on Jagtvej 69, was a youth house. In 1982 the local authorities in Copenhagen gifted the house to a group of teenagers. 14 years later in 1996, a fire broke out, and the local authorities wanted to sell the house. Of course, the teenagers were against it, this is where the demonstrations began to start.

Many teens hung out in this building, and they all shared common interests and hobbies. Often these teens didn’t really have a home or a place they called home. Some of these young teens may have experienced neglect in their childhood. So, they never felt they fitted in. In our society, we have some self-written norms, and these teens didn’t fit into any of those. So that's why the house meant a lot to them, it was a place they could be themselves without worrying to be judged.

When the government announced the youth house on Jagtvej 69 was going to be sold and demolished, the teens didn’t take it well. The youngsters started resisting and became furious. Many people went to the demonstration, to show their support to the teenagers. Demonstrators attacked the police, and of course, the police fired back. The demonstrators were barricading the streets and throwing stones at police vehicles. At some point, a special police force had to intervene. The riots also began lighting fires on the streets and working together to push a container on the side, to block the police cars from entering their zone. The police responded to all of this with teargas. It was so bad that a restraining order was made, this meant that regular people could potentially be arrested for being on the streets. One day the police at 7 o’clock flew two helicopters on top of the building and lowered down some special police forces, their job was to clear the house for any kind of weapon. This was a surprise maneuver. Cars were lit on fire, and it looked like a war zone. All of this happened in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. Officers and demonstrators were severely hurt, and an ambulance was always in sight. Some people even lost their fingers, as a result of the clash. There were chain texts sent around, in those messages people were asking to join the demonstrators, to help them. On top of the youth house, people were throwing bottles and stones at the officers. Stores were destroyed and some even robbed.

This was not the brightest moment in Denmark's history. All of this took place in 2007, only 13 years have passed since. This event has been written down in history, in Copenhagen a police museum has this event as one of their topics.

The house was sold to a stock company that later was taken over by a Christian group. When the Christians’ tried to change the locks on the house, the teenagers just kicked them out.

There were a lot of demonstrators, and many were arrested. A little bit under 200 was arrested in a day. On YouTube, there is a video of a police car almost running over a protestor. This was very serious, and the teens were not joking, they were ready to fight. They did everything in their power to stop the government from demolishing and selling it. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned, the house was sold and demolished. However, the local authorities in Copenhagen gave them another house not too far from the other house, but the teens wanted the house on Jagtvej 69. Not only was this house special for them, but it also had a history. Lenin once visited the house, which meant a lot to them.

Right now, in Copenhagen, there are demonstrations marking the 13th anniversary for the clearing of the Youth house. Still today we are affected by this event.

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The selling and the clearing of the youth house

In 1999 the Youth house was set for sale. This meant that the highest bidding would get the building. The building was being sold, because the government said that the young people no longer had rights to own the building. In 2000 there were 2 bids for the building worth 2 million kr., but the government didn’t accept them because they wanted more money for it. The government then decided that if they didn’t get a serious bid in the next half year they would just keep the building. Right when the half year was about to end, a company named Human A/S made a bid. The government accepted the bid.

Suddenly all of the shares in Human A/S were sold to Faderhuset who now owned the youth house. But the young people still didn’t leave the building although it had been sold. In 2007 the government and Faderhuset then decided to tear down the building because it was old and a fire hazard. So the 1. of march 2007 the building was cleared. Helicopters flew over the building, police officers were landing on the building and police officers were also lifted by cranes in containers so they could get in to clear the building. Tear Gas and fire foam were thrown into the building so the users of the Youth house were forced to come out. The users said that they wouldn’t give up the house without a fight, so they blocked all the roads, then the police and military couldn't get away and reinforcements couldn’t get in, the users also threw rocks at the police cars and burnt other cars. In the ending the police got all of the young people out. The 5. march they then demolished the whole building, while the users of the Youth house watched in tears

Riots and demonstrations about the youth house

At the original date of the wrecking 14. december 2006 there were a couple big demonstrations at the town hall square with rallying points at Enghave Plads, Skt. Hans Torv, Nørrebro and Christiania. The demonstrations were non-violent and according to Copenhagen's Police there were nearly 5000 demonstrators.

There were also a couple unannounced demonstrations on december the 16th where they walked around in big groups but it ended up being dissolved by the police then a lot of the demonstrators went to Nørrebro near where the youth house was. Then they began setting fire to containers and other small inflammable objects and a lot of fights between activists began and the police ended up arresting nearly 300 people.

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The youth house on Jagtvej 69 was built in 1897 and was originally called “Arbejdernes Forsamlingsbygning” or “Folkets hus”, where workers could gather and discuss politics. It is said that several demonstrations and protests started in this building, for example the great demonstration against unemployment in 1918. Also, in 1910, a conference about women’s rights took place in the building, where the idea of an International Women’s day was born. Many famous people have also visited the building, including former head of government of Soviet Russia, Vladimir Lenin, the Polish philosopher, Rosa luxemburg and Clara Zetkin, an advocate for women’s rights. In 1968 the Danish supermarket chain Brugsen bought the building with the intention of demolishing it and building a supermarket instead, but they scrapped the idea and sold the building to the musical group Tingluti, who later sold it to the municipality of Copenhagen. Later, in 1982, the municipality of Copenhagen allowed young people to use the building, and it gained the name “Ungdomshuset” (the youth house). But then, in 1999, the municipality of Copenhagen put the building on sale to the highest bidder, and the inhabitants were not happy with this. The highest bidder ended up being the Christian group Faderhuset, who demanded that the police cleared the building. Several protests were held by the youth, many of them turning into violent riots. Cars were set on fire, windows were smashed and 714 young people were arrested. And then finally, on March 1st 2007, the police cleared the building, and on March 5th demolition of the building began.