Copenhagen in Flames!

Just a week or so before we left the states, international news outlets began breathlessly reporting violent riots in Copenhagen. They took place a few miles from my hotel, in an area popular with immigrants and left-wing types (to be left-wing in Denmark pretty much means to be an anarchist). In other words, those not as tightly integrated with the rather rigid Danish culture. You can read all about the riots here, but I'll give you the account we got from our tour guide and hosts.

For years, an abandoned house in Copenhagen was used by a few hundred people as a "youth center". The building was sold a few years back but the owners let the center continue to operate free of charge. The owners finally decided to put the building to use and asked the occupants to leave. When the occupants refused, the owners offered to buy a new house nearby for the youths to occupy. That didn't suit the anarchists, who did not want to live in any house that had been acquired through commerce... it had to be given up free and clear. At this point the government decided that the owners had a perfect right to use the building as they saw fit, and had even gone out of their way to help the occupants find new housing. The police were called in to execute an eviction and demonstrations began.

According to the accounts we heard, Danish society was supportive of the occupants... at first. Denmark has a ridiculously comprehensive social welfare system and the general consensus was that it is good for young people to have a place to be young and bohemian. Public opinion wavered when they refused to occupy another free house because it had changed hands as commerce.

An interesting anecdote: At one point, when the young people were surrounded by police barricades and demonstrating, the police contacted the lead organizers by phone. How could they, the police, help the protesters get their message out to the world? The protesters said they would like to be filmed crossing the barricades defiantly. The police agreed and the students were filmed crossing the barricades and advancing a few meters. After that, they returned to the confines of the barricades. The cooperative environment in Denmark is truly something to behold. Above all, they treasure conflict resolution and it can be seen in all areas of society.

Unfortunately, the demonstrations got out of hand and the results are what made the news. The impression we got from everyone we spoke to was that the behavior of the demonstrators was very un-Danish. Why wouldn't they negotiate? Everyone was bewildered. It was interesting to see orderly and rational people attempt to understand people who demand the protection and benefits of society but will not contribute to or cooperate with it.


Our tour bus took a detour through the streets where the riot took place. The above picture is a little blurry, but you can see the graffiti all along the walls. Burn marks were still visible on parts of the pavement where cars had been set afire, but other than that things seemed to be back to normal.