Squats, cellars and sound

There is a particular smell to a squat venue: damp stone, spilled beer, cheap rolling tobacco and the ghost of a thousand soundchecks. If you have spent any time in European punk and hardcore, you have probably stood in one of these rooms, watching a band play to two hundred people under a ceiling held up by hope and scaffolding.

A handful of places became legendary far beyond their cities. Here is what happened to five of them, as far as anyone can reasonably say.

Ungdomshuset, Copenhagen: demolished, then rebuilt

Ungdomshuset (“the Youth House”) on Jagtvej in Nørrebro was the big one for Danish punk. Occupied in 1982, it hosted concerts, a café, a library and a lot of politics for a quarter of a century. The building’s ownership was disputed for years, and the conflict escalated into some of the largest demonstrations Copenhagen had seen in decades.

In March 2007 the police cleared the building, and it was demolished shortly afterwards. The eviction set off days of rioting, and the story became a national political issue. What is often forgotten is the ending: after years of campaigning and negotiation, the city made a replacement possible. Ungdomshuset reopened in a new building on Dortheavej in 2012, run by the same kind of user-run association. It is not the same room, and nobody pretends it is, but it is still putting on shows.

For background, the Danish and English Wikipedia entries on Ungdomshuset are a reasonable starting point.

Rote Flora, Hamburg: still standing, still arguing

Rote Flora in the Sternschanze district began life as a nineteenth-century theatre. It was squatted in 1989 after a planned opera house fell through, and it has been a self-organised cultural and political centre ever since. Concerts, parties, talks, a café, and a lot of local political work.

Unlike Ungdomshuset, Rote Flora was never evicted. The city of Hamburg eventually bought the building and, after long and sometimes very tense negotiations, signed a long-term lease arrangement with the collective that runs it. That deal has been contested from both sides ever since, and the place has been the flashpoint for large demonstrations, particularly around the anniversary of its occupation each autumn.

It still operates. If you want the venue’s own version of events, roteflora.de is the place to look, and the Wikipedia article gives the broader timeline.

Köpi, Berlin: the long haul

Köpenicker Straße 137, usually just “Köpi”, was squatted in 1990, in the period when the Wall had just come down and large parts of East Berlin were up for grabs. It has been a housing project, a political centre and a concert venue ever since, and it is one of the best-known addresses in German punk.

Köpi has survived repeated eviction threats, most seriously in the mid-2000s and again in the 2010s, when the building’s ownership changed hands. Each time, a combination of legal work, public campaigning and a lot of people turning up kept it open. It remains a self-run project with gigs, and it is still a regular stop for touring bands.

It is worth saying plainly: the situation for squatted venues in Berlin is not stable. The city’s housing pressure has changed the maths for everyone. Köpi’s own site is koepi137.net.

Metelkova, Ljubljana: from barracks to cultural zone

Metelkova mesto is a former Yugoslav army barracks in central Ljubljana. It was squatted in 1993, after the army left and the buildings sat empty, and it grew into a cluster of venues, galleries, bars and studios. For Slovenian alternative music it became the centre of gravity, and it is still the first place many touring bands play in the country.

Metelkova’s position is unusual: rather than being crushed, it was gradually recognised. Parts of the complex have been given some legal footing, and it now functions as a cultural zone with public support alongside its self-organised character. That has not made it uncontroversial, and there have been repeated conflicts over development and noise complaints.

It is very much alive. metelkova.org is the umbrella site for the organisations based there.

Christiania, Copenhagen: a different animal

Christiania is not a venue, and it would be wrong to describe it as one. It is a self-governing community on the site of a former military base in Christianshavn, established from 1971. Music has always been part of it, and the venues and clubs there have hosted plenty of punk and alternative shows over the decades.

What happened to Christiania is a long story of negotiation with the Danish state. A 2004 law changed the legal basis of the area, and there have been repeated conflicts over construction, policing and the future of the community. It has not been cleared. It remains inhabited and open, though the terms on which it exists have shifted considerably since the early years.

The Wikipedia article on Christiania covers the legal history in more detail than is sensible here.

What the pattern tells you

A few things stand out.

Eviction is not always the end. Ungdomshuset is the clearest case: the building went, the institution came back in another form.
Legal recognition cuts both ways. Rote Flora and Metelkova gained a kind of security by dealing with the state, and both have spent years arguing about what that costs.
Housing pressure is the real threat. In Berlin and Hamburg, the enemy is less political hostility than property values.
The rooms are not the point, exactly. Every one of these places is remembered for the people who ran it, not the brickwork.

If you are reading this from a city with a venue that is currently under threat, the lesson is not that everything turns out fine. It is that the ones that survived mostly did so because a lot of people, for a long time, refused to let them go quietly. Go to the shows. Pay in. Sign the petition. It is unglamorous, and it is how it works.

FAQ

What happened to Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen?

Police cleared the Jagtvej building in March 2007 and it was demolished shortly afterwards, setting off days of rioting. After years of campaigning, Ungdomshuset reopened in a new building on Dortheavej in 2012.

Is Rote Flora in Hamburg still open?

Yes. Rote Flora was squatted in 1989 and was never evicted; the city of Hamburg bought the building and signed a long-term lease with the collective that runs it, though the deal remains contested.

When was Köpi in Berlin squatted?

Köpenicker Straße 137 was squatted in 1990, after the Wall came down. It has survived repeated eviction threats, most seriously in the mid-2000s and again in the 2010s.

What is Metelkova in Ljubljana?

Metelkova mesto is a former Yugoslav army barracks in central Ljubljana, squatted in 1993. It grew into a cultural zone of venues, galleries, bars and studios and now receives some public support alongside its self-organised character.