Squatting in Norway is taking possession of land or an empty house without the permission of the owner. The first public occupation was Hjelmsgate 3 in 1969 and self-managed social centres which were first squatted and then legalized include the Blitz House, Hausmania and

UFFA UFFA ( no, Ungdom for fri aktivitet; en, Youth for free activity) is an anarchist youth house in Trondheim, Norway. The self-managed social centre provides a location for concerts and self-organised activities such as an infoshop at the Ivar ...

. Brakkebygrenda was a land squat which has twice been evicted.

History

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, the capital of Norway, the first public occupation was Hjelmsgate 3 in 1969. It was quickly legalized and became a base for anarchism and countercultural activities. In the 1980s, buildings were occupied by a radical left-wing movement which had links to Denmark and Sweden. Most famously, houses on Skippergata were squatted and then after eviction, the Blitz House was occupied at

Pilestredet Pilestredet is a street in Oslo, Norway which begins in the Sentrum, Oslo, city center and runs through the boroughs of St. Hanshaugen and Frogner. The street was originally called Rakkerstrædet in reference to the city dump being located along ...

30. Blitz is a self-managed social centre which hosts radiOrakel (a feminist radio station), a bookshop, a music venue and a vegan café. Hausmania is a complex of buildings in Oslo that has been squatted from 1999 onwards. The cultural centre at Hausmannsgate 34 has a cinema, galleries, a vegan café and a theatre. Hausmannsgate 34 was evicted in 2016 and 11 people were arrested. Brakkebygrenda was also occupied in 1999. It was a land squat where people lived in caravans and motorhomes, which has been evicted twice. The eviction in 2008 was resisted by between 30 and 40 squatters throwing projectiles, and a caravan was set on fire. In 2014, the site was evicted again in a large police operation, which closed nearby roads. Property developers Urbanium, who bought property on the Hausmania site, were reported by ''

Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...

'' to have been involved in the eviction of Brakkebygrenda. In

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, the self-managed social centre

was created in 1981. After the original building was burnt down, the centre moved to its present location. It houses a bookshop, a cafe, a concert space and offices for the anarchist newspaper ''Folk & Røvere''. Blitz, Hausmania and UFFA are all centres for anarchism in Norway.

History

References

Further reading