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The Battle of Ryesgade took place in mid-september 1986, in the copenhagen street Ryesgade. The battle was the culmination of a long standing conflict, between the copenhagen city council and the citys community of squatters. The battle lasted for nine days, and marked a turningpoint for the squatters movement in Denmark.
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"Rather die standing up, then living life on your knees" -Motto of the squatters in Ryesgade-
Background
Up trough the 1980´s a series of battles had been fought between the Copenhagen city council and the copenhagen squatters movement. The squatters movement in Denmark had since the begining of the 80s become an active and weelfounded social movement. The movement started in Copenhagen were a group of young people started to take over empty buildings, useing them for free houseing and as alternative cultural and community centres. The youngsters were made up from a mixture of punks, leftwing activists and unemployed teenagers who had their basis, in the workingclass area of Nørrebro. The situation i Denmark at the time, was one of high unemployment and poor housing, especcially in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen City Council, lead by the socialdemocratic mayor Egon Widekamp, had in the 1970s begun a proces of rehousing for people living in the poor ereas of Copenhagen. The proces involved the demolition of large parts of the old boroughs sorounding the city centre. Altough the plan was to raise the living standard for workingclass people, the consequence often was that the new houses became to expensive for these people to live in. Many found themselfs "temporarily" relocated to elsewhere in the city, and when they wanted to return to their old homes,they found the rent to be to high for them to pay. This gave rise to a growing anger towards the city council and a felling amongst the poor people of Copenhagen that decisions, concerning their lives were being made without them having anything to say about it. The Citys plans also left many old and worn, but still usefull,buldings empty. At the same time a lot of young people were unemployed and without homes. All these factors would in time be the foundatiton for the rise of the squatters movement.
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Squatter wearing helmet for protection during the Battle of Ryesgade
The conflict between the squatters, the police and the City Council
The squatting of Ryesgade 58
In 1983 a group of squatters moved in and took control over an empty house in Ryesgade 58. The squatters moved in slowly and in small groups, to avoid detection from the police. The plan succeded, and after a couple of months a well organised squat had been established.The squat was organised so that every floor was a independent collective in its own right. Each of these colectives was then charged with organiseing and maintaining their part of the house. Weekly meetings were also held for everybody living in the house and here the collectives played a vital role as a basis for discussion. No matter if it were politics, ideology or practical matters concerning the house, that were being talked about. The squatters were for a large part made up from "older" squatters who had been with the movement since its beginning. <gallery> Image:bzr.jpg|Squatters defending barricade in Ryesgade <gallery> Image:bzæ.jpg|Squatters watching police movements from rooftop.Battle of Ryesgade Image:bzø.jpg|Sentry watching the ammunition during the Battle of Ryesgade <gallery>