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Appendix
Group 5, House 3.1.1
Spring 2015
Group members:
Christian Korf Wøldike, Cory Benford-Brown, Emilie Dyrvig Hellesøe,
Jakub Droppa, Katrine Hejslet Larsen, Mads Gustav Grene
Supervisor: Prem Poddar
Study programme: HIB
Table of Contentents
1. Historien om børnemagt…………………………………………………….…………………………1
1.1. The Story of ‘Power to the Children’ ……………………..….…………………….……………….4
2. Chrisitiania Smedie…………………………………………………………….….…………….……..8
2.1. Christiania’s Blacksmith………………….…………………………………………………….……9
3. The Manifesto………………………….……….……………….…….……………………………….11
1. Historien om børnemagt
I årene 1970-1971 rasede slumstormen over København. Grupper af boligsøgende unge, besatte
ejendomme i deres krav om et sted at bo. Som et led i slumstormerne sociale arbejde og
bevidsthed, blev der i slumgårdene stillet rum og plads til rådighed for børn og unge. Dels unge
fra kvarteret, men også børn og unge på flugt fra forældre og institutioner fandt her et fristed.
Dannelse af U-18 (under 18) grupper blev resultatet, og her lagdes grunden for mange af de
tanker og ideer der senere skabte Børnenes Befrielses Front. Børnenes Befrielses Front var en
organisation der som formål havde at befri danmarks børn for den undertrykkelse som vi dagligt
blev udsat for. Vi ville forene og styrke enkelte børn og grupper til at tage kampen op for at
skabe bedre vilkår, og vi brugte et begreb vi kaldte for børnemagt, hvilket vil sige, barnets ret og
mulighed for at realisere sig selv og sine ideer.
Protesten
Vi ville vise vores protest mod at det at være barn ikke regnes for noget særligt, og slet ikke
noget særlig godt, og at børn kun er halvmennesker, der bare skal vente på at blive voksne. Og vi
kæmpede og protesterede mod en skole der bare fungerer som ventesal og som parkeringsplads
for mennesker, indtil man finder det formålstjentligt at udnytte dem på arbejdsmarkedet.
Børnenes Befrielses Front organiserede sig for første gang officielt i lokaler i huset, rådhusstræde
13, men vores aktivitet var ikke af beskaffenhed som gav kommunal støtte, og af et massivt
politiopbud blev vi tilsidst sat ud af vores rum.
Ringene breder sig
I mellemtiden havde befrielsen af Baadsmandsstrædes kaserne stabiliseret sig og de tre år givet.
Vi besluttede at flytte herud og bygge for og på de tre år. Vi fandt et lille træhus i grønnegade,
bag mælkebøtten, og indrettede os. Vores aktiviteter og slagord gav efterhånden kraftigere og
kraftigere genlyd. Flere og flere hørte om vores eksistens og i hele perioden omkring huset Algar
i grønnegade blev vi kontaktet og opsøgt af tusinder af børn og unge fra hele landet. Vi blev
endvidere til tider næsten helt invaderet af reportere, velmenende pædagog’nokere, studerende,
der lavede rapporter m.m.
!1
Det historiske materiale fra denne tid er sikkert omfattende, bare med en fejl, at det for det meste
var voksne, der skrev historierne. I øvrigt var vi heller ikke altid lige pålidelige i en interviewsituation.
Politiet
Men vi blev også kontaktet fra anden kant, politiets uropatrulje holdt heksejagt på os, sikkert i et
forsøg på at skræmme os, hvilket jo sådan set også lykkedes, det lykkedes dem jo bare ikke at
skræmme os væk. Tværtimod skræmte de os tættere og tættere sammen. Presset op i et hjørne
blev vi gradvis mere og mere aggressive og væbnede os hårdere og hårdere mod angrebene.
Modsætningerne
Vores forbindelse med det øvrige christiania Christiania var meget overfladisk, og det byggede
mest op enkelte kontakter, mennesker der var kommet til os og som vi blev venner med.
Naturligvis blev der også udøvet en voksenfascistisk undertrykkelse af os fra nogle ældre
fristadsborgeres side. Men reel massiv modstand fra christiania mødte vi først omkring en sag
om et hus i christianias nordområde, hvor vi på almindelig christiania-vis var kommet først til et
nyt hus, et hus der for os betød opfyldelsen af en drøm om at være os selv, og samtidig have
muligheden for at forsvare os rimeligt mod overgreb fra ordensmagten eller anden
højreorienteret side. Kort fortalt havde vi planer om at i vores samfund var et hus ikke nok, når
man ville være sig selv som barn, men at en fæstning var nødvendig.
I huset Algar havde vi ingen reel mulighed for at forsvare os, udover alm. Støtte fra
omkringboende, der for det meste var af forholdsvis passiv karakter (her undtages den filmiske
virkelighed, i Peter Watkins film om Danmark). Vi ville simpelthen barrikadere os på bedste
slumstormermaner, og bag pigtråd og forhindringer sikre den enkelte af os personlig frihed. Det
skulle ikke være muligt for bare små grupper uroer at true vores eksistens. Fra ældre etablerede
christianitters side løb ramaskrig, man var vist nok bange for, at vores frihedstrang, ville sætte
hele fristadens huse og husejeres eksistens på spil. Bare for vores ideer. Under diskussionerne
omkring vores hus-projekt, kom mange øvrige christianitter for dagens lys.
!2
På en måde var børnemagt lidt af et stedbarn for Christiania. Vi var et godt emne for borgerlige
smudsmagasiner. Og da man åbenbart fra forskellige sider troede på den almindelige borgerlige
mening om os, anså mange af os for en latent trussel mod fristaden og dermed dem selv. Vi på
vores side førte den politik, at vi var totalt ligeglade med hvad de voksne tænkte og mente, og da
specielt om os. Vi havde vores eget liv og det var, efter omstændighederne, det vi levede. Vi
prøvede at føre ungdomsoprøret fra tresserne videre ved at sige: Barndom, ungdom, samme dom.
Vi sagde børnemagt nu!
Børnemagt skal væk!
Men man hverken ville eller kunne acceptere vilde børn i danmark, og fra SSystemets side holdt
man møder i socialstyrelsen og ordren lå klar: Børnemagt skal væk, hårdt eller blødt, børnemagt
har ingen eksistensberettigelse, de skal væk. Man fik “kontakt” med os og påbegyndte en
“behandling” af os, altså ikke for at skabe grobund og plads til vores ideer, “som man ellers godt
kunne forstå og se var meget rigtige”, men en behandling af de enkelte af os som uønskede
afvigere, og med det helt klare formål at splitte og forjage børnemagt fra christiania. Med del og
hersk politik blev der drevet kiler ind mellem de enkelte medlemmer af vores gruppe og med
pengemagt og falske løfter fik man ellers livskraftige og sociale børn til at flippe ud, blive
egoister og kokse. Vores hus i grønnegade blev udsat for et realisere is i multimediehuset, men
splittelsen inden for gruppen blev mere og mere mærkbar.
Stem på børn
Ved kommunevalget i 1974 manifesterede børnemagt sig så for sidste gang officielt, del
dannelsen af et børneparti. Sammen med nørrebropræsten Erik Bock lavede vi et fantastisk
gadeteater, som er en historie helt for sig, og som vil blive fortalt ved en senere lejlighed. Vi
opstillede en programerklæring og gik til valg under mottoet: stem på børn. Og det gjorde ialt
186 mennesker over 21 i københavns kommune og de skal hermed have tak for deres tillid til
børn. Her slutter en historie om børnenes befrielses front, og nogle vilde børn i danmark.
!3
De enkelte medlemmer blev tilpasset “det øvrige samfund”, hvilket vil sige at et par stykker blev
sprøjtenarkomaner, nogle døde af det og atter andre kom tilbage til institutionslivets fred. Vi blev
tilpassede, vi blev væk.
Fremtiden
Men tanken er stadig fri, og hvis man i dag skal klarlægge hvad børnemagt egentlig fik udrettet,
så kan vi erkende at der eksisterer begreber som børnemagt, voksenfascisme, aldersdiktatur mm.
Man må også gerne tro (og måske håbe), at Børnenes Befrielses Front var hvad man kalder for
en avantgardegruppe, som gennem medier og ballade har lagt noget af grobunden for det
børneoprør, der i løbet af firserne vil løbe danmark og verden over ende. Længe leve fri
udvikling - giv magten til de yngste.
1.1. The Story of ‘Power to the Children’
In the years 1970-1971, the slum-storm of Copenhagen raged. Groups of young people seeking
housing occupied properties in their claim for a place to stay. As part of the squatters
(slumstormerne) social work and consciousness, they created room and space in their yards
available for use by children and the young. Initially young people from the neighborhood, but
later also children and young people fleeing from parents and institutions, found a refuge here.
The formation of U-18 (under-18) groups was the result, and here the foundation for many of the
thoughts and ideas that later created the Children's Liberation Front were laid. The Children's
Liberation Front was an organisation whose purpose was to liberate Denmark's children from the
oppression of which we are exposed to daily. We would unite and strengthen individual children
and groups to take up the fight to improve conditions, and we used a concept we called ‘Power to
the Children’, i.e., the child's right and opportunity to realise himself and his ideas.
The Protest
We wanted to show our protest against the fact that being a child is not considered to be
something special, and certainly not anything particularly good, and that children are only halfpeople who just have to wait to become adults.
!4
We fought and protested against a school that just works as a waiting room and parking lot for
people until there is an opportunity to exploit them in the labor market. The Children’s
Liberation Front organised for the first time officially in rooms in Huset, Rådhusstræde 13, but
our activity was not of the nature that gave local support, and due to a massive police presence,
we were finally pushed out of our room.
The Rings are Spreading
Meanwhile, the liberation of the barracks at Baademandsstræde had stabilized, and ‘the three
years’ granted. We decided to move out here and build upon and within the three years. We found
a small wooden house in Grønnegade behind Mælkebøtten, and furnished the place. Our
activities and slogans gave gradually louder and louder echoes. More and more people heard
about our existence and throughout the whole period around the house "Algar" in Grønnegade,
we were contacted and visited by thousands of children and young people from across the
country. We were also sometimes almost completely invaded by reporters, well-meaning
pedagogues, students who made reports, etc. The historical material from this period is certainly
comprehensive, just with an error that it was mostly adults who wrote the stories. Incidentally,
we were not always reliable in a interview situations.
The Police
But we were also contacted by the law, and the police riot-squad kept up a witch-hunt against us,
definitely in an attempt to intimidate us. In a way this succeeded, just not in scaring us away. It
rather frightened us closer and closer together. Pressed into a corner we were gradually more and
more aggressive and armed ourselves harder and harder against attacks.
The Contradictions
Our connection with the rest of Christiania was very superficial, and was built mainly upon
individual contacts, people who had come to us and we had became friends with. Naturally, there
was also a growing fascist repression exercised against us from some of the older Christianites.
!5
But we did not meet a real, great opposition from Christiania for the first time until a case of a
house in the Northern area of Christiania, where we, by ordinary Christianian-manner, arrived
first at a new house, a house which for us meant the fulfillment of a dream to be ourselves, whilst
having the opportunity to defend ourselves fairly against abuses by police officers and other
right-wing sides. In short, we had plans that in our community a house was not enough when one
would be himself as a child, so a fortress was needed.
In the house "Algar" we had no real opportunity to defend ourselves, exceeding normal support
from local residents, who were mostly of a fairly passive character (here excluded the cinematic
reality of Peter Watkins film about Denmark). We would simply barricade ourselves in the best
squatter fashion, and behind barbed wire and obstacles, ensure each of us a personal freedom. It
should not be possible for just small, mobile groups to threaten our existence. From older
established Christianites ran outcry, it was known that they were probably afraid that our desire
for freedom would put the entire Freetown houses and houseowners existence at stake. Just for
our ideas. During the discussions around our house project, many contradictions between us and
many other Christianites came to light. In a way, ‘Power to the Children’ became a bit of a stepchild for Christiania. We were a good topic for civil-dirt magazines. And since you obviously,
from different sides, believed in the ordinary bourgeois opinion about us, many saw us as a latent
threat to the Freetown and thus themselves. We on our side led the policy that we were totally
indifferent to what the adults thought and believed, and specially when talking about us. We had
our own life and it was, in the circumstances, that we lived. We tried to keep the youth rebellion
of the sixties going by saying: childhood, youth, the same judgment. We said ‘Power to the
Children’ Now!
Children Power Must Go Away!
But neither would, nor could, society accept wild children in Denmark, and on the ‘SS’ystem
side we kept encountering Social Agencies with a clear order: Children Power must go away,
hard or soft, ‘Power to the Children’ has no right to exist, they must be removed.
!6
They got in "contact" with us and began a "treatment" of us, not for fostering or creating space
for our ideas, "which they otherwise could understand and see very real", but a treatment of each
of us as junk dissenters, and with the clear objective to split and evict children power from
Christiania. With this divide and rule policy, wedges were driven between the various members
of our group, and with the power of money and false promises making otherwise vigorous and
social children freak out, they became egoists and bums. Our house on Grønnegade got burned
down and we relocated into the Multimedia House, but divisions within the group became more
and more noticeable.
Vote for Children
‘Power to the Children’ manifested at the local elections in 1974, for the last time officially, due
to the formation of a children's party. Along with a priest from Nørrebro, Erik Bock, we made a
great street theater, which is a story all by itself, that will be told at a later date. We drew up a
manifesto and went to the elections under the slogan: Vote for Children. And that is what a total
of 186 people over the age of 21 did in the City of Copenhagen, and we hereby thank them for
their confidence in children. Here ends the story of the Children's Liberation Front, and some
Wild Children in Denmark. Individual members were adapted to "the rest of society", which
means that some became junkies, some died of it, and others still came back to institutional life.
We were customised, we were away.
The Future
But the idea is still free, and if you today have to clarify what ‘Power to the Children’ actually
got done, we can recognise that there are concepts such as children power, fascism, age
dictatorship etc. You may also like to think (and maybe hope) that the Children's Liberation Front
was what one calls an avant-garde group, which through media and public trouble has set some
of the breeding ground for the child revolt that, during the eighties, will run Denmark and
worldwide in the end. Long live free development - give power to the youngest.
!7
2. Chrisitiania Smedie
Smedeværkstedet blev grundlagt på et møde 6.1.74. Dette møde var det sidste af en række hvor
alle interesserede kunne deltage. Initiativet til disse møder udsprang af, at keramikhuset nedlagde
sin smedeafdeling og udbød sine maskiner til salg. For at bevare disse værdier startedes en
indsamling, hvor der i alt indkom 1.300 kr. Disse penge dækkede et svejseapparat, en
slibemaskine, søjleboremaskine, manometre til gas-svejs og et par skruestik. Jeg, jesper havde
aldrig arbejdet med jern før, næsten da, jeg boede på autogena-farmen, hvor vi havde drømt om
lidt af den slags, deraf navnet. Vindmøller blev min galskab, Erik Solmotor blev min guru. Det
blev ikke til så meget med vindmøllerne. Men efter min egen “gør-det-selv” anvisning fra
ordkløveren byggede jeg olietøndeovne. Det blev i alt 20-30 stykker. Hvor smedjen for nogle
måske var en hobby-mulighed, blev den snart for mig et levebrød. Da lars skulle reparere sin
gamle bil, skubbede vi den ind over et hul i gulvet der ligner en “rigtig” grav. Hurtigt blev han så
dygtig, at han for penge kunne lave andre folks biler. Så kom bilerne strømmende og med dem
keld, han har jo en skummel fortid som mekaniker. “Keld, kan du ikke lige?” og så begyndte
nogle af smedjens brugere at blive professionelle. Vi reparerede eller fabrikerede ovne,
cykelvogne, låsebeslag, barnevogne, knive, ønsker osv.
Hobbybrugerne
Derefter noget om hobbybrugerne: Det ligger i hele den måde, smedjen startede på
(pengeindsamlingen), at smedjen var noget der hørte fællesskabet til. Noget alle kunne benytte
sig af. Vi professionelle har ofte skulle virke som vejledere og rådgivere i “gør-det-selv”. Benytte
det rigtige værktøj, ikke komme galt afsted og ikke mindst rydde op efter folk. Denne side af
smedjens liv har tit krævet stor selvbeherskelse, og skulle der rundt omkring findes en enkelt der
er blevet dårligt behandlet, må han eller hun forstå.
Smedjens økonomi
Smedjen har ikke givet store penge. Kun fra hånden til munden og lige til det nødvendige for at
holde menageriet kørende. Store nyanskaffelser er der ikke blevet råd til. Tværtimod har vi slidt
meget af maskineriet ned uden at kunne lægge penge til side til fornyelse.
!8
Hvad er grunden til den usunde økonomi? Hvis jeg skal give et svar, må det være at den åbenhed
smedjen har kørt med, har givet en forflygtigelse af ansvaret over for tingene. Ved privat
ejendomsret står ansvaret klart. Fællesskabet kræver en helt anden evne til ansvarlighed. En evne
som tilsyneladende er godt nedslidt hos de fleste, når den ikke ligefrem er pålagt med tvang. Det
vil sige, at vi i smedjen for det første har skullet holde vores personlige ansvarsfølelse flydende
og dernæst ved tvang pålægge andre den.
Om fremtiden
En løsning kunne måske være “statstilskud”, penge fra fælleskassen til den vedligeholdelse af
maskinparken, der ikke i øjeblikket bliver råd til. Eller modsat, at smedjen drives ad mere private
veje med tanke for afskrivning, forretning osv.
2.1 Christiania’s Blacksmith
The blacksmith was founded at a meeting in 1974. This meeting was the last of a series, where
all interested parties could participate. The initiative for these meetings arose from the pottery
house ceasing to operate its blacksmith, and then offering their machinery for sale. To maintain
these valuables, a collection was started that attracted 1,300 kr. This money covered a welder, a
grinder, drill press, pressure gauges for gas welding and a pair of vise. I, Jesper, had never
worked with iron before, almost.. I lived on the Autogena-farm, where we had dreamed of a little
about that sort, hence the name. Windmills were my madness, Erik Solmotor was my guru. I
never really got to do anything with the windmills. But after my own "do-it-yourself"
instructions from Ordkløveren, I built oil drum stoves. In total, I made 20-30 pieces. Where the
forge, for some, maybe was a hobby option, it was soon to become a livelihood for myself. When
Lars came to repair his old car, we pushed it on top of a hole in the floor that looked like a "real"
grave. Quickly, he became so skilled that he could make money by fixing other people's cars.
Then, the cars came flowing through, and then Keld, he has a dodgy past as a mechanic. "Keld,
are you able to?" And so became some of the smith's users professional. We repaired or
fabricated ovens, bicycle carts, lock fittings, prams, knives etc.
!9
Hobby Users
Now, something about the hobby users: Due to the way the blacksmith started (money
collection), the smithy was something that belonged to the community. Something everyone
could take advantage of. We professionals have often had to act as mentors and advisers in
regards to "do-it-yourself". Using the right tools, making sure people do not hurt themselves, and
not the least clean up after people. This side of the smithy's life has often required great selfcontrol, and should there be one who has been badly treated by myself, he or she must
understand.
The Blacksmiths Economy
The smith has not been paying off a lot. Only enough to feed myself and what is necessary to
keep the menagerie running. We have not been able to make large acquisitions. On the contrary,
we have worn much of the machinery down without being able to put money aside for renewal.
What is the reason for the unhealthy economy? If I have to give an answer, it must be that the
openness the smithy has been running, has created a blurring of responsibility towards things. In
the case of private property, the responsibility is more clear. The shared community requires a
completely different ability in regards to accountability. An ability which is apparently well worn
out for most when not imposed by force. This means that we in the blacksmith first had to keep
our sense of responsibility fluidic, and then forcibly impose on others it.
About the Future
One solution might be "government subsidies", money from the common fund for the
maintenance of the machines that we are not currently able to afford. Or the opposite, that the
blacksmith goes down a more private road with the thought of depreciation, business etc.
!10
3. The Manifesto
"Christianias commitment is to create and sustain a self-governing community, in which
everyone is free to develop and express themselves, as responsible members of the community.
This society must be economically self-supporting , and the common aspiration must constantly
go out to show that the mental and physical pollution can be avoided . 13.11.71”
!11