Nørrebro
Encyclopedia
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. It is northwest of the city centre
Indre By
Indre By , also known as Copenhagen Center or K or Downtown Copenhagen or City, is one of the 15 administrative, statistical, and tax city districts comprising the municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark...
, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (Nørreport), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current Nørreport station
Nørreport station
Nørreport Station is a mainline railway, S-train and Copenhagen Metro station located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the busiest train station in the country, serving 300,000 people daily, including passengers not stepping off. There are 165.000 leaving or entering trains including the metro...
.
Geography
Nørrebro has an area of 3.82 km² and a population of 71891. It is bordered by Indre ByIndre By
Indre By , also known as Copenhagen Center or K or Downtown Copenhagen or City, is one of the 15 administrative, statistical, and tax city districts comprising the municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark...
to the southeast, Østerbro
Østerbro
Østerbro is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located close to present-day Østerport Station...
to the northeast, Bispebjerg
Bispebjerg
Bispebjerg is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It lies on the north border of the municipality. It covers an area of 5.39 km², has a population of 40,033, and a population density of 7,389 per km²....
to the northwest and Frederiksberg Municipality to the southwest.
History
Before 1852, Nørrebro was in the countryside. When the city decided to abandon the demarcation line in 1852, which had previously kept the city within very limited geographical limits, a building boom took place in Nørrebro. Nørrebro became the home of thousands of new workers, who came to seek their fortune in the city.Culture
Nørrebro is also known for its poly-cultural society, mostly from Middle-Eastern background. The dynamic, multiethnicMultiethnic society
A multiethnic society is one with members belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies which are ethnically homogenous. In practice, virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic...
main street Nørrebrogade runs through the area, with a multitude of shops and restaurants. One of the main points of interest in the area is historic Assistens Cemetery (Assistens Kirkegård), final resting place of Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
, Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
and H.C. Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
.
Nørrebro is a multiethnic society, and is inhabited by people from all parts of the world. The largest minority groups of people living in Nørrebro are Arabs,Turks, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
is, Bosnians, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
ns, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
ns and many more.
Riots
Nørrebrogade is known as the site of many riotRiot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
s over the years. During the 1980s, it often provided the setting for violent clashes between Danish police and militant squatters
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
known as BZ. The battles were of a very vicious nature, often involving Molotov-cocktails and pipe bombs being used by the squatters, as well as batons, tear gas and firearms used by the police.
On 18 May 1993, the district was the scene of the Nørrebro riot following the Danish "yes"-vote to the European Union
Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum, 1993
A second referendum on the Maastricht Treaty was held in Denmark on 18 May 1993. After rejecting the treaty in a referendum the previous year, this time it was approved by 56.7% of voters with an 86.5% turnout.-Background:...
. The police were unprepared for the rioters, who threw paving stones from a nearby construction site. Subsequently, 113 shots were fired: several demonstrators were wounded, some severely.
Though none of the protester died at the time, the fight left 13 demonstrators and 92 policemen injured.
The riot was the worst since World War II
Occupation of Denmark
Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark began with Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940, and lasted until German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to the Allies on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupation, most Danish...
, but although an official investigation was initiated there is still much doubt as to why the policemen were unprepared or what exactly happened.
Following the riot the Danish police upgraded their hand-carried weapons and riot gear to modern standards and began a process towards better strategic and tactical handling of crowds and riots.
In late December 2006
Copenhagen December Riot
The Copenhagen December Riot took place on 16 December 2006 in the Copenhagen area of Nørrebro. The spark of the riot was the longstanding conflict over the fate of the alternative left-wing social centre Ungdomshuset . The riot broke out when a Black Bloc demonstration in support of Ungdomshuset...
, a riot took place, regarding the fate of the squatted social centre Ungdomshuset
Ungdomshuset
Ungdomshuset was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus located on Jagtvej 69 in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendezvous point for varying autonomen and leftist groups from 1982 until 2007 when—after prolonged conflict—it...
("The Youth House"). A demonstration in support of the house was blocked by the police and a fullface streetfight broke out. The demonstrators hurled stones and fireworks at the police, who in response used their armoured cars to disband the demonstrators and fired tear gas in to the crowd. The fight grew into a full scale riot, with fires burning over night in the streets. 4 police and 2 demonstrators were injured.
On March 1, 2007, the biggest riots in recent Danish history broke out when the police moved in and evicted squatters in Ungdomshuset, which was followed by the demolition of the building. It is estimated that the eviction of Ungdomshuset and the damage done during the following riots has cost the city and the state around 100 million danish kroner (around 17 million USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
). On September 1, 2007, additional rioting resulted from a protest marking six months after the demolition of Ungdomshuset.
External links
See also
- Nørrebro stationNørrebro stationNørrebro station is a station on the S-train’s Ring line in Copenhagen, Denmark. It serves the outer end of the Nørrebro district. The planned City Circle Line would see underground trains of the Copenhagen Metro begin serving the station as well....
- Blågårds PladsBlågårds PladsBlågårds Plads is a public square attached to Blågårdsgade, a side street to Nørrebrogade in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark...