Blitz House

Blitz House (Norwegian: Blitzhuset) is an anarchist, communist and socialist self-managed social centre in Oslo, Norway, founded in 1982. Having started as a squat, it is now legalized and based on Pilestredet. The centre hosts activities such as political meetings, a feminist radio station (radiOrakel), a vegan café and practice rooms for musicians.

"Blitz (movement)" redirects here. For other topics, see Blitz (disambiguation).

Blitz
Refer to caption
The Blitz House in 2006
General information
LocationOslo, Norway
Coordinates59°55′06″N 10°44′16″E
Website
www.blitz.no

The house
The Blitz House after renovation in 2010

The Blitz House is a self-managed social centre in Oslo, Norway. It started out as a squatted building in Skippergata 6 in downtown Oslo in 1982 and has since been a centre of socialist, communist and anarchist activism.[1][2]

In 1982, Skippergata was evicted and the squatters moved into Pilestredet 30c in central Oslo, where an agreement was made with the city. They were allowed to rent the house for a symbolic rent, and in return they would maintain the building. In 2002, the city council, led by the Conservative Party, put the Blitz house on sale. The activists responded with protests and battered the entrance of the Oslo City Hall, and the sale was stopped.[3] The Christian Democratic Party (KrF) criticised the group and attempted to stop the lease.[4]

Among the activities of the house are a feminist radio station (radiOrakel), a vegan café, a concert hall, practice rooms for musicians and bookshop and infoshop.[5] Alongside Hausmania in Oslo and UFFA in Trondheim, Blitz is a centre for anarchism in Norway.[6]

Protests

During the 1980s, the people around Blitz were involved in many protests for example during the visits of the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1986 and US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in 1987.[7] The demonstrations turned into street battles between Blitz sympathisers and the police. From the 1990s onwards, Blitz has often obstructed legal meetings of right-wing political parties such as the Progress Party, the minor Fatherland Party and the Democrats.[7]

The house was bombed by neo-Nazis in 1990 and 1994.[8] Mayhem bassist Varg Vikernes allegedly planned to blow up the Blitz House and had stockpiled 150 kg of explosives and 3,000 rounds of ammunition at the time of his arrest for the murder of bandmate Euronymous in 1993.[9] Blitz openly supported and took part in the 2008–09 Oslo riots.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Historien om Blitz". Blitz. Archived from the original on 28 June 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
  2. Ralf Lofstad; Harald S. Klungetveit; Øistein Norum Monsen (27 April 2007). "Politiet stormet Blitz-huset". Dagbladet. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
  3. "Lang strid: Blitz år for år". Aftenposten. 7 March 2007. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
  4. Eiliv Frich Flydal (27 April 2007). "– Ser ikke forskjell på Blitz og nynazister". Dagbladet. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
  5. "Blitz - An Autonomous Youth House - Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law". www.jus.uio.no. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  6. Kuhn, Gabriel (2009). "Anarchism, Norway". The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest: 1–2. doi:10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0067. ISBN 9781405198073.
  7. Per Aage Pleym Christensen (14 November 2004). "Ensidig om Blitz". Liberaleren. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
  8. Hvidsten, Sigfrid (3 November 2004). "Pønk og politikk". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. Midtskogen, Rune (4 July 2009). ""Greven" angrer ingenting" ["The Count" regrets nothing] (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  10. "Blitz hilser opprørerne velkommen" (in Norwegian). NRK/NTB. 9 January 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
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