The Blitz House () is a

self-managed social centre A self-managed social center, also known as an autonomous social center, is a self-organized community center in which Anti-authoritarianism, anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venue ...

hosting left-wing anarchists in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, the capital city of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Founded in 1982 as a squat, it is now legalized and based on Oslo's

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 ...

. It hosts activities such as political meetings, the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

radio station radiOrakel, a vegan café, and musician practice rooms. The Blitz movement has been involved in a number of protests and riots (such as the 2008–2009 Oslo riots), and has been attacked by right-wing extremists on numerous occasions.

Facilities

The Blitz House is a

, Norway. It started out as a

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

building in Skippergata 6 in downtown Oslo in 1982 and has since been a centre of

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

activism. In 1982, Skippergata was evicted and the squatters moved into

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 Oslo City Hall () is a municipal building in Oslo, the capital of Norway. It houses the city council, the city's administration and various other municipal organisations. The building as it stands today was constructed between 1931 and 1950, wi ...

, and the sale was stopped. The

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(KrF) criticized the group and attempted to stop the lease. 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 Infoshops are places in which people can access anarchist or autonomist ideas. They are often stand-alone projects, or can form part of a larger radical bookshop, archive, self-managed social centre or community centre. Typically, infoshops offer ...

. Alongside

Hausmania Hausmania is a self-managed social centre and cultural house ( Norwegian: Kulturhus) in Oslo, Norway. It was squatted in 1999 by a group of artists and run based on collectivist ideology. It is located alongside other squats at Hausmannsgate 34, ...

in Oslo and UFFA in Trondheim, Blitz is a centre for

anarchism in Norway Anarchism in Norway first emerged in the 1870s. Some of the first to call themselves anarchists in Norway were Arne Garborg and Ivar Mortensson-Egnund. They ran the radical target magazine Fedraheimen which came out 1877–91. Gradually the maga ...

Incidents

During the 1980s, the people around Blitz were involved in many protests for example during the visits of the British prime minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

in 1986 and US Secretary of Defense

Caspar Weinberger Caspar Willard Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American politician and businessman. As a Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, most notably as Secretary of Defense under ...

in 1987. 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. The house was bombed by neo-Nazis in 1990 and 1994.

Mayhem Mayhem most commonly refers to: * Mayhem (crime), a type of crime Mayhem may also refer to: People * Monica Mayhem (born 1978), Australian pornographic actress * Jason "Mayhem" Miller, American mixed martial arts fighter * Mayhem Miller (dr ...

bassist

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian musician and author best known for his early black metal albums and later for his crimes. His first five records, released under the name Bu ...

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 Øystein Aarseth (22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the No ...

in 1993. Blitz openly supported and took part in the 2008–09 Oslo riots.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control 1980s in Oslo 1982 establishments in Norway 20th century in Oslo Anarchist squats Anarchism in Norway Autonomism Left-wing politics in Norway Former squats Infoshops Politics of Norway Vegan restaurants Squatting in Norway

Facilities

Incidents

See also

References

External links