We begin this video that ends in the heart of Copenhagen like archeologists interpreting "ancient" graffiti from deep within an underground bunker inside the Vestvolden, a 13 kilometer moat/fortification that arcs around Greater Copenhagen, from Køge Bay near the Baltic to the Husum-Tingbjerg community. It was built between 1888-1892 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel E.J. Sommerfeldt, after the model that protected Antwerp, Belgium and constructed in the 1860's by its War Minister, General Henri Alexis Brialmont. Vestvolden was built to protect Copenhagen from a war with Germany that never came to be, but later was manned during World War I when Denmark was neutral, and the Germans used it during the Nazi Occupation after April 9, 1940.
After coming out of the bunker, the Vestvolden you will experience captures the beautiful forested and pond-saturated stripe that is linked to other trails and small forests, such that Greater Copenhagen sits inside its womb. This is my backyard, only a minute walk from my home.
The video then follows an ancient Viking trail into Copenhagen, now called Frederikssundsvej which becomes Nørrebrogade, one of five main arteries into downtown, upon entering the controversy-filled Nørrebro borough (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ZCCECR654). We will make a couple of stops along the way, including at 69 Jagtvej in Nørrebro, site where the first workers union in Denmark met in the 19th century, and where women met in the first decade of the 20th century to coordinate the Danish Suffrage Movement, leading to Denmark becoming one of the first nations in the world to give women the right to vote. In more recent history, this house exploded into controversy and a riot when youth who'd been deeded the house by a Copenhagen mayor 2 decades ago (Undgomshuset / Youth House) had it yanked away from them in 2007, when Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard sold it to the Evangelical cult, Father's House. (This is a news article I wrote regarding the incident: http://religiouschildabuse.blogspot.com/2008/09/danish-evangelical-christian-...) The cult, against a massive protest that the house ought to be preserved for its historical value, decided to raze it down. The day after I filmed this video, American artist, Shepard Fairey -- who'd been commissioned by the Municipality of Copenhagen to paint a memorial on the wall adjacent to the property -- returned because overnight some extremists had spray painted graffiti over Fairey's peace mural. I captured this drama by video, along with some interviews, and will share all that and much more at a later time when this video integrates into a blog with other videos in production.
We then continue into downtown Copenhagen, over the five lakes that encompass inner (Centrum) Copenhagen, to the Nørreport underground train station. These five lakes were originally a stream used for agricultural purposes dating back thousands of years. In the Middle Ages some of it was deepened to make a watermill, and then in the 16th century the five lakes were dug as a moat-fortification in response to the 1523 siege of Copenhagen by England. The video then ends at Nørreport Station, an underground railroad station, where I become intimate with an African Grey parrot.
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Mjølner-parken på Nørrebro: ikke et sted for offentlige ansatteby JegHarEnLillePik18,079 views
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