Anarchy in Leuven

“Anarchy in Leuven: At Home in the Underground” is a city walk featuring photographs, posters, music, video, and testimonials that takes you past various buildings in Leuven that were once squatted. Between the time they were occupied by squatters and their inevitable eviction, many of these buildings served as hotbeds of activism and counterculture. Some buildings have since been restored and put back into use. Others have been demolished to make way for new construction. Yet they remain locations with a history of their own. They provided shelter to creative types and anarchists, to the homeless and those striving to improve the world. Large buildings such as Villa Squattus Dei, AC De Molotov, Plan Z, the squatted ACCO printing plant, or the Chaos Bar on Aarschotsesteenweg were known far beyond the country’s borders. Local punk bands like Ulrikes Dream or The Usual Suspects were regulars there, but hundreds of other touring bands also rocked the house. And for years, every eviction simply led to a new squat.
“You can’t evict ideas; squatting goes on”

28 locations are marked on the map. Most of them lie along a mapped-out tour consisting of two loops. The first loop is 3.5 km long and takes 45 minutes; the second loop is 3 km long and takes 40 minutes. This way, you can choose where you want to go and how many places you want to visit in a single walk. In addition, there are a few more distant points. You can visit these via the app or take a short bike ride there. This gives you a good overview of Leuven’s squatter landscape.

NOTE: When viewing the testimonials, make sure your device doesn’t go into sleep mode!

📏 3.5 km + 3 km
🕑 45 minutes + 40 minutes