Antonia Gigglberger - Documentary Photographer

sanctuary

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Charlotte & Claus

It's a lot more work than people think, to maintain the house, terrace and garden. Our allotment is directly next to a crossroad, the cars drive too quickly, it's a big problem. We often have to go inside due to the noise. The community feeling is lacking, people are not keen to help each other so much anymore. We prefer to have a dense hedge to be more secluded, however I cut a hole in it so we can still see what's going on outside. I like to separate the garden in little areas, it's like you're moving in between different rooms. It needs to be different than home. I relax here, I don't vacuum.

Lars

We have had this garden for five years now. I'm currently preparing a birthday party for tomorrow. Our children love the garden, we have big family gatherings here.

Verner & Annemarie

We grow a lot of vegetables, we are almost self-sufficient. We have been in this garden for over thirty years.

Torben & Hanne

The prices are very low, you almost pay a symbolic price. The rules have changed, now it's focussed more on climate and biodiversity. The social life is different. Some things you can join in, like for example the summer party, but we like living a bit more secluded. There's no rules for that, but we sometimes have a bad consciousness about it, because we're not participating enough. It doesn't catch our interest. But we like to chat to the neighbours from time to time. We live here 6 months over the summer, and rent out our other apartment during that time. We feel lucky that this has been a possibility. We grow flowers and strawberries, and try to attract many insects and butterflies, that's important. Anarchy would be devastating for a place like this. You need rules. Here are many different generations. The community has changed over the last couple of years.

Margit

I've had this garden for about 20 years, I got it from an old lady. I live here during the summertime. I went to my flat to do laundry yesterday, it was too hot. I wouldn't be able to handle the heat without the garden. I've got wonderful old trees here, under which I like to sit. You can sit here, or here... In the shade or in the sun. You have to cut the hedge before the 22nd of June. They walk around and check if it's being done. But inside the garden one can do whatever you want. Even cut down trees. You need to have your own garden appliances. I've got water pistols for when the grandchildren are coming over. And an outside shower with warm water, a luxury. I haven't got much knowledge about flowers. Some friends sometimes bring me flowers, then I just plant them here, and then oooh! You grow with your garden. I don't do vegetables, as sometimes I go away for two weeks over the summer.

Kirsten & Jørn

We built the house completely new last year, and tore down the old one. The shed still needs to be removed this winter. We're preparing the soil to be planted in autumn. The group that organizes the allotments thinks about everybody, listens to everybody. The hedge has to be cut, to max. 1,60m.

Ditte & Jørgen

We've been together since four years. It's the first season we live here since having the garden. We share the vegetables with the animals. We built the new house two years ago. This winter we built the bathroom. Before we used to have a mull toilet. I stopped working in April, it's like being a child again. Every month I get money for being old. When we walk into the garden, it's like freedom, a nice, relaxing feeling. Paradise. You can leave your worries outside. We don't have a TV here, only music if we want. If we were in the flat, we would put on the TV every night right away. Here you just go outside, see the sun come up, and go down. You connect to nature more. We can talk about everything or we can just sit in silcence, and watch the birds. This used to be our Christmas tree which we planted outside. We try to minimize, not to have too many things. The garden inspires us to downsize, make everything easier. Of course, it's an active choise, not because we have to, we could choose something else, a villa maybe, but this, it feels like a little village. There's three houses on sale this summer. It's about consciousness of choice.

Lene

I've had the garden since 2002. I live here during the summer. Spring is the best time. I've got a gas oven if it's still cold in early April. I get up, put the gas on, have a hot shower and a coffee, go to work as a physiotherapist. In the evening it sometimes gets chilly. We have to adapt to the new conditions of climate change. I am planning to get barrells to save water, use the rain water instead. The house was here already when I got the allotment, I made some improvements here and there. It's more sustainable than building new. All materials are recycled, the windows a from a building site. I come often here during the winter months to work in the garden. It's a trial and error about gardening, I read many books about it. I don't do vegetables, I tried, but it was too much work for too little outcome. I have apples, plums, pears, berries. There's some killer snails around, they don't have natural enemies. I cut them. Here only organic fertilizer is allowed. I also had mice and rats. You have to learn to deal with it, it's part of being close to nature. It's a way to get rid off your stress, put your mind off work. After work I like to do some weeding. It helps me ground myself. I talk a lot about plants with my grandchildren, and an easier way of living, more sustainable. I also like knitting and sewing, I started that in the pandemic.

Sanctuary 2023

It's a common leisure activity for Danes to access nature through allotments (kolonihave) rented through organizations known as kolonihaveforeninger. They first emerged in the late 1800s, giving workers in densely populated cities the opportunity to grow vegetables and relax.

Today they can be found all over Denmark. Since around the 1960s, the houses themselves have become more sophisticated, developing from sheds to now being comparable to summer houses which may include amenities like electricity, hot water, a toilet and shower. Many tenants at the allotments now use them primarily for leisure purposes, rather than for growing vegetables. But it's also still common to see greenhouses and vegetable patches.

As a tenant of a kolonihave, you have the right to use the ground and are permitted to build on it within certain limitations – these are set by various rules including national planning laws. Strict rules apply towards the outside appearance of your allotment, such as the hight of your hedge or fence, which is being controlled by the organization responsible. You rent the land, but you own the house. In most allotments it is allowed to spend the nights there during the summer months.

Allotments are only leased by the kolonihaveforeninger for a certain amount of time. The Kolonihave Risskov by Aarhus has been found in 1918, the lease of which has recently been extended for another fifty years. Otherwise the land would be sold to investors.

Despite the lease not being for eternity, people invest a lot of time, energy and loving care into their gardens. It is space for leisure activities, birthday parties and barbecues, relaxing alone in the green, tending to your shrubs and greenery and overall allows for creating a stronger bond with nature.