Page 23 - C.A.L.L. #29 - Winter 2007

This summer, Time magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and The Independent, all
printed articles on the Danish commune of Christiana under the headlines “Europe's
Last Commune Braces for Battle”, “'70s utopia soon to be just another brick in the
wall” and “On the barricades: Trouble in a hippie paradise” respectively. What
follows are excerpts describing a community under threat:

In 1971, the original 700 Christianians being sold, there was not a hint of any
established squatters' rights in an abandoned corporate entity in the entire free city.
military barracks, just a 10-minute walk from Everything was handmade. Nothing was
the Danish parliament building. A generation packaged. And, of course, that will not stand.
later, this "free city" still stands -- an ultra-
human mishmash of idealists, hippies, But Christiania sits on prime real estate in
potheads, non-materialists and happy children Copenhagen's upmarket Christenhaven
(600 adults, 200 kids, 200 cats, 200 dogs, 17 neighbourhood, and Denmark's conservative
horses and two parrots), even a handful of government wants to reclaim the territory for
Willie Nelson-type seniors among the 180 an ambitious housing project.
remaining here from the original takeover. And
an amazing thing has happened: The place has Still, the old hippie idealism still shapes many
become the third-most-visited sight among of the rules that govern the commune: Selling
tourists in Copenhagen. property is not allowed, and instead of cars —
also banned — residents use bicycles to ferry
Christiania, which sprawls just behind the everything from groceries to children.
spiral tower of Our Savior's Church in the
trendy district of Christianshavn, welcomes The enclave is arranged into 14 separate
visitors (even offering tours daily through the districts with the rights to each home
summer). They've become ultimately residing with
a major part of the the community. The result
economy. Tourists react is a culture of meetings,
in very different ways to often lasting long into the
the place. Some see dogs, night, to decide
dirt and dazed people. everything from who
Others see a haven of should be allowed to
peace, freedom and no move into a vacant
taboos. property to whether the
grass verges should be
At the community's cut. Among the meetings
entrance is a sign held last week was a
announcing that you are gathering to decide
leaving the EU (European Union). The main whether one resident accused of repeatedly
drag is nicknamed "Pusher Street" for the playing music too loudly should be asked to
marijuana-selling stands that lined it before the leave the area.
recent police crackdown. Now the police drop
in 10 times a day, and cafes post signs warning At the day care center set on the shore of the
"No pot smoking." (Hard drugs have always commune's wooded lake, minder Richard
been strictly forbidden.) Lonsdale has just put on a movie for children
after finishing school classes. "I've been here for
As you walk down Pusher Street, you'll see five years and it's changed a hell of a lot," he
Nemoland, a kind of food circus. A huge says. "There's been a general hardening of
warehouse called the Green Hall does triple- attitudes [from the police] — they think we're
duty as a recycling center (where people get the enemy, but we don't teach our kids that."
most of their building material), a craft center
for kids and an evening concert hall. Nearby is As well as the kindergarten, Christiania also
a barracks housing a bohemian chic loft whose boasts a health clinic, a book shop, a vegan
near-gourmet cuisine attracts smartly dressed restaurant and a concert venue, which gets
professional types from all over town. transformed into an impromptu dining hall
once a year when residents organize a
While biking through the community, it Christmas party for the city's homeless.
occurred to me that, except for the bottled beer

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