In 2009 I had the privilege to play in Loppen, one of the oldest pubs of Christiania, an sort-of independent community in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was one of the coolest gigs ever: when I stepped in, all the bartenders were wearing giant rabbit masks.
A lot further then its well-known hashish market, Christiania is a very curious social experiment. It begun in 1971, when a group of hippies, anarchists, musicians and artists alike occupied the further military 34 hectares area, as a protest do Denmarks government.
The police tried to close the community many times, without success. Christiania became a political problem, discussed many times on Denmarks Parlament. In 1973 a new government declared the intentions of throwing out all the habitants and close the place, with a deadline set to 1st of april of 1976. In the last minute, the Parlament withdrawn, to avoid physical confrontation with those that live there. This date became a symbol for "Alternative Denmark".
The police tried to close the community many times, without success. Christiania became a political problem, discussed many times on Denmarks Parlament. In 1973 a new government declared the intentions of throwing out all the habitants and close the place, with a deadline set to 1st of april of 1976. In the last minute, the Parlament withdrawn, to avoid physical confrontation with those that live there. This date became a symbol for "Alternative Denmark".
Through the years, the city improved its self government: today, around a thousand people live there, and there is school, garbage collect, beside many bike factories and art workshops.
In the 80s Christiania became a pole for drugs in north europe and after threats from the government, the community managed to extinguish most of the heavy drugs market. Only the hashish market keep going, and still suffers raids from the police from time to time. If you go to Pusher's street and ask for hard stuff, you may be invited to leave.
Many plans were elaborated to "normalize and legalize" the "freetown", and in 2009 a judicial decision gave the government full legal rights over the area. Now, the residents have until the second of may to accept the obligation to buy their "own" lands on the price of around 19 euros per square meter. Many argue that, for residents "who have renounced materialism", this is impossible.
For three days now, residents have erected fences at entrance points which they patrol, handing out flyers which declare that "Christiania will be temporarily closed until further notice".
In the statement handed out at the blocked-off gates, the residents said: "We believe that the ultimatum issued by the Danish government about dividing up Christiania and selling off parts of the land will mean the destruction of the open, self-managed, experimental and socially inclusive Christiania as we know it."
This video (in Danish) show Christiania citizens closing up their doors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJi0TQ-ulfU
Help spreading the word about this community in order to preserve this rare social experiment.
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If after all this you are still thinking about the hashish, please go to AMSTERDAM, where it is legal, as you can see in these pictures of mine:
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