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Denmark's Hippies Hit Their Golden Years
By: Charles P. Wallace
Time, August 2002
The sign on the gate says it all: You are now
leaving the European Union. You're not of course, but life in the Free
Town of Christiania, as the neighborhood in the leafy outskirts of
Copenhagen likes to call itself, seems like time travel to the 1970s — a
simpler time of hippies, drugs and rock'n'roll.
Christiania was a military compound and barracks abandoned by the Danish
army at the start of the turbulent 70s. Soon after the army moved out,
squatters moved in and began converting the army's vacant buildings into
homes and shops. For 20 years, Copenhagen authorities tried to shut it
down, but eventually gave up and signed a peace agreement allowing this
rather 1970s vision of a commune to remain as long as it paid its taxes
and water and light bills. "People say we are trying to stop time and
hold on to flower power," says Camilla Roslind, 29, who has lived in
Christiania for a decade and works in the commune's library.
Apart from the hippie atmosphere, Christiania's claim to fame is its
renowned Pusher Street, where marijuana and hashish from all over the
world are sold. Prices for Moroccan or Thai are posted on shops like the
prices for chicken and hamburger in more conventional cities and the
product is stacked openly like candies in a sweet shop. Most visitors
retire to picnic tables in a big circus tent, which houses a local bar, to
smoke their goods before they leave.
Judging by the openness, the police these days seem to leave the drug
trade unmolested. In the past they have staged massive raids, cordoning
off entire blocks and making mass arrests. For a while, they even carted
away the fixtures of bars that didn't pay the proper taxes on alcohol. Now
the only vestige of those days are the frequent signs banning photographs
on Pusher Street. They may preach individual freedom, but drug dealers
don't think much of seeing their photos in the newspaper.
Apart from the drug trade, the 38-hectare commune seems to be thriving.
The population now is more than 1,000, including about 650 adults and 350
children. Although the police aren't invited in, the residents ban sales
of hard drugs, theft and other misdemeanors with the threat of expulsion
from the community. So relaxed is the pace that they still don't want to
have street signs or house numbers because they believe that such measures
tend to depersonalize people. "If someone wants you to visit, they
will explain how to find them," says Roslind. The commune even boasts
its own postman, who picks up mail from a collective address.
As in any good commune, the community "owns" the buildings and
12 neighborhood committees meet regularly to discuss such things as who to
allow in. Tenants pay a $112 a month flat charge for rent for each person,
plus water and electricity. Every resident has the right to convene a
Common meeting of all residents to discuss a problem. Decisions are not
taken by a vote but by unanimous consensus, which must make for some long
discussions. "We have a collective business," says Rajesh, a
baker from Nepal who has lived in Christiania for 12 years. "We have
no bosses and it's a nice way to work."
At the general store, Johanes Kjæmpenes explains that because they deal
in used house fixtures that are cheaper than those available in other
parts of Copenhagen, the store is only open to residents of the commune.
While they collect the 25% value-added tax just as other shops do, the
proceeds are turned over to the commune rather than the Danish state to
help fund such things as kindergartens and a health clinic.
Christiania seems to be a favorite with artisans and craftsmen, including
a shop that makes special hand-made tricycles that feature a cargo
compartment to carry goods. That's because cars and trucks are not allowed
in Christiania. Perhaps because they are handmade, the bikes cost $850
each. Another shop offers the work of a group of women welders who make
such goods as candelabra as Christmas gifts.
Although ambulance drivers used to refuse to enter Christiania because of
the high number of drug addicts that once lived there, they feel less
threatened now that hard drug users are banned. Two nurses offer first aid
treatment at the local health clinic, provided, of course, that the
remedies are natural. "We use alternative medicine as much as we
can," says a nurse who gave her name as Anonymous. The nurses say
they don't offer unsolicited advice on smoking pot, but will help people
who seek assistance in quitting.
Like any community that appeals to people who came of age in the 1970s,
Christiania is having to deal with a novel problem: old age. "It's an
entirely new situation for us — we have to take care of the
elderly," says Roslind. While time seems to have stopped in
Christiania, even hippies grow old.
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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