Hippies, drugs & street art: at this lawless commune citizens build their homes on the oceanfront
BY: MATTHEW CHIN
Off the Eastern coast of Denmark, in the heart of Copenhagen lies Freetown Christiania, a hippie commune with its own government and unique set of laws. Potheads, hippies, artists, idealists, and non-materialists are all welcomed in this “free city.”
Mutant Mandias / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: 23717872@N00
The village was founded in 1971, at the height of the hippie movement when several hundred squatters ranging from hippies, anarchists, and artists took over an abandoned military barracks in the hopes of creating their own utopia.
Bucchi Francesco / ShutterStock
They tore down the fences and began building inside the barracks. Now led by an independent government, Christiania—an 84-acre waterfront commune—is home to over 900 residents, free to pursue their independent lifestyles.
Luigi Anzvino / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: ilmungo
Christiania is declared a “free town,” fostering the free-spirited culture where citizens paint on the walls, build their own homes, and follow their own laws.
Quistnix / Creative Commons / Via commons.wikimedia.org
They have renovated old buildings, constructing their own homes with innovative designs and painting murals on the exterior brick walls. The homes are painted to capture the spiritual expression of the community. Street art murals are found on almost every corner.
Emmy Favilla
Seier + Seier / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: seier
Schools and businesses are run independently. Christiania also has its own recycling system, and the village is part of a “collective” where individuals don’t control the land.
Seier + Seier / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: seier
The Danish government tried to shut down the village, but public pressure deterred them. One Danish entrepreneur told Vanity Fair, “It’s hard to imagine Copenhagen without Christiania. No Danish government could close it down. Thousands of people would immediately march in the streets for them.” The government has since called it a “social experiment.”
Mutant Mandias / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: mutantmandias
When entering the town you will pass by a sign that says “You are now leaving the European Union.” Christiana even has its own flag. They even have their own currency called the Løn. A Danish Krone is also accepted, where one DKK is equal to 15 cents in the U.S.
en.wikipedia.org / Via Bruno Jargot / Creative Commons
Citizens of Christiania don’t have to pay taxes, outside cars are prohibited due to its narrow streets, weapons and hard drugs including cocaine and amphetamines are prohibited, but soft drugs are a thriving industry.
Liftarn / Creative Commons / Via commons.wikimedia.org
The Green Light district in Christiania is home to the largest market in this hippy commune—marijuana. Christiania is known to have a thriving cannabis industry, which is worth about $185 million.
Mutant Mandias / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: mutantmandias
Though it’s illegal in all of Denmark, this doesn’t stop the villagers from selling, manufacturing, and filling their lungs with marijuana smoke to attain a higher consciousness. At the Café Nemoland, like many restaurants in the town, you can smoke weed on an outdoor patio.
zdroznikluka / Creative Commons / Via commons.wikimedia.org
The tourism industry is one of the largest contributors to Denmark’s economy, generating around $12 billion annually. Among its vibrant picturesque attractions, Freetown Christiania is the second most popular tourist attraction for its originality and tranquility, allowing tourists to visit a micro-culture within Denmark.
Sertmann / Creative Commons / Via wikitravel.org
The town life consists of craft shops, community markets, eateries, and designated meditation and yoga areas to enjoy the natural beauty of Copenhagen with spiritual individuals who share similar ideals.
Steffen Hillebrand / Creative Commons / Via commons.wikimedia.org
Not only does this commune have the most down-to-earth people, but it is one of the hubs for Copenhagen’s musical and cultural life. Musicians from Europe flock to Christiania to showcase their talent causing the streets to overflow with life.
Andrew Reid Wildman / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: spicygreenginger
At 44 years old, this hippie commune may be one of the largest and longest-lasting in modern history.
Mutant Mandias / Creative Commons / Via Flickr: mutantmandias
Sources: buzzfeed.com, Vanityfair.com
Replies
The only joke here DC drekx is you. YOur comments are not funny and you made several of them to slander me like you have done to hundreds of others. I take this blog very serious for I was part of it and part of me is still there. You still need much Healing, maybe MoM will get you healed, I hope so for you still have a long way to go to learn to be kind to others !!!!!!!! Adonai
Looks like DC drekx is up to his old tricks of slandering people. Naughty boy caught with his pants down again, oh my. he never has anything nice to say because he enjoys being nasty, thats his way. Any way folks way back then drugs that is heavy drugs was the downfall of CA and there was no mary jane on Hash mostly from Morocco. The bad drugs heroin and speed nearly destroyed CA, lots of gangs, pushers was destroying CA from the inside. CA had a lot of good people in it and a fair number from other countries. That was one of the reasons I left. So now there into pot instead of hash and it seems to have brought much needed money to CA for they have made a deal a few years ago to buy CA from the govt. its also a good testing ground to legalize pot, same as they are doing in Holland.
I myself look forward to communities that are more self sufficent in ways of food, energy cheap housing and products made by the commune itself. I do still play music in the Welcome center here and do artwork including writing e-books. Music has a way of getting the message out when people don't wont to be taught the old ways. I am concerned about the return of Planet-x and Nibiru and the defeat of the DC. and of course the RV contack and disclosure. We have much to learn and a short time to learn it in, so to much parting will not get us there. But I am still a fan of CA and the Danish people, who won my heart many years ago, indeed. Adonai
Chill out dude, chill out rev Skirvin...You really should learn to stop taking yourself so seriously...hang lose a bit...Humour is fun, albeit I know that you are humourless, by and large...That's your loss....LOL ;-)
He was trying to joke with you. You know haha.... But on a side note I bet it was cool to watch this commune develop....
I was there 1 month ago :) They have by far the best weed in all of Scandinavia...There is a boat called DFDS here in Oslo, which spends 24 hours to Denmark, 7 Hours in Denmark, than 24 hours back home to Oslo. In those 7 hours, the only thing you can do is to take a cab to Christiania, drug yourself with weed, then drag yourself back to the boat for a happy Scandinavian cruise...It's the best!
I see wonderful influences in this art. Picasso's "Musicians" painting can be seen in the slide that is second from the bottom up. Botticelli's style can be seen with the fifth slide (from top down). Robert Crumb is strongly influenced via the sixth slide (from the bottom up; the one with the brother saying "yo").
Here's Robert Crumb's design for the first album of the group Big Brother and The Holding Company, called Cheap Thrills, with Janis Joplin as a vocalist (CHECK OUT HIS DEPICTION OF JANIS JOPLIN ON THE RIGHT):
Oh wow rev that would have been so cool I don't never or ever will get into drugs but the art awesome.....
I was one of the people who helped start Christiania back in Sept,71. The city had grown up around the old Military base. So the city forced them out, to make room for more city dwellers. This cost the military a lot of $ and the were quite angry. Myself and others were already living in another very small ex-military base and when we heard of this, that some people already were moving in as the military was moving out, well we came and moved in as well. I was one of the few non Danish who helped start it. The govt. tried to shut us down, they turned off the water and electrify but the military turned it back on for us. So next the city started closing down a bad area called stengather ( forgive my danish) and put in the papers that there was both light and heavy drugs in Christiania, so the bad guys moved in with the good guys. At that time it was a lie, people could hardly find anything to smoke. So Christiania started off on a bad foot and it followed her though out its history. 1-1/2 yrs later there was much confusion in CA. So I channelled a constitution that I gave to a friend ,who presented it to CA and it was excepted and changed a bit. I had to stay in the background as I was already thrown out of Denmark and was back in Illegally.
I came to Denmark in my 3rd year of college on a sabbatical to make a film about communes. The police confiscated my sound track when they threw me out. So when I came back I did Video instead called Nova Video. I was very involved not only in helping to organize but also in getting rid of the bad guys and heavy drugs that was destroying CA from the inside as was planned by the city. I Love the Danish people, even though I was American some of my ancestors were from Scandinavia. Sex was very open and free there and a female friend of mine had my son there. His name was David. My name at that time was Lee Skirvin. I later changed it to Joshua after I left CA in 74. I was again thrown out of the country, not having signed for the boy, I had no legal status. The mother was very angry at me and it took many years and some close friends help, to go back and see my son who was 5 yrs old by then back in 78.I havn't heard from her since again all my letters returned. She became one of the spokes persons for CA .I seen her on TV back in the states in 97. I wrote about this in my last e-book on the chapter on communes as I visited others after that. I do believe that communes are the way to live community but not in the city like CA. I hope to go back someday if possible. Any Questions folks ? Adonai
Hey friends...I just found an old YouTube clip of Lee Skirvin in his hippy commune.....:-) hehe...!! Enjoy...
I'm crying omg I'm so glad that end happened lol
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