Copenhagen's Hippie Enclave Can Remain if Residents Obey Law

Mar 13, 2004
Copenhagen's Hippie Enclave Can Remain if Residents Obey Law
By Jan M. Olsen
Associated Press Writer

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - The hippie enclave of Christiania will remain Copenhagen's alternative lifestyle community as long as residents obey the law, pay rent and stop selling drugs, the government said.
In a report on Christiania's future, the government said Friday that enclave residents must adapt their houses to building codes or tear them down.

The 84-acre former naval barracks that is the home of about 1,000 people "should still be an area where there is room to live in a different way," said Finance Minister Thor Pedersen. "But it must be normalized, it must respect the laws that apply in the rest of the Danish society."

The enclave took root in 1971 when dozens of hippies moved into the derelict 18th-century fort on state-owned land. The freewheeling society became a counterculture oasis with psychedelic-colored buildings, free marijuana, no government, no cars and no police.

In 1987, Christiania was recognized as a "social experiment" and residents were later given the right to use the land, but not own it. The government plan eliminates the agreement.

By Jan. 1, 2005, residents must make agreements with the state to rent the areas they use. Adults now pay a fixed monthly fee of the equivalent of $266 to the community for electricity, water and other services.

Two-thirds of Christiania's residents live on social welfare or have no official income.

"It is not the intention to build new expensive houses or tall buildings, it should remain an alternative spot in Copenhagen," said Bendt Bendtsen, the economics and trade minister. "What we want is simply that the worse (violations of the law) disappear."

In January, hashish dealers, who have openly sold illegal drugs, demolished their sales booths to avoid a crackdown they feared would lead to their eviction.

Although the booths have disappeared, hashish is still being sold.
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On the Net:
Christiania, http://www.christiania.org

This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA6RWBNRRD.html