Freetown Christiania

Norway's capital, Oslo, was known as Christiania from 1624-1877, and Kristiania from 1877-1925. Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania, is a partially self-governing neighbourhood in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Christiania has established semi-legal status as an independent community.

Christiania's Mission Statement: "The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the wellbeing of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted."

The coordinate location of Christiania is .

History

Christiania was founded in 1971, when a group of hippie squatters took over an area of abandoned military barracks. One of the more influential participants was Jacob Ludvigsen, who published an anarchist newspaper, which widely announced the proclamation of the free town. For years the legal status of the region was in limbo, as the Danish government attempted, without success, to remove the squatters. Later, a biker gang took control of the area for a period of time.

The neighbourhood is accessible only through two main entrances, and cars are not allowed. The Danish authorities have repeatedly removed the large stones blocking the entrance and the residents have put them back. The authorities claim that they need access to the area for firefighting, but the residents suspect that it will instead be used by the police.

The people in Christiania have developed their own set of rules, completely independent of the Danish government. Having no cars is one of these rules. The rules also forbid stealing, guns, bulletproof vests and hard drugs.

Famous for its main drag, known as Pusher Street, where hash was sold openly from permanent stands until 2004, it nevertheless does have rules forbidding hard drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. The commerce is controversial, but since they require a consensus they can't be removed unless everybody agrees. The region negotiated an arrangement with the Danish defence ministry (which still owns the land) in 1995, and the residents now pay taxes. The future of the area remains in doubt, though, as Danish authorities continue to push for its removal. On Pusher Street, cameras are not allowed, and locals will wave their hands and shout "no photo!" if they see someone trying to take a picture.

The inhabitants fight the government's attempts to eliminate them with humour and persistence. For instance, when authorities in 2002 demanded that the hash trade be made less visible, the stands were covered in military camouflage nets. On January 4, 2004, the stands were finally demolished by the owners themselves (without stopping the hash trade, which continued on a person-to-person basis) as a way of persuading the government to allow the Free Town to continue to exist. Before they were demolished, the National Museum of Denmark was able to get one of the more colourful stands, which is now part of an exhibit.

Future of Christiania

The drug trade in Christiania has been a source of constant outrage for many Danish politicians and the current right-wing government is taking a number of steps to "normalize" Christiania, (i.e. ensure that Danish law is respected). The first step in this process was a police crackdown on the drug trade. Both politicians and police have declared that the drug trade will not be allowed to return. The second (and currently ongoing) phase is the registration of all buildings in Christiania. The third step will be the demolition of a number of shacks, constructed in a nature-preserved area (the historic naval fortress of Copenhagen). These buildings have all been approved by the authorities before the new government passed the current law on Christiania. For the last 15 years the government has not allowed construction in Christiania. This is now being enforced as a zero-tolerance policy with the help of a massive police presence. This is part of the government strategy to undermine the collective self-government of Christiania, as they plan to sell out building rights to private enterprises, in an attempt to force the freetown to accept the paradigm of private ownership and market capitalization of private property. The ca. 900 inhabitants of Christiania have staked a claim for collective rights of use to all of Christiania, but this has been ignored by the government.

Struggle for control

In 2004, the Danish government passed a law abolishing the collective and treating its 900 members as individuals. Beginning in the summer of 2005, a series of protests have been staged by Christiania members. During the same time, Danish police have made frequent sweeps of the area.

From the global Indymedia site of September 9th, 2005:

Danish police evict trailersite in Christiania, Copenhagen

The Danish police has raided part of Christiania in Copenhagen, Denmark. About 200 riot police stormed the freestate and quickly sealed off 'Fredens Eng' (The Meadow of peace) which is a part of the site, where people live in trailers.

In one of the biggest mass arrests in Denmark ever, the police made over 100 arrests. There are various reports of injured people. Most people have been charged with not following police orders, although some with charges relating to violence against the police.

Christiania had been self administrative, meaning no permit was needed to 'build' new property or have trailers parked up on its grounds. Newly introduced law, means trailers have to leave, so new development can take place. The people from Christiania have resisted this new legislation for years. They wish to keep their autonomy and self managed decision making structures that have kept the place running for over 30 years...

Some pictures, video and the full article at Indymedia Center (IMC).

In January 2006, the government announced that Christiania would be forcibly turned into a residential community of condominiums. ^*

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Freetown Christiania

History

Future of Christiania

Struggle for control

External links