August 27, 2003
Enclosed
Picture scanned from a 'zine found on the ground in Christiania circa 1997.
Christiania is about to be assimilated (via Boing Boing). Christiania is a former military base in Copenhagen that was 'occupied' by hippies in the early Seventies, who first built houses and later an entire community. It is a little slice of anarchy in the middle of the city, albeit in an organised, Scandinavian way (aerial picture here).
It is also very easy to buy drugs there. When I was there, yes, there were loads of people living in their timber houses and taking their responsibilites to the community very seriously. But there were also a lot of shaven-headed thugs in leather jackets selling hash and probably other, stronger items. I also saw two kids, no more than 10, puffing on joints. Disneyland, it ain't. Anyway, it seems the government intend to return the commune to the rest of the city - there's a protest march at the end of the month.
Posted by Monasette at August 27, 2003 11:44 PM | TrackBackNot too long ago I heard from a friend who'd spent some time there in the 80s. He said there were free saunas available for all, and some of the hippies used to drop acid and then sit in the sauna for 10 to 12 hours at a time... you'd wonder if there was anything left of them when they came out.
Posted by: brendan at September 3, 2003 04:56 PM