The notorious hippie commune at the heart of Copenhagen just might be more utopian than ever, said Steve Vickers in The Washington Post. “There’s still a sense of rebellion in the air” throughout Christiania, the leafy center-city enclave whose residents have been living by their own rules since the Vietnam War era. But even the outside visitors who’ve made the car-free neighborhood one of Denmark’s most popular tourist attractions might detect that the musicians, painters, and other free thinkers of Christiania are this year enjoying “a kind of security that they’ve never really known.” After decades of living as squatters on property that once housed military barracks, residents succumbed to long-term government pressure in July when they made a first payment toward a group purchase of the land. Though some feel the deal destroys the Christiania dream, longtime squatter Britta Lillesoe isn’t one of them. “We don’t feel as stressed as we have been,” she says.
Exploring Christiania as an outsider remains “an intriguing, often lovely experience.” Bicycles share the cobbled paths with pedestrians, and “color and creativity ooze from every cracked wall and hand-painted sign.” Many buildings are adorned with “intricate, trippy murals,” while “the higgledy-piggledy houses impress with their homemade roofs.” Though drug selling is illegal, and the source of ongoing crime problems, tourists on central Pusher Street still crowd market stalls that openly sell marijuana. Outside a “tumbledown” home, I see another side of the Christiania spirit: “young mothers chatting happily with teenage skateboarders and middle-aged hippies” while a man nearby paints the scene.
The gravest threat to Christiania today might be the aging of its population. The average age of the neighborhood’s residents has hit 45, and “white beards and graying dreadlocks” are now common sights on Pusher Street. Some locals have begun talking about building youth-friendly housing on their new land, hoping that younger generations will buy into the district’s commitment to self-governance and eco-friendly living. The tourists, at least, are sure to keep coming—“as long as Christiania is allowed to follow its own path.”
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At the nearby Danhostel Copenhagen City, a reputable hostel (danhostelcopenhagencity.dk), rooms start at $84.
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