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Can Christiania Survive?
A countercultural enclave in Denmark fights for its life.
(Page 2 of 3)
Christiania’s immediate neighbors have few of the complaints you might expect about a Bacchanalian circus next door. Julius Lund, an urbane, bearded psychologist in his sixties who acts as spokesman of the neighborhood organization called Christiania’s Neighbors, tells me that his group’s main priority is to limit proposed new development in the area, preserving “the green lung of the city” as a recreational park open to the public.
The more distant authorities are not so tolerant. A permissive 1989 law had allowed the colony to continue indefinitely as a social experiment, but in 2004 the new center-right government nullifed the law. The current prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the Liberal Party, has announced his intention to bring about a final resolution. If he has his way, Christiania’s 900 or so men, women, and children will finally be “legalized” or “normalized,” i.e., brought under the central government’s regulations.
Knud Foldschack, Christiania’s pro bono lawyer, is a veteran defender of underdog causes. When it comes to defending a ragtag band of aging hippie squatters against the Palaces and Properties Agency (which inherited the Christiania issue from the Defense Ministry in 2004), Foldschack knows he has his hands full.
The suit he filed, now being heard by the midlevel Eastern High Court, seeks to establish title to Christiania by virtue of the common-law right to property by adverse possession after 20 years of continuous use. But the fact that Christianites have engaged in a series of formal agreements with the state since 1972 (regarding taxes, expenses, and the like), would seem to preclude this right by contradicting the purportedly “adverse” nature of the occupation. Add the reality that Christianites are sitting on primo midtown waterfront real estate craved by developers, and you can see why Foldschack is not especially confident that he can win. Whichever side loses, the decision will almost certainly be appealed and eventually heard in the Supreme Court. Only recently, however, it seemed as if the dispute would be settled out of court.
Ever since the Christiania Act of 2004, the government has accelerated efforts to resolve outstanding grievances with the Freetown. In August 2007, a negotiating group assembled by the lord mayor of Copenhagen came up with the Aftalen Mellem Christiania og Staten. Instead of mass evictions, as Christiania residents had feared, the aftalen (deal) called for a more moderate solution. Only a portion of the post-1971 structures would be razed, to make way for the state’s plan to restore the ramparts to their original 17th century condition, while the rest of Christiania’s residences would be sold by the government (still its legal owner) at a modest, belowmarket rate to the philanthropic investor-developer Realdania, which would then lease the properties at far-below-market rates to Christiania residents via a housing foundation on whose board Christianites would have the majority vote.
The enclave would be partially managed by two other “sister” nonprofits. One would control commercial, cultural, and social institutions, while the other would oversee 24,000 square meters of new buildings financed by Realdania as an experimental “laboratory” for green architecture and engineering.
Each of the three negotiators who devised this deal, including Foldschack, expected the Christianites to accept. But Freetowners were wary about the loss of control, and so chose to accept the basic framework while leaving some issues on the table for further negotiation. Such as: the fate of most of the allegedly illegal structures, the integration of some of the collectively held residential buildings into the speculative market kept outside the fortress walls for nearly four decades. Government officials took this answer as a “no” and told Christianites they’d see them in court, where the case heard opening arguments in November.
It’s not as though residents don’t want to end their eternal legal limbo, or that they oppose all development. On the contrary, the aging squatters say they’d like to build new housing for younger generations and continue to show off their ecological engineering and design prowess.
A team of Christiania architects hatched a development plan of their own for the community, which won the prestigious Initiative Award for the Beautification of Copenhagen in 2006 and was partly incorporated into the aftalen.
“We want to be legal,” says Nils Vest, Christiania’s press liaison andunofficial spokesman (the Freetown has no formal leaders), “with the right to develop our physical community on our own premises, according to our development plan, and to decide ourselves who shall be allowed to enter as new residents.”
Negotiator Jesper Nygård, director of KAB, Denmark’s oldest cooperative housing association management firm (which would have set up the housing foundation called for in the aftalen), warns that the graying residents are risking their best opportunity to bring in much-needed capital and avoid stagnation. “If they win the lawsuit,” the jovial, round-faced executive says, “then it’s like a Christmas tree without presents under it.”
Foldschack, whose law-partner wife once lived in Christiania, had urged a yes vote on the aftalen with surprising vehemence, considering that he’s chief attorney in the Freetown’s lawsuit. “Everyone in Denmark remembers Christiania as a good thing from times past,” he tells me. “Not today. I think today it is in a very big crisis. The young and the good, strong people have left. If you keep it as a museum, it will be very uninteresting.”
And it’s not like all of Denmark is united in making nice with the semiautonomous enclave. The nationalist Danish People’s Party, which is pivotal to the government’s majority coalition, wants no accommodation with Christiania whatsoever. Parliament member Marlene Harpsøe, the party’s spokesperson on the issue, was scandalized by the “upsetting” cannabis trade she saw on display there on her last visit, some 10 years ago with her mother. “You can be very addicted to it,” she says. “You can be very mentally ill by smoking it. It can ruin your life.” Harpsøe says she’s unaware of the details of the aftalen, but she knows one thing for sure: The settlement is “illegal,” and its inhabitants must be evicted.
Denmark’s highly homogenous society—around 90 percent of the population is Scandinavian, 95 percent is Evangelical Lutheran, and an even larger percentage is European white—has a long tradition of communitarianism. Few places could muster the social cohesion of the 4,300 residents of windblown Samsø Island, for example, who joined together during the last decade to achieve the singular feat of going carbon neutral. But individual rights are also embraced. Freedom of expression, even for extremists, is enshrined in law. (Unlike in neighboring Germany, the Nazi Party is legal here.) It should be no surprise that Denmark is the birthplace of “cohousing,” a 1960s innovation in which families combine their autonomous, private living spaces with shared community facilities such as kitchens and play areas.
The nation’s emphasis on community, with latitude for quirky, even renegade applications, goes a long way toward explaining the phenomenon of Christiania. Even the enclave’s “national anthem” celebrates both collective purpose and individual freedom, albeit with tongue-in-cheek naiveté and paranoia: “The only place with freedom enough for everybody…/ Rumors try to smear Christiania / People get filled with shit about us / Thousands are taught to hate our guts / Without knowing who we are.”
Billy!|2.25.09 @ 12:13PM|#
In my (extremely limited) experience Christiania is a shitty,
run-down, super sketchy, unpleasant area to be in or near.
If this is a libertarian utopia I need to re-think my
priorities.
ed|2.25.09 @ 12:29PM|#
Anyway, communal living is hardly a libertarian virtue. If anything it's the antithesis.
Dormouse|2.25.09 @ 12:30PM|#
Anyway, communal living is hardly a libertarian virtue. If
anything it's the antithesis.
I see nothing anti-libertarian about communal living, provided of
course that it is not forced upon people.
|2.25.09 @ 12:34PM|#
Christiania is an anarcho-syndicalist commune. They take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.
ed|2.25.09 @ 12:36PM|#
"Libertarian" used to mean individualism and property rights, among other things. How is squatting on a commune "libertarian"? Is the author even making that claim? I'm not convinced.
|2.25.09 @ 12:39PM|#
Meh. I prefer political systems where supreme executive authority is based upon where some watery tart throws a sword.
peasant|2.25.09 @ 12:41PM|#
That's outrageous, Pro L. Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords, is no basis for a system of government.
|2.25.09 @ 12:42PM|#
ed, I read this a few days ago in the print version, but if I
recall correctly, there are no claims of libertarianism in the
story. Mostly just pointing out that anarchy can function for quite
a while.
In my opinion, anarchy's main instability comes from external, not
internal, forces. And that's why the Danish government finally
messing with them may cause the place to dissolve.
|2.25.09 @ 12:46PM|#
Never visited Christiana while living in Copenhagen. I wonder how many of them receive welfare benefits?
Jeff P|2.25.09 @ 12:56PM|#
All Utopian Rebel movements are iventually blamed on the writings of Heinlein. Unless they are japanese death cults, then they blame Asimov.
|2.25.09 @ 1:38PM|#
It seems to me that this form of life style is only able to carry on by the constant turnover over of it inhabitants. Sure there are some die-hards that remain but most are probably young idealist who search these places out in the belief they are doing something new only to eventually be disscuraged by the hypocrasy of life style that remains while in actuallity has in a way succomed to forming a non-antarchist political system to survive.
armchairpunter|2.25.09 @ 1:59PM|#
(1) Am I the only one who noted that the viability of this
enclave seems to depend on a de facto monopoly on the sale of
cannabis, apparently a $70 MILLION per year business?
(2) With that kind of revenue or anything resembling it, why
haven't these folks made an offer to acquire real property rights
in this parcel?
(3) "We want to be legal," says Nils Vest, Christiania's press
liaison and unofficial spokesman (the Freetown has no formal
leaders), "with the right to develop our physical community on our
own premises, according to our development plan, and to decide
ourselves who shall be allowed to enter as new residents."
Right of exclusion? Sounds a lot like private property rights to
me. Let's suspend our established property laws so that a bunch of
hippies can impose their own property laws.
(4) "Change of residence is transaction-free; the right to occupy a
given residence is decided by vote." Nothing like a popularity
contest to settle these matters.
armchairpunter|2.25.09 @ 2:11PM|#
Perhaps this would be an ideal home for those courageous idealists recently removed from NYU's Kimmel Center.
armchairpunter|2.25.09 @ 2:20PM|#
I was also amused to learn of their war on non-cannabis drugs. Anarchy with sumptuary laws? Self-serving manipulation of the law in the name of the greater good, a la American oligopolists inserting their lobbyists into the regulatory-legislative process?
|2.25.09 @ 2:28PM|#
punter, why do you fall into the trap of requiring an "anarchic"
society to be perfect? We have few enough recent or modern ones,
and nitpicking at them mercilessly seems kind of useless.
One thing that tired me of discussing anarchy with people was the
constant insistence that I explain how anarchy solved every
problem. Yet at the same time they completely didn't feel the need
to explain why government was ok in not solving every
problem.
Anarchy has to be perfect or it's unacceptable, but government can
fail miserably but it's still the best solution. In fact, more is
better! Those discussions get real old real fast.
armchairpunter|2.25.09 @ 2:30PM|#
Good point, I was referring more to the stars of the tremendous "The Painful Last Minutes of the NYU Kimmel Occupation." I'd just as soon they remained fully closed.
T|2.25.09 @ 2:47PM|#
Anarchy has to be perfect or it's unacceptable, but
government can fail miserably but it's still the best solution. In
fact, more is better!
People have limited imaginations and resist change, Epi. It's the
way of the world. If they can't see how something will be better or
even, at a minimum, not worse, they'll fight you all fucking day
and into the night.
armchairpunter|2.25.09 @ 2:48PM|#
I do so, Episiarch, for the same reason I criticize this
country's system of governance, because so many are all too ready
to toss freedom overboard in favor of something seemingly more
exotic or expedient. And they most readily do that with respect to
seemingly unimportant details.
If those who espouse one of the many confused flavors of anarchism
would forever forswear all attempts at exercising their principles,
I would happily desist from criticism and buy one of their neat
T-shirts.
It is imperative for those who prize liberty above many other
perceived societal objectives not to let the sentimental varnish
dry on a fraud like Christiana, an "anarchistic" commune formed
within a homogeneous culture at the sufferance of a government that
muscles out the competition in the drug industry. This hot house
anarchy seems all to capable of formulating its own set of
arbitrary laws that ultimately leave its residents less free in
many regards.
economist|2.25.09 @ 3:02PM|#
My libertarian paradise is my own private fortress, with an electrified fence, guard dogs, and watchtowers with snipers with orders to shoot all trespassers.
|2.25.09 @ 3:05PM|#
punter, I hear what you're saying, but my view is that
Christiania is a quasi-anarchistic society that hasn't devolved
into chaos and violence.
It therefore has, at least to me, some value in asserting that
anarchistic societies can work.
Is it truly anarchistic? Obviously not. But it's still partway
there.
Paul|2.25.09 @ 3:18PM|#
Progressives are going to have to sort out their messages on
this stuff. Isn't this the "democratization of property
rights?"
If the representative government thinks it could better server the
larger community to do...something else with the property, then
that's the progressive vision, no? Or does "democratization of
property rights" have some unintended, decidedly unprogressive
consequences?
Paul|2.25.09 @ 3:32PM|#
"with the right to develop our physical community on our own premises, according to our development plan, and to decide ourselves who shall be allowed to enter as new residents."
Hmmm.
Hmmmmmmmm....
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Well I have to hand it to them, that's certainly libertarian but
yet decidedly unprogressive. A gated community in which the
residents can discriminate in who they allow to live there. Very
interesting.
armchairpunter|2.25.09 @ 3:33PM|#
This strikes me as being as about anarchistic as a gated
suburban community or a rent-controlled co-op apartment building,
except that it has a monopoly on selling weed. In fact, a gated
suburban community or a rent-controlled co-op apartment building
may possess a greater degree of independence from the
municipalities in which they're located than Christiana does. All
of the language of the Christiana residents points to underlying
notions of ownership and the state-protected rights attendant
thereto.
I enjoy a good discussion of the merits of anarchy as much as the
next libertarian, but I don't think this is a particularly good
example.
economist|2.25.09 @ 3:36PM|#
"Isn't this the 'democratization of property rights?'"
Not to sound dense, but wtf does "democratizing property rights"
even mean?
|2.25.09 @ 3:41PM|#
I enjoy a good discussion of the merits of anarchy as much
as the next libertarian, but I don't think this is a particularly
good example.
There are so few examples out there that I'm inclined to take them
as I can.
|2.25.09 @ 3:42PM|#
In my opinion, anarchy's main instability comes from
external, not internal, forces. And that's why the Danish
government finally messing with them may cause the place to
dissolve.
In this case, I suspect that their local "anarcho-commune" has
survived this long precisely because it is embedded in a society
with enforceable laws and mores.
Anarchy contains plenty of internal destabilizing potentials, few
of which can gain any traction in a micro-society embedded in a
larger, more stable, society of laws.
Paul|2.25.09 @ 3:45PM|#
But individual rights are also embraced. Freedom of expression, even for extremists, is enshrined in law.
Are they? How about freedom to smoke weed, or put drugs in general
into your body? No? Property rights?
I think once again we have a society which has freedom of
expression, but little else. For instance, in the U.S., there's a
reason Freedom of Expression is in the first amendment, and the
right to bear arms is in the second.
Not to sound dense, but wtf does "democratizing property
rights" even mean?
Economist, a term which got bounced around a lot by progressives
during the Kelo case.
In this case, I suspect that their local "anarcho-commune" has
survived this long precisely because it is embedded in a society
with enforceable laws and mores.
RC,
That's obvious on its face. For instance, to protect itself, and to
raise capital, the community files suits in Danish courts, is heard
by Danish judges, and relies on copyright law for royalty payments
on the use of the flag logo.
|2.25.09 @ 3:50PM|#
VM,
Yes, how is it that you are silent on Christiania? You were king of
it once, weren't you?
|2.25.09 @ 3:52PM|#
Hey VM, I was living in Lyngby, so I should have said Storkøbenhavn I guess. I was there in 2005/2006 before I got transferred to the UK. I'd like to return actually. Though nice as Lyngby is, somewhere with a good bar open past 5pm might be preferable next time. ;-)
economist|2.25.09 @ 4:07PM|#
"I enjoy a good discussion of the merits of anarchy as much as
the next libertarian, but I don't think this is a particularly good
example.
There are so few examples out there that I'm inclined to take them
as I can."
I don't know if I even consider this an example at all.
|2.25.09 @ 4:41PM|#
"If the Freetown's cause is lost in the courts, the city could
see hundreds of thousands of civil libertarians marching to save
Christiania."
It's a good thing all those would-be marchers got plenty of
marching practice in connection with the Jyllands-Posten cartoon
affair. Oh. Wait. Nevermind.
|2.25.09 @ 4:43PM|#
"There was a time when hash and skunk were sold here from 40
stalls in an open-air market staffed by knowledgeable hepcats. But
that was prior to January 2004, when Copenhagen's politi, who for
years were unofficially indifferent to the trade, finally showed up
in huge force to bust it up once and for all."
Actually the real problems started when Leonardo DiCaprio made an
extra copy of that map.
|2.25.09 @ 5:07PM|#
Very interesting article, and a useful update on the
ever-changing political situation there (which is not widely
reported). I lived in Denmark (Copenhagen+Lyngby) for over 15
years, starting in the early 80's (when Christiana was a shit-heap,
with no working public toilets, and the "bars" where guys with a
case of beer and a chair) and ending in 2000 (when Christiana had
reached accomodation with the government forces, and had achieved
some legitmacy -- and the toilets worked). It seems that things may
have reverted to shit-heap status (though I'm sure the toilets are
still maintained).
Danes have always been conflicted about Christiana, with most
respecting the right of people to live as they choose, and a few
resenting what they perceive to be the "free ride" the
Christianites get (both the tolerance and the resentment of unfair
priveleges are very much a part of the Danish psyche). Until I left
in 2000, there seemed to be a balance between the forces to crush
the horrible plauge of aging hippies, and the recognition that
Christiana was a very useful safety valve for both the soft-drug
trade and the legions of half-crazed
druggies/artists/ne'er-do-wells and drunken Greenlanders that would
otherwise hang-out in the city. Starting in 2004, it seems, the
mission to kill Christiana was taken up in earnest (driven mostly
by the greed of those who would like to develop this incredibly
prime piece of inner-city real-estate).
I was acquainted with several residents of Christiana (though none
of them denizens of Pusher Street). They ranged from artists to
lawyers, and were to a man/woman intensly interesting individuals.
Christiana itself was the site of two of the best music venues in
Copehagen (Lopen and Den Graa Hall) as well as a fantastic
traditional Danish eatery (Spise Lopen). The drug-trade was mostly
isolated to Pusher Street, with a carnivale atmosphere, thriving
with market forces (more selection than even the biggest of Danish
fish markets). There were occasional clashes with the police, but
the biker-gangs and other criminal influences were kept out, and it
was ultimately a safe place to go.
All they have succeded in doing, apparently, is to drive the drug
trade out to the surrounding streets, and mix the hard- with the
soft-drugs. Yay!
I am sadened to read of the decline of Christiana. Perhaps the
Danes will come to their senses before it is to late and the place
is turned into condominiums. We'll see.
grant..
|2.25.09 @ 5:43PM|#
grant's post is why I love the intertubes - there's no substitute for a native guide.
Paul|2.25.09 @ 6:25PM|#
fantastic traditional Danish eatery
All those words...together, in one sentence. One marvels.
Grant, interesting post. But I have to ask:
I'm comparing "for over 15 years, starting in the early 80's
(when Christiana was a shit-heap, with no working public toilets,
and the "bars" where guys with a case of beer and a
chair)"
with "I am sadened to read of the decline of
Christiana."
So which is it, is it declining back to where it was in your first
sentence, or by 'decline' are you referring to its endangered
status?
|2.25.09 @ 9:06PM|#
"fantastic traditional Danish eatery"
All those words...together, in one sentence. One
marvels.
Well Paul, I won't leap to the defence of "traditional Danish
eateries", as I realize to many this conjures up images of
over-cooked root-vegetables and sauces based on
Kulor (which appears to be black ink and has
similar gustatory properties). However, the Danes do have a fine
tradition of simple pub-fare, including Friske Rejer
(fresh shrimp with toast , mayonaise, and dill), Pariser
Boef (a large, rare, beef patty with pickles and raw egg
yolk), and so on. Spise Lopen does a very good job of properly
grilling larger cuts of meat, well prepared potatoes, and even
knows how to serve up a tasty salad of simple greens. Plus, the
serving staff are all stoned (and thus friendlier than the usual
surly Danish waiters), but also are professional stoners,
spending most of their day in that state, thus avoiding the common
problem of losing track of what they are doing.
So which is it, is it declining back to where it was in your
first sentence, or by 'decline' are you referring to its endangered
status?
To clarify: Christiana seemed to have been on a generally rising
trajectory from the early 80's up to 2000 when I left. Civilization
was beginning to make inroads, in the form of public toilets, and
espresso machines in the bars. The hard-core addicts had been
kicked out, and the criminal element kept in the background. Pusher
Street had gradually turned into a quite sanitary soft-drug
supermarket, and it was quite possible to go there for a concert
and not have your bike stolen (though admitedly I did use a
NY-style U-lock). Not to say the place was a commercial mall. You'd
see random drunken Greenlanders collapsed on the road, and dogs
doing it in the corner of the bar. But people with children lived
there, and it was really quite beautiful, in a semi-squalorous,
free-love kind of way.
Since 2004, by all reports, much of that progress has been lost.
The Pusher Street open-air market has been broken up. Streets have
been named and given "proper" signs. And they're trying to enforce
building codes (the UFO-house and the Whale-house are probably gone
now).
There really wasn't any other place in Europe to compare with
Christiana as far as sanctioned social experiments in
psuedo-anarchy. It was charming, gritty, naive, and stubborn. Too
bad it was founded on such valuable land..
|2.26.09 @ 2:02AM|#
I lived in Copenhagen for 4 months last year, and I thought
Christiania was the most interesting location in the entire city.
It's easy for other American libertarians to say "Oh that's not
very libertarian at all," but you don't know what the rest of
Danish society is like. Christiania has, without a doubt in my
mind, the freest economy in Denmark. The creativity and tenacity I
saw the resident display was truly impressive, especially compared
to what I saw as the bland homogeneity and suffocating bureaucracy
of the rest of the country. While I'm no fan of communes, I would
take Christiania's diversity and non-coercive social structure over
the proper Danish government any day.
And don't count on Christiania disappearing any time soon. The
government has never been able to get rid of it before, and I doubt
they'll manage it this time either. Last I saw the free town, it
was full of life.
ABC|2.26.09 @ 4:22AM|#
¨Lillesøe is theatrical and maternal, a night owl tending to the
needs of her chicks in the wee hours¨
Huh? This sentence alone condemns the author to a life of being a
complete and utter douchebag.
|2.26.09 @ 11:25AM|#
I don't think the main target of the criticism here is the
phenomenon of Christiana, but the attempts to shoehorn it into an
evaluation of anarchism or to hold it out as a model for enhanced
freedom.
Grant sums it up nicely: "There really wasn't any other place in
Europe to compare with Christiana as far as sanctioned social
experiments in psuedo-anarchy. It was charming, gritty, naive, and
stubborn. Too bad it was founded on such valuable land.."
Christiana is to anarchy what the bumper cars are to urban traffic.
The bumper cars are fun--even a bit anarchic--but I haven't learned
any lessons from driving a bumper car that I would be tempted to
apply to my day-to-day driving experience, never mind the tasks of
civil engineering or legislating the rules of the road.
Caitlin Kilkka|2.27.09 @ 3:08PM|#
Great article on a really interesting topic! When I visited Copenhagen over Christmas, it was surreal to walk through Christiania. The area would have been well suited as a movie set. The bright colors, chaos, and creativity starkly contrasted to the somber rest of Copenhagen.
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