Since Copenhagen is on the water, military ramparts were built as protection. Eventually, they were no longer needed and were abandoned. In 1971, a group of people decided to take over the area, and declared it a free town. And basically, the government let them. The citizens don't pay regular taxes, and are mostly self-governing. There are signs throughout the city stating the laws, some of which being: No stealing, no biker colors, no hard drugs, no bullet proof clothing, no littering and no personal cars. And yes, the citizens of Christiana do make a specification between hard drugs and hash - and hash is completely legal. In fact, the most famous "attraction" in the city is a street called Pusher Street, and it's exactly what it sounds like. There are numerous stands where you can choose from a wide variety of hash products. Not being up on my drug culture, I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at, but I can honestly say I didn't realize there were so many varieties out there. In addition to the hash stands, there are stands which sell marijuana paraphernalia, which are grouped in a small cluster at the end of Pusher Street. My favorite part of the system, I think, is the fact that the paraphernalia stores sell small Ziploc bags to hold the pot in - and the dealers can be seen running back and forth between their hash stands and the vendors whenever they feel they're running low. On more than a few occasions there have been police raids on the city due to the open selling of drugs, but because hard drugs are outlawed even in Christiana, the police generally leave them alone.
In case you haven't figured it out by now, the city of Christiana is essentially a hippie town. Every building is covered in graffiti - but unlike in the US, the graffiti is pretty and peaceful. There are pictures of trees and animals, sayings like "free love" and other creative drawings. There are no curse words or typical tagging that you would see back at home. They have their own flag (red, with three yellow circles in a horizontal line) and their own postal system. There are stands all around the city called "give and take," which are essentially the clothing equivalent of "take a penny leave a penny." There are dogs running free everywhere - they all are clean and healthy, and have tags and collars, but none of them are kept on leashes (This is why my host dad refuses to visit Christiana. He's terrified of dogs, but will never admit it. He just "doesn't like them."). And I think these were some of the largest dogs I have ever seen in my life. Some of the best vegetarian restaurants in all of Denmark are located in Christiana - my friend and I actually went into one of them and got an amazing bowl of soup. Really, it was delicious. If I lived in Christiana and was a vegetarian, I'd probably end up being very fat. There are trashcan fires almost everywhere you look, which means that I ended up coming home smelling like campfire and pot (Oh, did I mention people would use the fires to light blunts, right there in the street?). The place is very family-friendly, believe it or not, and there are children's playgrounds everywhere. There are rainbow slides, tire swings, play houses, and zip lines, all homemade but apparently very safe. (It was a gorgeous day today, and there were children climbing all over everything, so they must have been sturdy at the very least.) The entire city is painted in one way or another, and there's not a single "normal" colored building to be found. They're all covered in murals, or drawings, or tile mosaics, or tapestries. All the city maps which are placed around the area for use by tourists are home-made - we saw one which was done in crayon, and another which was painted on a plank of wood, with the outline of the city shaped from wire, and the major attractions represented by nails. Many of the houses were built by the people who live in them, and are extremely modern looking. The buildings throughout the city are considered "architecture without architects," and many famous architects spend time in Christiana to get inspiration.
Unfortunately, there is a strict "no camera" policy in Christiana (probably because there has been more pressure from the government for the city to dissolve itself as of late), and despite the fact that the people who live there are extremely friendly, there have been stories of the residents taking cameras and breaking them on the stop without a thought. So, I don't have any pictures to share, only my stories. I fully plan on going back as soon as it gets a little warmer out - there are open air concerts every day during the summer, and I'm sure it would be an entirely different place!
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