Christiania and the Politi

This week and the last were filled with far too many midterms.  One in Danish politics, one in my EU class, one in my Human Trafficking class, a quiz in Danish and a five page paper for 20^th Century European History. Phew. I spent more time than I wanted to on schoolwork this week but it had to be done and at least they are finished with now.

On Wednesday I had two field studies, made particularly interesting by having them back to back because their subjects are interconnected.  The first field study was for my Danish class to the free city within a city of Christiania.  The second field study was to the Danish police, who have had long standing history of friction with Christiania, which I will explain more later.

Christiania is a free city, a contained area within the Christianshavn neighborhood of Copenhagen.  They are known for their liberal and tolerant hippie culture and normalization of drugs.   A lesser-known part of Christiania, that I learned about on our tour, are the many businesses and shops that operate out of the free city.  There are lots of crafts stores that made beautiful art and restaurants and cafes that serve us delicious homemade food.  One of my favorites was a store called the Women's Blacksmith Collective that made works of metal, like candles holders and wall hangings.

Although they are technically subject to Danish and EU law, the residents of Christiania have adopted many of their own laws, such as originally not allowing cars to come in, only bikes, and by allowing marijuana to be sold.  The hippies who took over this former military barracks in the 1970s now claim the right to the land by virtue of having lived their 30+ years, despite never having paid rent of obtained legal rights.  Christiania residents now paying a “using fee” as well as paying for electricity and water, which they hadn’t previously, but they still don’t pay rent on this large piece of property.  This ongoing battle over who owns the land reared its head recently when earlier this month the highest court in Denmark affirmed a lower court ruling saying that the land of Christiania belonged to the state, not to the residents.  Although it is unlikely that they will demolish Christiania any time soon, especially since it is the #2 tourist attraction in Copenhagen after Tivoli, the government has been making attempts to “normalize” the area.

The main entrance to Christiania

The residents have had problems over the years with people selling hard drugs, which they don’t tolerate, and with biker gangs coming in and causing violence.  We were lucky enough to get a tour from one of the locals who has lived there since the late 1970s.  The conservative government that came into power in 2001 has taken a more hard-line stance toward the marijuana trade that operates out of Christiania.  Previous governments had mostly tolerated it.  Many make the argument that if you abolish the marijuana trade in Christiania this industry will not go away but instead just go underground to less centralized and less safe forms.

Although in 2004 there was a big raid of “pusherstreet”, the part of Christiania where marijuana is sold, the stands that sell drugs have since resurfaced and it is quite easy to go and buy drugs there.  The woman that gave us a tour talked about how the police can do periodic raids all they want but as soon as they are gone the dealers will just pop up again.

The common laws established by the residents of Christiania

It was fascinating to go to the Copenhagen Police department right after our morning trip because we discussed, among other things, the police’s stance toward and dealings with Christiania.  We visited the emergency squad of the Copenhagen Police department, which from what I can tell is the S.W.A.T. team of the Copenhagen Police.  They handle demonstrators and riots and are the ones who execute raids on Christiania.  In 1993 there were a series of riots after the Danes had to vote again on the EU Maastricht treaty (they had rejected the first one).  According to one of the captains at the station who spoke to us, the 1993 riots made the S.W.A.T. team realize that they were completely ill-prepared to handle public demonstrations such as this.  He talked about how now they do their best to make compromises with protestors that will work for both sides and how they do everything they can to not use excessive force, which it seems they rarely do.  This practice of compromise is uniquely Danish from what I’ve learned about the culture.  Our police have to play a different, more forceful role in the United States where our country is so much bigger and faces more incidents of violence, but it is fascinating to see what this small country has been able to achieve.

Our presenter talked about a series of protests by anarchists trying to defend Ungdomshuset, a youth house in Nørrebro, a neighborhood in the North of Copenhagen.   There were large-scale protests to keep it open but the house was eventually demolished in 2007.  He also talked about how they do periodic raids on Christiania, a very controversial practice, to enforce the illegality of marijuana dealing.

It was so interesting learning about the history of progressive, alternative movements in Copenhagen.  I enjoy every chance I get to learn about and see what makes Denmark Denmark.

Tomorrow bright and early I am headed off to my week long study tour in Brussels.  When I return, I will write of my adventures in the land of mouth-watering chocolate and European political power.  As soon as I get back my parents are going to be here visiting for a week!!! They are in London with my sister now and I can’t wait to see them. I’m sure we will have many adventures and stories to report on.

“Talk to you” in 2 weeks!