Freetown Christiania, also known as Christiania (Danish: Fristaden Christiania), is an intentional community, commune and micronation in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen. It began in 1971 as a squatted military base. Its Pusher Street is famous for its open trade of cannabis, which is illegal in Denmark. Christiania is considered to be the fourth largest tourist attraction in Copenhagen, with half a million visitors annually.
The residents of Christiania are called Christianit, or Christianshavner and Amagerkaner because Christiania is located on the island of Amager. The 1976 protest song “I kan ikke slå os ihjel” (“You cannot kill us”), written by Tom Lunden of flower power rock group Bifrost, became the unofficial anthem of Christiania. The flag of Christiania is a red banner with three yellow discs representing the dots in each i in “Christiania”.
Within Christiania itself no private cars are allowed. Residents with cars park on the streets surrounding the Freetown. After negotiating with city authorities, Christiania has agreed to establish parking areas for residents’ own cars on its territory. As of 2005, parking space for only 14 cars had been established within the area.
The Gay House (Bøssehuset), one of Christiania’s autonomous institutions, has been a center of the gay movement since the 1970s, hosting parties and theater shows, among other things. The humorous and highly artistic variety-style shows are popular among Copenhagen’s homosexuals. In 2002, a group of young gay performers and activists named Dunst were invited to take over the house so that it would continue to be a center for the gay movement. Dunst introduced a democratic administration and since then has been providing open workshops for photography, art, music, dance, film and various other things. They have also organized three ‘Save Christiania’ nights, a cabaret show and three parties for sympathizers to pay back part of the Gay House’s debt to Christiania.
