Off the beaten path: Taking the metro out to Christiania, Denmark (..I wasn’t mugged, or forcefully drugged..)
August 17, 2023. Non-Traditional Tourist Adventure: traveling outside of Copenhagen to the neighborhood of Christiania. Freetown Christiania, also known as Christiania or simply the Staden, 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. I walked my ass to Central Station downtown and, somehow, figured out the Metro scenario. I bought a ticket in Danish, hoping for the best. Had to change trains once, to bring me to Christianshavn (Christianshavn Neden Vandet), which is the neighborhood closest to Christiania. From there, it was about a 10-12 minute walk to the entrance of ‘strangeville/hash-central’.
Since its opening, Christiania has been famous for its open cannabis trade, taking place in the centrally located Pusher Street, although named “Green Light District” by the Christianian council. Although the hash trade is illegal, authorities were for many years reluctant to forcibly stop it.
The communal principles really do work and the prevailing quirkiness makes this hippie commune well worth visiting. I will say that it’s definitely a bit, out there, and quite the experience. Upon first walking into the commune, you’re greeted by friendly men (all men actually, not one woman in sight working/living there while I was there), and they all have something to sell you. Every item is handmade and has a distinctive history behind it. I ended up purchasing 2 handmade rings. One is a moonstone, the other chakra stones- both set in steel and refitted as I stood there, to my chosen fingers for perfect sizing.
After walking through the ‘market’ or area of pop up ‘vendors’ selling various items- lots of handmade jewelry, clothing, and marijuana smoking accessories- you see a large sign that states “NO PHOTOS”. This was the area I was warned about, called ‘Pusher Street’, and honestly couldn’t wait to see what all the fuss was about. Well, there are at least 30 different stands/areas offering hash/weed/joints/edibles as soon as you walk in- the dirt street is lined on both sides. The problem; half of the stalls in the street are linked to various gangs and biker gangs, such as Satudarah, Bandidos, Hells Angels and Loyal To Familia, with the rest run by people living in Christiania. So it’s not the safest, but not most dangerous, area to linger in. You’re not hassled to buy, which is nice. But holy shit, I’ve never seen so much hash/weed in one place on my life.
