Aged 42, Copenhagen's Freetown still has a cause

THIS autumn, Christiania, the notorious freetown in the Danish capital Copenhagen, will be 42 years old.

Not the usual age for rebellion, but in some ways this is how the people of Christiania and most Danes would describe the freetown to outsiders. They would tell you, that you could compare this piece of green in the midst of Copenhagen to a state of falling in love: Everything seems possible and yet unpredictable.

Christiania could also be described as the Danish outcome of the rebellious 1960s. A group of hippies decided in 1971 to squat the abandoned military barracks in the midst of the city. They declared it a free zone with room for everyone who didn’t fit into Danish society.