Welcome to an audio-guided tour of Freetown Christiania, an extraordinary and thought-provoking community nestled within the heart of Copenhagen. As you embark on this journey, we invite you to explore the rich history and unique culture that make Christiania a place of fascination, intrigue, and controversy. Let us now pause a moment before entering, so as to understand the context of this unique place.

We are in Christianschavn district, famous for hosting the small Freetown Christiania, a place of short but intense history. The place marks a story of change, since the area’s original use was military. Before it became a free town, and meeting point for free spirits, the territory was used for the military barracks of the so-called Bådsmandsstræde, including the royal artillery. The barracks were erected in 1836 as a defence but lost their purpose after World War II.

The city of Copenhagen grew steadily beyond the location of the barracks, making it challenging to maintain a defence facility right inside the city. As a result, the military left the area in 1967, and since then, the site has been a blank space for some years, with only a few guards, and several homeless people seeking shelter in the empty buildings.

At the beginning of the ‘70s, the area was occupied by groups of people from the surrounding districts. This movement quickly became an expression of protest against the Danish government, grounded in the fact of increasing prices in the housing market. September 26th 1971, indicates a crucial date, the opening of the former military site by the journalist and member of the countercultural Provo movement, Jacob Ludvigsen. This event marked the beginning of what we know today as Christiania.

Little by little, the abandoned buildings were populated by a wide range of individuals – hippies, anarchists, artists, and mavericks. Copenhagen’s government tried to clear the area for a while, but gave in to the occupation in 1972, due to the vast size of the area and the large number of people. As a result, Christiania became a political issue, and an unofficial social experiment. However, the new community was confronted with several governmental attempts to keep the right of use for the area, starting with a change of government in 1973. Finally, in 2011, following political and legal resistance by the inhabitants, Christiania and the government of Copenhagen found an agreement, which allowed the community to purchase the area officially.

Today, the old barracks symbolise the transition of a place with a history of war and defence into a refuge for freedom seekers, dissenters, and people in need of shelter and comfort. The grey and dull past gave way to a colourful and individualistic community, with its particular culture and spirit. Yet, crossing the entrance to Christiania’s lively inside, visitors can still see and feel the energy of liberation sustained by the residents, and their drive to create an alternative way of living. Let’s now enter the gates of freedom, and dive into what is often perceived as a parallel world by visitors!

Ptolemy