Copenhagen’s hippie, psychedelic oasis Christiania turns 50

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Copenhagen’s Christiania neighborhood is turning 50. The counter-culture enclave is determined to maintain its reputation as a “free-wheeling society” of hash dealers, political idealists, and aging hippies after years of clashing with authorities. One resident says the oasis has” become more and more an established part” of the Danish capital. It all started in 1971 when a small counterculture newspaper needed an outrageous story for its front page and staged an “invasion” of an abandoned 18-century naval base. It soon became a “flower power” community with psychedelic-colored buildings, free marijuana, limited government influence, no cars and no police officers.