Saturday, February 19, 2011

Copenhagen hippie haven belongs to Denmark: court

(AFP) Denmark's supreme court on Friday ruled that Copenhagen's "free city" of Christiania, long a refuge for hippies and artists, belongs to the state and cannot be freely used by the squatters.

"The state-accorded usage rights of Christiania are not unlimited," the court said, upholding and finalising an appeals court ruling in 2009.
The Supreme Court did not however order the squatters who have occupied the enclave since 1971 to leave, but said they must return to the negotiating table.

The court also said the residents should accept a "normalisation" of Christiania's status, ordered by the government in 2004.
Christiania was founded on September 26, 1971 when a band of guitar-laden hippies made an abandoned army barracks in central Copenhagen their home. They raised their "freedom flag" and named their new abode "Christiania, free city".

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