Families living in Copenhagen’s libertarian Christiana neighborhood, an old hippie haven tainted by drug trafficking violence in recent years, have expressed their anger at the local cannabis trade by destroying the street used by dealers.
Young children, elderly residents and even the city’s mayor and Denmark’s justice minister were among those present as the cobblestones of Christiana’s famous Pusher Street were torn up on Saturday.
Under the spring sun, locals got to work with wheelbarrows, shovels and crowbars, while police cleared out the former dealers’ market stalls where cannabis was previously sold freely.
At the end of August, so-called Christians decided to close the street, known for its hashish stalls, after the fourth murder in three years destroyed the image of a free-spirited and peaceful community.
Pusher Street “has turned into a not really nice place,” said Hulda Mader, a spokeswoman for the community. “They fight each other, they fight people and they are violent.”
Young children and elderly residents were among those destroying the cobblestones of Pusher Street
Under the spring sun, local residents got to work with wheelbarrows, shovels and crowbars
A toddler in boots watches as locals take to the streets in the former hippie community, home to about 250 children
On Saturday, some nostalgic locals came to collect souvenir bricks
The graffiti-covered community in central Copenhagen is home to around 1,000 residents
A pile of cobblestones is pictured on Pusher Street in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 6
During a visit to Christiana last week, the BBC reported that there were about 20 vendors operating in the area. The police say they clear out shops there ‘100 times a year’.
“If you have a conflict between groups in Copenhagen, they can most likely find each other on Pusher Street, where they can shoot at each other,” Deputy Police Inspector Simon Hansen, who oversees the police operation in Christiania, told the broadcaster.
In one incident last summer, a 30-year-old man was killed and others injured in an organized crime-related shooting, with three more fatal shootings since 2020.
Now many, including the government and the city’s mayor, have declared that enough is enough.
Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen said: ‘As a city we cannot live with (the violence), and local Christians have not been able to live with it either, but were afraid to do something radical about it.
‘I told them I would support them. Now we have a plan and we are taking the first step.’
On Saturday, some nostalgic locals came to collect souvenir bricks.
“It’s a reminder of Christiana, what it used to be and what it isn’t anymore,” said Adam Hovgaard, a 23-year-old Copenhagen resident.
While the shops have always reappeared after being vandalized by police, this time the actual removal of the cobblestones is intended to prevent them from coming back to life.
‘We take the cobblestones and give them to people who want some. That’s just a sign that Pusher Street is changing from a pusher’s street to something else,” Mader explained.
Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen (L) and Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard arrive as Christiania residents jointly dig out the cobblestones of Pusher Street
Families flocked to the site on Saturday. The ‘free city’ is an important tourist attraction
Dozens of people gathered on the streets to get involved in the excavations or to watch the spectacle unfold
A resident of the Christiania neighborhood takes down a neon light on a building on Pusher Street
For Mader, who is in his 70s and has lived in the area since 1994, the support of most of the area’s residents is essential.
Despite the ‘free city’s’ long history of resistance to the establishment, the dismantling of the street architecture is being carried out in collaboration with the police and the city of Copenhagen.
“Their efforts are crucial,” Mayor Andersen said. “It’s the first time ever that they came together and agreed to take a stand against rising crime and insecurity in their neighborhood.
‘Digging up the street and turning it into a building site will inevitably make it very difficult to sell. But it’s just the beginning,” she said.
In 1971, a group of hippies in an abandoned military barracks founded the ‘Free City of Christiania’ to create a municipality that, according to its statutes, ‘belongs to everyone and to no one’ and where every decision is made collectively.
Residents of the Christiania neighborhood jointly dig out the cobblestones of Pusher Street
Children participate as residents of the Christiania neighborhood dig out the cobblestones on Pusher Street
The dismantling of the street architecture is carried out in collaboration with the police and the city of Copenhagen
In the 34-hectare waterfront enclave, the sale and consumption of cannabis is illegal but tolerated, making it a hotspot for drug trafficking.
‘About five to ten years ago it was mainly the locals. But right now we see that it is mainly gangs and motorcycle gangs that are driving this drug market,” Copenhagen police officer Simon Hansen explained.
Since Christiania, contrary to urban legend, is part of Denmark, police raids in the area have become increasingly common.
“For too long we have accepted pushers at a market selling weed and drugs like strawberries and freshly picked peas,” Haestorp Andersen said.
In August, locals blocked access to the free city for non-residents for one day “in the hope of liberating Christiania from the tyranny of gangs.” The area usually attracts around half a million tourists per year.
Residents of the Christiania neighborhood pass a cobblestone section dug into Pusher Street
In addition to the desire to put an end to drug trafficking, the community wants to capitalize on the postcard image and artistic vitality of the neighborhood
Residents used crowbars to pull up the cobblestones one by one before removing them from the site
Police have arrested around 900 people in connection with drug trafficking in the area in 2023. No figures have been given on the quantities of drugs seized.
But with this ‘new chapter’, the residents want to ‘clean up (the street) and make it beautiful’, Mader said.
‘We’re going to paint the buildings, rebuild them and everything.
“We want to be associated with what we used to be associated with… arts, culture and plays,” she continued, making it “a nice place for people to come and relax.”
Christiania is located on an island full of greenery and filled with the sound of birdsong.
A female band parades down Pusher Street in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 6, after residents of the Christiania neighborhood dug up cobblestones to officially mark the street’s closure
It is home to 1,000 people, including about 250 children, and families live in the graffiti-covered barracks and wooden houses.
In addition to the desire to put an end to drug trafficking, the community wants to capitalize on the postcard image and artistic vitality of the neighborhood.
It is also the intention to build homes for approximately 300 new residents.
Although details of the project have not yet been determined, residents hope it will attract families with children, as a quarter of the population is currently over 60 years old.
