Kommune Niederkaufungen is one of the largest

intentional communities An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Founded in 1986, it is an

egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

, income-sharing

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

with

consensus decision-making Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on e ...

. It is situated in a complex of former farm buildings in the historic centre of the village of Niederkaufungen (

Kaufungen Kaufungen is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated in the narrow valley of the river Losse, surrounded by the steep, wooded hills of the Kaufunger Wald, approx. 10 kilometres east of Kassel. Geography Divi ...

), seven kilometres from the city of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

(

Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darms ...

). It has grown from 15 founder members to 62 adults and nearly 20 children and teenagers (2009). It is a member of "Kommuja", the German network of political communes and

egalitarian communities Egalitarian communities are groups of people who have chosen to live together, with egalitarianism as one of their core values. A broad definition of egalitarianism is "equal access to resources and to decision-making power." For example, decisio ...

Core principles

The Kommune Niederkaufungen has a set of five main core principles. These were formulated in a pamphlet in 1983, the "Grundsatzpapier". They are: *

politics, *

consensus decision making Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on es ...

, *a completely communal income and asset sharing economy, *a reduction of hierarchical and patriarchal structures, *work in

collectives A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

. Although not explicitly listed as a core principle in the "Grundsatzpapier",

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

ideas have been important since the start. A wish to become ecologically and economically

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

is expressed in the pamphlet and is seen as the sixth commune core principle. In addition, the wish to find a site near but not in a city was expressed in this "vision document", as was the further aim to reach a membership of 100 adult members.

Work collectives

Nearly all members of the commune work in commune owned collectives. These include *a carpentry and joinery workshop, *a seminar centre, offering courses on communal themes, (Tagungshaus Niederkaufungen) *a group of non-violent communication (NVC) trainers, *a building firm, (KOMM-BAU) *a smithing / metal workshop, *an organic food catering firm, (Komm-Menu) *a certified "Bioland" organic market garden with farm shop,(Gemüsebau Kollektiv "Rote Rübe") *a fruit / orchard collective () *an EU certified organic dairy farm with cheese making, (Hof Birkengrund) *a kindergarten, (KITA "Die Wühlmäuse") *an administration and community consultancy group, (KOMM-RAT) *a day-care centre for old people, (Tagespflege Lossetal) Each work collective decides independently on work hours, work responsibilities and holidays.

Living groups

Members of the commune live in eleven living groups of between four and ten people. The others are mixed. Each individual communard has her or his own room. Other facilities in the living group (bathrooms, common rooms, tea kitchens etc.) are shared. Each living group organises its own household affairs. Most living groups have regular group meetings and some take holidays together.

Environmental technology

As part of the attempt to reduce the

ecological footprint The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...

of the commune, various technological measures have been taken in the last few years. These are: *

Cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

. Construction of a gas-fueled domestic combined heat and power (CHP) plant, *two large log burning central heating plants for winter heating, using left-over regional

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood ca ...

, *Installation of a building integrated

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

(BIPV) plant with c. 59 kilowatt maximum output. (This is about equal to the electricity use of 12 four-person households.), *Construction of a

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

on a residential building for warm water in summer, *

Rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir w ...

: Two rainwater

cisterns A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by ...

containing up to 41,000 litres, for use in washing machines, toilets and gardens, *Various energy and water saving devices have also been installed, including energy saving light-bulbs (

compact fluorescent lamps A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), also called compact fluorescent light, energy-saving light and compact fluorescent tube, is a fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent light bulb; some types fit into light fixtures designed for inca ...

) and domestic appliances, water saving devices on taps, showers and toilets,

thermal insulation Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with ...

on and in buildings, replacement of single glazing with

double glazing Insulating glass (IG) consists of two or more glass window panes separated by a space to reduce heat transfer across a part of the building envelope. A window with insulating glass is commonly known as double glazing or a double-paned windo ...

External links

Kommune Niederkaufungen in GermanKommune Niederkaufungen in English
(German)
FIC Community directory entry Intentional Communities Wiki The Center for Nonviolent Communication University of Kassel survey about sustainability in intentional communities
(German)

{{Authority control Communes Populated places established in 1986 1986 establishments in West Germany Intentional communities in Germany