Kommune Niederkaufungen is one of the largest

intentional communities An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, which may be politica ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Founded in 1986, it is an

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

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

, income-sharing commune with

consensus decision-making Consensus decision-making is a group decision-making process in which participants work together to develop proposals for actions that achieve a broad acceptance. #Origin and meaning of term, Consensus is reached when everyone in the group '' ...

. It is situated in a complex of former farm buildings in the historic centre of the village of Niederkaufungen ( Kaufungen), seven kilometres from the city of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

(

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

). 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 is a group decision-making process in which participants work together to develop proposals for actions that achieve a broad acceptance. Consensus is reached when everyone in the group ''assents'' to a decision (or ...

, *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 e ...

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

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

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

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

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 measures human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. It tracks human demand on nature through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biolo ...

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 heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

, *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 panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

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 Rainwater tank, tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), Aquifer s ...

: Two rainwater

cisterns A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

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) 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 s ...

on and in buildings, replacement of single glazing with double glazing.

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