This European community lives in the middle of the city as independently as possible.
For the last few years I have been working with Elektra on various projects including developing wi-fi networks. Elektra lives in a modified truck-trailer in a squatter community in Berlin where she uses solar electricity to power a home constructed from recycled materials, all in a climate where the temperature dips to minus 20°C in winter. Elektra lives in the middle of Berlin completely mortgage-free, with a lifestyle that helps many people around her. Her lifestyle fascinated me, so when I was in Germany for business in March I just had to visit her and learn more.
Trailer site
Elektra lives in a trailer site community in Berlin-Friedrichshain, a district in the centre of Berlin just to the east of the former Berlin Wall. When visiting the place it feels like you are in the countryside, however, a few steps away is a busy modern city with supermarkets, shops, a major train station and four-storey apartment blocks.
The people living here include engineers, audio technicians, movie crews, artists, architects and families. Decisions are made by means of grassroots democracy, aiming for consent rather than majority-rule, allowing any member of the trailer site to call a plenum. There is no boss or chief, neither informal nor elected. Sometimes they are asked by the authorities for ‘the person responsible here,’ demonstrating a funny clash of civilisations.
The residents are very active on social issues and actively improve the lives of people around them, for example, by deploying free internet via wifi networks. The call themselves ‘freaks’ in a non-judgemental sense to emphasise their uniqueness.
Read the full article in ReNew 113
This entry was posted on Friday, September 17th, 2010 at 4:35 pm