From Lucretia Gather, SWR Mainz The “Weiselhof” is located on a hill about 15 kilometers outside of Mainz. Located between two villages, surrounded by vineyards and fields, with a wide view of the Rheingau. Anne Berk has lived on the farm for two years with her husband Bernd and their children Aaron, 3, and Caspar, 1. But also with 13 other residents. Each of the six parties has its own apartment. And they all have a common goal. “We want to live as environmentally conscious and self-sufficient as possible,” says Berk, “and we believe that you can do it better together than alone.”

Potatoes, leeks and beans – home-grown

The community grows its own fruit and vegetables. Almost one hectare of land belongs to the farm. Each party has its own garden, and there are areas that are cultivated together. Carrots, potatoes, leeks, beans and lettuce grow there in summer. The vegetables thrive on the principle of so-called permaculture, a form of organic farming that relies on biodiversity instead of monocultures. We do not use any kind of fertilizer. What Anne Berk appreciates about life at the “Weiselhof” is that she has planted and watered almost everything that ends up on her plate herself. And everything in organic quality. “It couldn’t be more regional,” says Berk. “It’s great that my children just casually see how leeks and spinach actually grow – and then they prefer to eat the vegetables.” Today the Berk family has fried eggs for lunch – and they come from the chickens that run around the “Weiselhof”. There are also three beehives that provide their own honey and sheep. They are primarily used as lawn mowers – but their wool is also used as fertilizer.

Anne Berk planted almost everything that ends up on her and her family’s table herself. Image: SWR Mainz

Buy groceries together – avoid rubbish

As a rule, whatever groceries the residents of the “Weiselhof” have to buy, they do it together. There is a large warehouse in the basement – with pasta, rice, flour, but also detergent and soap. Here, too, the community makes sure to choose organic and regional products as far as possible. “This is our Weisel store,” says Anne Berk. “We try to buy bulk packs for basic foods in order to avoid packaging waste.” Anyone who needs something can help themselves in the basement and write down what they have taken with them.

Agricultural scientist Silke Steinbronn started the project. Image: SWR Mainz

Own power generation through photovoltaics

The project was founded by Thomas Hahner and his wife Silke Steinbronn. They had the idea for such a residential project for a long time. In 2018 they bought the site between Ingelheim and Wackernheim in Rheinhessen – and gradually expanded and renovated the former inn. “We want the people who live here to have good living conditions and that these conditions are also good for the environment,” Steinbronn describes the shared vision. As a PhD in agronomy, she worked a lot abroad and gained international experience in the field of organic agriculture.

Renovation with sustainable materials

Even when the courtyard was being renovated, they attached great importance to ecological renovation using sustainable materials. The facade is insulated with hemp, the roof with thatch. “With this type of eco-renovation, we now only use half the energy that was used here before the renovation,” says Steinbronn. The photovoltaic system on the roof donates so much energy that the farm is almost completely self-sufficient. “We have so much electricity that we can be 99 percent self-sufficient.” The community receives hot water from a solar thermal system, and wood pellets are used for heating.

With the “Weiselhof” the residents want to show what is possible when it comes to environmental protection. Image: SWR Mainz

Share instead of owning

There is also enough electricity to charge the two electric cars that belong to the yard. Sharing instead of owning is particularly important to the residents of the “Weiselhof”. This doesn’t just apply to the cars. In the hall there is a cupboard with everyday items that everyone can use: from the iron to the hand blender to the waffle iron. “At some point we realized that we all have way too much stuff that we don’t need all the time,” says Anne Berk. “And it’s nice to share that.”

Goal: To be a “beacon” for environmental protection

The residents of the “Weiselhof” are aware that their way of life is somewhat exotic. And also that their life model is not the right one for everyone. “We don’t judge anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to live like this, that’s very important to us,” says Berk. The group wants to “be a lighthouse”, she says, and “show what is possible in terms of environmental protection.” And Steinbronn adds: She is already happy when someone simply decides to grow his tomatoes on the balcony himself instead of buying plastic-wrapped foreign tomatoes in the supermarket: “Every small step is good for the environment.”

From Hermann Scholz, BR Quentin Orain used to be a well-paid engineer in the automotive industry in Munich. He gave up this job – for an empty room of around 300 square meters. A hands-on supermarket is to be built here in mid-July, organized as a cooperative. They bought some of the furnishings from a closed Karstadt, among the participants are craftsmen who help with the furnishings or designers who have already designed the shop windows. The receptionist comes to the front of the door. Customers are checked there – because anyone who is allowed to shop here has to be a member of the cooperative. The new market should make it easier to consume sustainably. “I was missing a place where there is everything, from the region, organic, and also with little packaging, with a full range, everything you need in everyday life,” says the Frenchman Orain. The Munich market was modeled on similar markets in New York and Paris. The “Park Slope Food Coop” has been operating in New York for almost 50 years and has 17,000 members. Orain worked for the Parisian cooperative “La Louve” for a while to understand what it takes to be successful. The most important thing, he concluded, is the close ties between the project participants and the market.

Cheaper than traditional shopping?

The model works like this: Each member of the cooperative acquires shares of at least 180 euros – there are discounts for low-wage earners. To this end, he works three hours a month. There are also permanent employees. The market should offer the entire range of a conventional supermarket. The highlight: there is a continuous surcharge of 30 percent on the purchase price. This is how the sales price is calculated. They cannot keep up with special offers from comparable organic markets. But on average you get around 15 to 20 percent cheaper when shopping, estimates Orain – and sometimes even cheaper for vegetables. The idea for the hands-on supermarket arose from the popular initiative “Save the bees”. The initiators came to the conviction that one should not only impose rules on the farmers – one must also offer them an opportunity to market their goods. That is why the cooperative is already building a network of suppliers around Munich. The participants themselves decide on the standards for the food they buy. It doesn’t always have to be organic – for example, good keeping conditions for the animals whose meat they offer are also important.

The products come from the region

Every second Friday Kristin Mansmann from the cooperative drives to the organic estate Wallenburg in Miesbach south of Munich and packs boxes of fresh vegetables into her small car. Then it goes to the organic cheese dairy Obermooser in Irschenberg. Until now, the dairy has only sold its products in the immediate vicinity; With the cooperative, she succeeds in making the leap to the large Munich market. Mansmann picks up orders at the two courtyards – the cooperative is already functioning as a purchasing community, as a test run for the supermarket, so to speak. She delivers the orders in a garage next to the Munich wholesale market hall. Members are already setting up a distribution station there. Each member can come at a specified time and receive their order. Everything seems a bit improvised, but you know each other, the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly.

Other cities are also planning hands-on supermarkets

The members of the cooperative have two motivations: the price – and the feeling of doing good. “The nice thing is that we know where things come from, you have a completely different connection to them,” says project participant Britta Bertsch. Manuel Schäffer only came by to have a look – but he already sees the advantages: “The work is manageable, and I have to pay in the supermarket too, and if in doubt, more than here.” The idea of ​​the hands-on supermarket seems to be slowly but surely gaining a foothold in Germany. There are already several purchasing cooperatives for fruit and vegetables, including in Munich. And when it comes to full-range supermarkets, Munich’s are the first, but also in Berlin (“Supercoop”) and Cologne (“Köllektiv “ ) want to start similar projects soon. The Munich cooperative needs around 800 members to function. She already has almost half.