“I think we’ll be able to do it without you and your dear wife,” Prof. Lang said calmly, after which the two of them left the apartment in pique.
“Of course, no one is forced to take part,” said the professor after the door had been closed behind the lone fighters, “so now would be the right time to go if you want to.”
Lea looked from one to the other, but everyone stayed in their places. It was as if a sense of community had already developed just from the prospect of taking more of one’s own life into one’s own hands.
“Well, then I would like to explain to you now how I imagine the project and how we imagine it, because we did a little research in advance, found a suitable property and set up possible financing, which we all better get out of, than before, and above all, the money is not gone, but is flowing into an investment. Nobody can raise the rent anymore, nobody can dictate how we have to live, at least not outsiders.”
The next few hours were used to finish the plan. It turned out that the residents of the house had a wide variety of talents, from carpenters to electricians, from brokers to tax consultants. Everyone was willing to get involved.
A few weeks later, Martin Ehm, with little Mara on his lap, drove to the new community center in a wheelchair. He and his family had moved into a ground-floor unit from which he could reach both the common room and the large kitchen for everyone, as well as the garden behind the house, without barriers. Lea was able to go back to work much sooner than expected because the children were now playing together, and the care responsibilities were shared. Just as they cooked for each other. Everyone contributed as best he or she could. But when you had enough of community, you could retire to your living unit. A balanced mixture between being alone and being together was found. Problems that arose were resolved at meetings in such a way that nobody felt neglected.
“I never would have thought that life could become an adventure again,” Martin said to his wife one evening as they sat on the terrace and the starry sky shone above them.
“It’s a wonderful, light, new attitude to life,” Lea agreed, “above all that we don’t have to worry about finances anymore. I mean, there’s something about this idea of the nuclear family, but ultimately, it’s unfair to think that they always have to do everything on their own and that it’s nobody else’s business.”
“Of course, you have to be willing to let other people into your life, to a certain extent,” Martin said.
“I also didn’t say that this concept fits everyone, as we have experienced,” explained Lea, “but it’s a pity that there is almost no offer for it because we were told for so long that you can always do everything have to do it alone. That’s nonsense. How much easier it can be when we help each other and solve problems together. And that without any restrictions.”
And while the former tenants of the house owner Fritz Nagel were enjoying their new lives, he was no longer able to rent out the apartments. The last couple to come out as outspoken anti-communists saw Fritz Nagel sell the house in order to be able to continue living a lifestyle that he liked to blame on others, namely as earners of an unemployed income and the new owner as the raised rents even more, to the point that they moved out and he turned it into an office building. He was convinced that he wouldn’t have to deal with private individuals and their strange wishes, because working with companies would be much easier. You can wish him the best of luck. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter either, because there is at least one example that there are more options in life than the traditional, conservative circles want us to believe. You just have to pick it up and do it. And it’s never too late to start again. Even Prof. Leonhard Lang found joy in instructing the children in the mysteries of nature and life, while his wife planted a vegetable garden with them. So, everyone found their place and purpose. Finding happiness is sometimes not that difficult.