Experiences from Tempelhof: A learning journey towards community

Felix Harling — Mon, 19 May 2025 13:28:02 +0000

Why we traveled to Tempelhof

As a Moral Ambition learning circle, we ask ourselves: Where are solutions to the most pressing problems already being worked on today? It was already clear during the first session of our learning journey that we would meet in Tempelhof, because our learning circle member Stefanie – one of the long-time residents of this community – had sparked our curiosity. Tempelhof: a place where community life, sustainable practices and social change are lived side by side.

And so we Learning Circle members arrived on a sunny May Sunday, eager to see what awaited us: Lars and Willi from the Stuttgart area, Christian from the Bamberg area and Silke and I from the Heidelberg area.

Tempelhof: A place with impact

A huge thank you goes to Stefanie, who organized the day for us and gave us unique insights into the community. For example, an exchange with founding member Wolfgang Sechser, who explained the mix of luck and shared vision that led to the project in “Swabian Siberia”. 2009-11 was a time of upheaval – banking crisis, Fukushima, change of government in Baden-Württemberg. It all started with a simple Google search: “buy village”. And the first hit was Tempelhof.

The first forty residents have now grown to over 150 who share common values (Vision & Werte – in German). The community is based on a legal structure with a foundation, cooperative and association (Struktur & Selbst-Organisation – in German) and a strong self-organization with decision-making structures, forums for cultivating social interaction and defined processes and procedures. “Everyday life as an exercise”, as Wolfgang beautifully put it.

The community has an impact on its surroundings: 350 people have settled in the region because they work in Tempelhof, take their children to school or feel connected. Over 10,000 overnight stays in the seminar and guest house show the openness and reach of this place.

What touched me in Tempelhof

A place to just be
The space in the apartments is limited to 20 m² per adult. The space outside the living areas is huge. The community therefore offers plenty of space for shared activities and simply being. The “village square” acts as a haven of peace, and the “village house” offers meals for all residents every day.

A place of relationships
The community has specifically created spaces for exchange and decision-making that allow relationships to grow on different levels and also resolve conflicts: Relationships with oneself, relationships with each other in manifold forms and relationships between organizations. Ultimately, the relationship between people and nature is also a central building block of the community – with a focus on organic farming.

A place of creation
The community was founded and shaped by entrepreneurs. Transforming an abandoned estate with a history as an educational institution and home for the disabled into a multi-generational eco-social project that is self-sustaining in 15 years – that is pure creative energy.

A place of learning
The community is not only a place to live, but also a place of education and offers scope for experimentation – such as the seminars on offer, the Earth Ship settlement (in German) or the Flow Valley educational campus (in German) for young future designers. Yes, the community as a whole is a laboratory for the future.

Impressions Tempelhof Community

What I took from the circle

Part of our agenda in Tempelhof was also the fifth session of our learning journey with the pertinent title “Unfold and use your network”. Each of us made a request to the others, which was intended to tap into the network of the other participants. In this way, we fed each other with ideas and contacts.

I took the following request with me: The help I would like to ask the group for is to connect me with people who are implementing effective measures to combat loneliness – be it psychologists, techies or marketing professionals or projects & organizations.

Previously, we had also decided as a learning circle to meet monthly after week 8 – the official end of the learning journey. While we were already strongly connected virtually before the meeting in Tempelhof, this bond and the desire to support each other has been strengthened by the hours spent together in the community – the true “Tempelhof momentum”.

The next session 6 is “Take time for self-reflection” – an invitation to a retreat with myself based on the ideas, thoughts and contacts I have gathered on the learning journey so far.

And Christian has also shared a personal experience report from Tempelhof on his LinkedIn profile: highly recommended (in German)!

And you? Invitation to reflect

If you have read this far, I invite you to end your reading with a short self-reflection:

How would you like to live – if your values would be visible?
Which community has inspired you recently?

You are welcome to share your thoughts with me or publish them as a comment.

My Newsletter: The Dancing Rainbow

I will send bi-monthly insights, reflections and invitations to special events around coaching, peer learning and community building.

It is time to live and learn in all its colors.

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Let’s stay connected!

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