SpaceStories

A Thing of Pos­si­bility

A space in Wendland that offers many pos­si­bi­lities with a guest house and event rooms. Behind the unusual name is an equally unusual concept — and a key question: How do we want to live and work in the future?

by Anke Frey in January 2024

Ein Ding der Mög­lichkeit [A Thing of Pos­si­bility] is a space in Wendland that offers many pos­si­bi­lities with a guest house and event rooms. Behind the unusual name is an equally unusual concept — and a key question: How do we want to live and work in the future? Ques­tions that are often addressed in work­shops or seminars. Eight adults and three children from Berlin and Hamburg are trying out new ways of working tog­ether — also for their guests.

The Wendland region in eastern Lower Saxony, located between the Elbe glacial valley and the Lüneburg Heath, is firmly con­nected in recent German history with the anti-nuclear movement. Since the late 1970s, locals and opponents of nuclear power have joined forces in common protest against the nuclear waste repo­sitory in Gor­leben. Num­erous resisters have taken root during this time, settling down on empty farms and trying out alter­native ways of life. The new­comers were wel­comed with bene­vo­lence in this region, which has always been struc­tu­rally weak. Just like the Slavs in the Middle Ages, who were settled in Rund­linge, a form of cir­cular village typical of the Wendland, by the land­lords. The houses of these radially arranged vil­lages cluster around a common village square, thus forming a com­munity.

This sense of com­munity con­tinues to shape the men­tality and life of the people in the Wendland and pro­vides a fertile ground for new ideas. In the smallest Rundling of Sal­de­ratzen, located west of Lüchow, one of these new ideas has been emerging since 2021: “Ein Ding der Mög­lichkeit” [A Thing of Pos­si­bility] is a place for inno­vative forms of living and working, including a guest­house, seminar ope­ration and cul­tural acti­vities. It has nothing to do with the hippie life of the 1970s. The founders from Berlin and Hamburg pre­viously pursued suc­cessful careers in the creative industry and in boat building for many years, gaining a lot of expe­rience with large pro­jects. Olive-green parkas and anti-nuclear movement sti­ckers are nowhere to be seen. Instead, a cup of cap­puccino is available at the open-air bar, which con­jures up an urban flair on the lawn with its old wooden parts in vintage style. And there is Julia Nagel, one of the founders of the project, who shows me around and explains this place for the future to me.

You moved to the Wendland three years ago with your 12-year-old son to start an alter­native living and working project with friends. How did that come about?

We all felt the desire for more room to mano­euvre. We wanted to lite­rally take our lives back into our own hands and realise our own ideas. However, we didn’t have the romantic idea that we would sud­denly become farmers, but we no longer wanted to use our pro­fes­sional and per­sonal skills only at the desk. In Sal­de­ratzen, a cir­cular village with only 23 inha­bi­tants, we for­t­u­nately found an ideal place for our vision of the future. The pre­vious owner had already con­verted the farm into a guest and seminar house, which made it easier for us to get started. After three years of con­s­truction and reno­vation work, we are now at the point where we have not only created beau­tiful new spaces but can also finally fill them with our own ideas.

Why did you choose the co-ope­rative as your type of business?

We think that this form best aligns with our ideas of com­munal living. We quickly decided that any kind of work is equally valuable, and we didn’t want hier­ar­chies. Instead, we have teams that are respon­sible for a project and can also make decisions. A coope­rative is ideal for this. We see our­selves as a platform of and for people. Anyone who comes here and works with us can con­tribute them­selves and their ideas.

How have your neigh­bours received you?

Super! The people in the Wendland are open and curious. They just walk onto the farm and let you show and explain ever­y­thing to them. There is a great deal of tole­rance towards other ways of life. And, of course, they are happy about young people moving here and bringing their children.

What kind of events can take place on your farm?

In prin­ciple, almost any­thing. We have dif­ferent rooms sui­table for seminars, work­shops or yoga classes. For people who are just looking for a place to work, we offer coworking options. In summer, con­certs, theatre per­for­mances or large events with up to 300 people can take place on our cul­tural stage. The large barn is also sui­table for wed­dings. Our gastro kitchen pro­vides organic, regional catering, and our garden café is a popular meeting place for tou­rists and locals. In the future, we want to offer more of our own courses. These include creative work­shops as well as seminars on sus­tainable eco­nomic management and con­tem­porary entre­pre­neurship. We are a member of the “Wis­sens­plattform für Zukunftsorte” [Know­ledge Platform for Future Loca­tions] and are happy to share our expe­rience with others.

What type of event would you most like to organise?

I love creative work­shops. I really enjoy creating things tog­ether with people. I offer them a wide range of dif­ferent mate­rials and an idea of what can be made from them, and then we begin. For example, everyone has to build lamp­shades, which in the end are made into a long string of lights. Creative work allows people to get to know them­selves and others in a com­pletely dif­ferent way. It’s pri­marily about emo­tions.

And why should we travel to the Wendland region?

This region is cha­rac­te­rised by a good mix of sparsely popu­lated and unspoilt nature, old buil­dings and open-minded people. Of par­ti­cular tourist interest are the half-tim­bered towns of Lüchow, Hitz­acker and Dan­nenberg and, of course, the Elbe that shapes this land­scape. The sleepy quality has its advan­tages here: the Rund­linge, which are unique in their kind, have been pre­served over the cen­turies. And the protest against the nuclear waste repo­sitory in Gor­leben has had an impact on the local society. An elderly lady recently told me that they had been fighting for a good life here for decades and are still doing so today. You can still feel the spirit of optimism and resis­tance of the Wend­landers, and that excites me.

The Hostess

SPACE

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The Space

The coope­rative project “Ein Ding der Mög­lichkeit” [A Thing of Pos­si­bility] pro­vides an expe­ri­mental space for new life and work con­cepts on a former farm in the Wendland region. The space of pos­si­bi­lities is a farm com­prising a resi­dential building, a barn and two former stables. The buil­dings were reno­vated pre­do­mi­nantly by the members them­selves, fol­lowing sus­taina­bility cri­teria, and designed for pro­fes­sional, private and cul­tural events. The laid-back vintage style adds an urban touch to the rural area. The spa­cious “Kunst­scheune” [Art Barn] with a stage can accom­modate events with up to 300 people. For smaller formats, another three rooms can be rented indi­vi­dually or tog­ether to hold work­shops, offsite events, yoga classes or private cele­bra­tions. The coope­rative itself hosts num­erous seminars, art and cul­tural events and offers art scho­lar­ships. A total of 15 guest rooms are available.

Text/ Interview: Anke Frey, December 2023

Photos: Ulrike Schacht, Niels Grugel, Line Tsoj, Arne Grugel, Björn Ewers, Kim Köster

The Space