The dream of an intact village

The civil engineer Marie-Theres Liess has a dream: A self-sufficient village that is self-sufficient and in which the focus is on community. The miracle happens: together with her husband and four children, the 44-year-old saved an abandoned village in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Between the Mecklenburg Lake District and the Baltic Sea coast, somewhere in the flat no-man’s-land in the midst of fields, meadows and forests, a narrow dead-end road leads to Lüchow: a village with 19 scattered houses. No bars, no cinema. For some a dump, for Marie-Theres Liess the dream come true from Bullerbü: “Being able to breathe deeply, stepping outside the door and standing in the meadow, that is true quality of life for me.”

The 44-year-old civil engineer moved to Lüchow with her family eight years ago. “At that time only four pensioners lived here in three houses.” Far too few, thought Marie-Theres Liess and her husband Johannes, an architect. They developed a rescue plan for the village. Core item: More people are needed. With children. And children need a school. Where they can learn and meet friends.

A school as the focal point of a village community. Where people support each other, live in multi-generation houses, celebrate festivals. A place where you want to stay. “Before, we moved so many times I can hardly count. It sapped my strength. We had the vision of a self-sufficient village that takes care of itself and in which the focus is on the community,” says Marie-Theres Liess. After stops in Berlin, Kassel, Vienna and Mexico, the family finally wants to settle down. They drum up advertising for Lüchow, tell friends about their plans, place ads and organize information evenings.

And the small miracle happens: Ten families move to Lüchow, found a sponsoring association, apply for approval for a school with a Waldorf pedagogical character. In 2006 the first four children are sitting on a school desk. In 2008 the pink school building was inaugurated. A farmer gave them the property, and the construction was financed by their own funds, donations and grants from the Ministry of Agriculture and the European Union.

Today 20 adults and 20 children live in Lüchow. It’s still quiet. “If three cars sneak through the village one after the other, we’re talking about a high volume of traffic,” says Marie-Theres Liess with a laugh. Their children Michael, Thomas, Alma and Fabian, all between five and eleven, can romp around in the countryside. They keep rabbits and play with the neighborhood kids. A perfect world.

Until February 2011. The Mecklenburg-West Pomeranian Ministry of Education seems suspicious of the idyll. It questions the qualifications of the teachers, revokes the school’s approval, and teaching has to be suspended. A bitter setback. But the Liess couple is fighting and appealing to the administrative court in Schwerin. The decision about the future of the “Landschule Lüchow” will be made this summer. The Liess’ cling to the vision of a village community. The two are also thinking of an organic farm, solar power, a small hotel, a tavern. Sometime. There is still a lot to do in Lüchow.

Crystal Waston MD

Crystal Waston has a degree in Cross Media Production and Publishing. At vital.de she gives everyday tips and deals with topics related to women's health, sport, and nutrition.

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