50 years of Auroville
A city without property, money and government

A ‘human laboratory’ – this was what the township of Auroville, founded 50 years ago, was supposed to be: basic income for all, no hierarchies, all decisions based on consensus. Frederick Schulze-Buxloh has been there from the very start.

By Gerhard Richter / Photos by David Klammer

Frederick has just breakfasted on a scrambled egg in the cafe and is going back to his house. He is tall, slim. An almost aristocratic bearing. Short grey hair, he looks fondly at his life’s work.

A settlement of bamboo huts situated around the only tree in the midst of a semi-desert has developed into a pleasant place in the last 50 years. While it may not have the 50,000 residents targeted in the vision, there are nevertheless 3,500. Most of the houses are scattered between the millions of trees that have been planted over the years. Auroville is no longer a village but more of a small town. Frederick lives in one of the new multi-family houses. His house is a gift from the community. Two rooms, kitchen, bathroom, balcony.

 

Gratitude is a precious feeling

Frederick believes that gratitude is far more precious than having a lot of money and being able to afford everything. Once upon a time he was rich, very rich in fact, he would have been able to afford a couple dozen such houses.

Frederick’s father makes a fortune in mining. The family ends up in Munich after the war. But post-war Germany offers the young sophisticate no direction.
To fill the inner vacuum, he reads eastern philosophers such as Sri Aurobindo. He is drawn to the teachings of the gentle scholar and yoga guru that speak of a higher consciousness. After finishing high school in Germany, Frederick travels on a cargo ship from Genoa to Bombay. That was 1959. A year later, he meets Aurobindo personally and lives in his ashram. There he meets Mother Alfassa, Aurobindo’s partner. 

He puts all his money into the shared vision

Mother Alfassa gives Frederick guidance and direction.  In return he gives her his entire fortune and devotes his life to serving their shared vision. It’s called Auroville – a town that belongs to nobody, where people from all countries live together, with no property, no money and no government. Frederick puts his heart and soul into the project, founds a family and, at the request of the Mother, builds the first solid house.
For lunch, Frederick goes to the solar kitchen, a canteen where 1,000 vegetarian dishes are cooked every day using solar energy. He’s wearing a light shirt, shorts and flip-flops. This is where he meets acquaintances, they exchange news. Like all the others living here, he is given a sort of basic income which is pretty adequate for one’s living expenses. In return, one has to spend four hours a day doing something for the community. Frederick handles the sensitive relations between the Government of India, UNESCO and the Auroville bodies. India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development supports Auroville, gives some money, but has little to say. The Aurovillians maintain a self-governing system based on the consensus principle. An ongoing experiment.

What helps people in the future?

Much like a company’s research and development department, the Aurovillians, on their vast grounds, test what can help people in the future. Reforestation, alternative energy, gentle healing techniques, small-scale sewage treatment plants, different types of schools, construction techniques, organic farming, integration and music. And living together in solidarity.
How does one live and plan together, how does one resolve conflict? Frederick believes that what takes place on a small scale in Auroville, affects the greater good: