Germany

Nishtha (Siegfried) Mueller is a long-term Aurovilian, Sanskrit teacher, Veda researcher, and passionate life-long learner. For more than forty years he has devoted himself to Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda and Hymns to the Mystic Fire, to the study and restoration of some of the ancient hymns and to sharing a living approach to Sanskrit with spiritual seekers.

The German Government set up the Weltwärts programme to allow young Germans to volunteer in a different country for 6-18 months in areas like education, health, environment, culture and human rights, in order to broaden their minds and strengthen international understanding.

Walter was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on 7 December 1950. His childhood and youth were difficult but he felt there was always a protecting hand over him.

Stephanie left her body in Frankfurt on the night of Sunday, 10 March, after a long journey battling with her health, surrounded by the love and care of her family.

The Auroville Visitors Centre is Auroville’s reception and information disseminating centre for the often thousands of tourists and visitors coming to Auroville daily.

Abishek, a youth from Annai Nagar village, recently spent 18 months volunteering in Germany, as part of the Weltwärtsprogramme.

Friederike Mühlhans has a long experience of working for Auroville International (AVI). Since 1997 she has been a board member of AVI Germany and since 2003 she has been Secretary of the AVI Board, with a four-year break when she served as Chairperson.

Long-term AVI Germany board member Thomas Dreyer passed away on 6 January after a long and serious illness. Thomas was the main project manager of the German Weltwärts volunteers programme, supported by his wife Birgit.

Auroshastri was born in Pondicherry at Cluny Hospital on July 4, 1975. His father Gerhard asked Nolini for his name and received Auroshastri, meaning “he who has knowledge of the divine law.”

Rolf Lieser arrived in Auroville in 1981 and during his thirty years stay here, among other things, he practised and exhibited his paintings and sculptures, played music in various bands, did graphic design (including working with Kireet Joshi on certain projects), designed and constructed a number of houses, and started Kalabhumi community in the Cultural Zone.

“The Transcendent Function is a psychic dynamic, if you want to transcend something you have to bring the opposites together. It can change everything, it is a transforming power and can be activated by sandplay, dreamwork, active imagination and other techniques which brings you to a different and wider levels of consciousness.

On May 11th, Bernd Theilmann passed away in his home at Hermitage at the age of 74. He had been suffering from kidney failures and other physical challenges.

On February 19th Ellen left her body in her Arati apartment. She would have been 95 in April this year. After a career as a hatha yoga teacher in Germany, Ellen arrived in Auroville in 1996 and was accepted as an Aurovilian the year later.

The first section of the 10 metres deep and 100 metres long Matrimandir test lake is nearing completion. By the end of September, the digging was finalized, two five-metre high walls of concrete lego blocks had come up on either side of the lake, and the lake’s floor and slopes were clad with a high density polyethylene (hdpe) liner embedded between two layers of geotextile.

On September 11th Doris van Kalker (born Griethe) left her body at the age of 76 in Mahalakshmi Home. She had been taken there on August 9th to recover from a fall, then went to PIMS for a few days to find the cause of her unbalance and difficulty with walking, where she was diagnosed with Myeloma.

On May 25th, long-term pioneer Peter Holl passed away in a hospice in Hamburg after coping with cancer for more than a year. He was 74. Having been part of a Sri Aurobindo study group in Berlin in the very early seventies, ‘Peti’ as he was called (pronounce Peetee), left his job in the banking world, had his father drive him to the autobahn and hitchhiked overland to India, arriving in the Ashram in 1972 where he received Mother’s darshan and lived for some time.

On May 3rd, German Aurovilian Werner Stoff left his body in his house in Prayatna, at the age of 81, after a struggle with cancer. Werner was an architect and a Freemason.

Auroville-raised Lili spent eight years studying art history, theatre and fine arts abroad, and is now perhaps the busiest youth in Auroville.

Auroville’s pioneer Peter Kuhrt – also known as Stream – passed away on January 28th in a Munich hospital due to heart failure. He was 76.

On January 30th, Matthias passed away in his room at Mahalakshmi Home, ending a year-long struggle with cancer metastases in his lungs and brain.

The Auroville film EVER SLOW GREEN has been officially selected by six international film festivals and is nominated for two awards. The Green Screen Wildlife Film Festival, Eckernförde, Germany, the largest wildlife film festival in Europe, has nominated it for Best Newcomer FIlm.

Long-term Friend of Auroville and Auroville International Germany member Uschi Ernst, passed away on Sunday 3 May at the age of 80. Her health had been gradually weakening this last half year.

On February 2, Martin Sobieroj passed away in his room at Arka. He was 76 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. Martin was ready to go and had opted to stay away from heavy treatment and follow the natural course of the disease, a choice which he – admirably – adhered to apart from accepting some pain plasters at the very end.

On January 7th, Ingo H.W. Torp left his body at the age of 77 in Santé, after staying two days in the ICU in the Pondicherry Institute of medical Sciences.

Heinrich Karl Weihrauch peacefully passed away in his Auromodèle home on Wednesday December 25th at the age of 81. He had suffered a number of strokes since 2010.

Ursula Loose Tuschkewitz of Gratitude passed away on July 15th in the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences PIMS at the age of 69. She had been suffering from cancer (lymphoma) affecting her spine.

On November 3rd, Jan Weber peacefully passed away in the arms of Roswitha, his mother, in a hospital in Karlsruhe in Germany where he had been treated for system failure caused by a Hantavirus which he contracted during a cycle tour.

In the early morning of Wednesday 6 December 2017, Hans Pfunder left his body in Marika’s Senior Home in Samasti. Suffering from a terminal illness, his health had been deteriorating over these last years.

Siegfried Latzke, a German national who came to Auroville in 1998, left his body on 22nd April, surrounded by his family. He had been diagnosed with cancer four weeks earlier.

In September 2014, Auroville Today reported on the building of six mini test ponds to assess how best to build and waterproof the future Matrimandir Lake.

What comparisons can be made between the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and those of European thinkers? Was Sri Aurobindo influenced by the philosophy of some Europeans?

On December 15th, surrounded by friends, Ursula Mack left her body in her house in Samasti after a long period of gradual and peaceful withdrawal.

Petra Janko left her body at the age of 55 in Pondicherry’s General Hospital in the early morning of 17 August, hours after having been taken there feeling unwell by Hari, her husband, living in Pondicherry.

On April 16th, long-term Aurovilian Klaus (Groujean) of Nine Palms passed away after a year-long struggle with complications of liver cancer.

The lake around the Matrimandir was foreseen by The Mother. Already in 1965, years before Auroville was founded, She had given Nata the task of studying the lake and how the water could be sourced.