The Auerhaus Experiment

The narrator traces how a shared house becomes a risky, sustaining alternative to the life its residents were expected to accept.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Suicide Attempt

The Suicide Attempt Discovery Frieder’s parents find him in the cellar after he takes his mother’s sleeping pills with wine. His father’s search for a missing axe unexpectedly interrupts the attempt and brings help. Consequences The narrator returns from a trip to learn that Frieder is in the locked ward. The failed attempt turns their old friendship into a question of how to keep Frieder alive without pretending to understand him.

A Risky Outing

A Risky Outing Beyond the Ward Frieder gets permission to walk in the hospital park with the narrator. He asks to go into town, and the narrator fears that any freedom might become a route back to the railway tracks. A Small Choice At the bridge, Frieder stops and admits he wants to see something beyond patients and depression. They cross together, and the outing becomes evidence that care can mean accompanying someone rather than controlling him.

A House for Frieder

A House for Frieder An Unfinished Home Frieder proposes moving into his late grandfather’s village house, but his doctor and family do not want him living alone. The narrator sees a chance to escape his mother’s hostile boyfriend as well as a way to stay near his friend. Shared Responsibility Vera agrees to join them, and Cäcilia later secures permission to move in too. The empty, uncomfortable house becomes a practical promise: Frieder will have company, and the young people will try to build a life outside the ward.

A Household Takes Shape

A Household Takes Shape Everyday Structure The four residents paint rooms, haul possessions by tractor, cook together, and cycle to school. Their routines give the house a rhythm unlike the narrator’s tense life with F2M2 or Frieder’s institutional schedule. A Chosen Home The borrowed axe arrives sharpened, and a song gives the house its name. Their joking meals and shared chores do not cure Frieder, but they create a place where a difficult life can be lived alongside other people.

The Experiment Ends

The Experiment Ends Departure Legal trouble, Cäcilia’s defense strategy, and the end of Harry’s apprenticeship make the household’s future uncertain. The residents eventually leave the village house and move to Köln, while the narrator’s education and relationships take different turns. What Remains The later account does not turn Auerhaus into a permanent refuge. Instead, it remembers a temporary community that made survival and intimacy possible, even though its members could not keep the same life forever.

late summer, before the household forms

autumn, several weeks into Frieder’s hospitalization

later autumn, after the first outing

early winter, during the first weeks at Auerhaus

the spring after the shared winter