Not far from Kozarska Dubica, in the village of Vranovac, about ten enthusiasts from Germany and Austria have found a new place to live. Delighted by the natural beauty, they are coming to a place from which the local population is moving away.

Ten members of the “Siebenstern eG” cooperative are the first team of a community that arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order, as they say, to enable a better life for themselves but also for the local population. For now there are ten of them, each of whom has some skill – from rough construction work to art.

Somewhat skeptical because of the presence of journalists, the members of the “Siebenstern” cooperative from Germany nevertheless agree for the first time to explain why they came to this particular part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They arrived in the village of Vranovac two months ago, when they learned what natural riches and, as they say, beauty of life it hides. They decided to start a new life here. They bought a house, which they are currently renovating, with land on which they initially plan to build ten more houses, one for each member.

Reactivate natural resources

“We already have this kind of organization established in Germany, which is called a cooperative. Now we are doing it here. Our project is to set this area in motion, to reactivate it with all the riches that are within reach,” says Patrik, the oldest among them, who says that everyone works as a team.

Although the cooperative they are establishing in Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of the same framework as the one in Germany, they tell us that the conditions for implementation are better in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are aware that at the beginning it will be a little harder, including coexistence with the local population, but they already have positive experiences. They want to be seen as part of a community in which everyone can participate.

“On this land we want to activate this area, in cooperation with the neighbors but also more broadly. We also want to engage in agriculture, but in an environmentally friendly way. We have carpenters, artists… we function on a neighborly principle. Every member must have their own house or their own place of residence, but we work together. We have enough people to start. We wanted a place where we could live and work, and we found that here,” says one of the members, Katja, inviting the neighbors to visit them.

“We want to sell our products, agricultural or artistic. We also want to provide jobs for the local population. So we want to work together with our neighbors and do something good for our surroundings,” says Katja, followed by the oldest among them, Patrik, explaining the goal with a practical example.

“We started out and said let’s go find a place we like, and we found it here. We also found good people, and they are open to our ideas. There are water springs. We are also in contact with the municipal authorities, who are receptive to us. Our goal is to help the neighbors as much as we can. To work together. So that everyone is better off.”

Historical parallels

However, the local population is divided, although most are asking whether there are buyers for their properties as well. The news has spread to neighboring Kozarska Dubica and Prijedor, a good part of whose population has roots in the surrounding villages and properties that they say they would sell immediately.

“I have my grandfather’s house and a lot of land in Čitluk (a village near Knežica). I rarely go up there, and everything will get overgrown anyway. I heard that some people are moving in and buying properties, so if I manage, I’ll sell,” says one resident of Kozarska Dubica.

Some are skeptical and wonder why they chose the village of Vranovac in particular. Historically speaking, there is a certain curiosity.

It is one of the first German settlements in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which during Austro-Hungarian times was settled mainly by families from Saxony and Hesse – Klee, Bechtloff, Bohl, Gruber, Horn, Mayer, Schmidt, Hess – and which encouraged the immigration of farmers, businessmen, but also officials of that time. Thus Vranovac, where the Eberwein and Vonau families were the most numerous, alongside other villages of Dubica, Gradiška, Rudolfst(h)al/ Adolfst(h)al/ Aleksandrovac, was supposed to serve as a model for domestic peasants and initiate the modernization of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which resulted in a state agricultural cooperative (farms owned by the state). According to data available in research papers from that period, their agricultural yields were three times higher than the yields of the local population.

Between the two world wars they operated in several associations, and after the outbreak of the uprising in Dubica during the Second World War, a large part of the German families from this village, as well as from most parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, left Bosnia and Herzegovina and settled in Srem, Banat, and Bačka in Serbia. Locals say that there used to be a cemetery nearby, but that after 80 years everything has become overgrown, and that there are few who remember the exact location.

There is nothing wrong with that, but

Although it is hard to believe, the residents of Vranovac say today that there is some connection here, and some of them are skeptical.

“That used to be theirs. They were settled there. And during that war, they were moved out from there,” says Biljana Balaban, who lives in the same village.

“Well, it’s nothing bad, I’m not saying that….. it’s just that it caused a little unrest among us. People say that maybe they came in a bit thoughtlessly, expecting something more. And they saw that it’s not exactly as cheap here as they thought.”

Some of the locals we spoke with have nothing against their stay, noting that the villages are empty anyway and that it is good that people want to come and live from their own work. The renovation of the first house bought by members of this community is almost finished. After that, everything should be ready for launching the cooperative in the true sense of the word. The community, which currently numbers ten members, wants to live from its own work. They hope they will be able to do that in this place, regardless of the minor difficulties they encounter. The plan is to produce and then sell products.

“We want to go step by step. To create a family environment with the local population. We are already learning the language, twice a week, and it is very difficult (laughter),” says Noel (23), who works as a carpenter in this community.

Work for everyone

“I make small tables from natural wood. My dream would come true if I could do that every day.”

The cooperative, which is already registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina and which will be fully operational in three months, will be like one large household. They say they want to encourage people not to move away from these areas and that there is work for everyone.

“We want to provide an environment from which they will not have to leave. If some return and we have work for them, then we all benefit,” they say almost unanimously, emphasizing that not everything is perfect in Germany, as many people think.

Source: Deutsche Welle