Hungarian-German married couple finds perfection in the Hungarian countryside

Photo: szeretetkert.wordpress.com

Their motto is “gold from lead, reality from dream.”

Once there were two young people: Anne, a woman from Germany and Szilárd, a man from Hungary. According to 24.hu, they were still children when they met: as Lake Balaton used to be the Riviera for the people of the German Democratic Republic, and Anne’s family also loved the atmosphere of the “Hungarian Sea”, they were recurring guests of the guest house of Szilárd’s family in Balatonlelle during the middle 90s. There was no stopping after that: love evolved, then love became marriage, and their marriage gifted them with two children.

The couple has stepped into the age of Christ this year. After constantly being on move on the Northern Sea-Lake Balaton axis for years, they finally settled down in the hills of Zala on an estate in Nemessándorháza. They have made the life-changing decision: they will establish a self-sufficient economy.

Photo: szeretetkert.wordpress.com

They began their life together in Germany as both completed university there. Anne studied agricultural studies – which might have been her first step towards establishing an own economy – and Szilárd studied linguistics. More specifically he learned the sign language of the deaf. He is currently working at Pannon University as a scholarship researcher.

Their daughters were born in Germany: first Hannah, who will become 6 in June, then Emma, who turned 3 in January. They used to live an ordinary urban life there, but in the recent years, they came with the idea of a self-sufficient family community. “We were inspired by those Hungarian and German family and community efforts, which aimed for creating a self-sufficient, ecological lifestyle and a new type of a communion,” as Szilárd states.

Photo: szeretetkert.wordpress.com

They began the work on their dream in 2016, which they named the “Family Garden of Love”, because family and love have been decisive factors in both of their lives. The beginning was not easy on the territory covered with weed, but they received a lot of help from their neighbors and other people from the village.

The most urgent problem was the question of the cover above the family. They decided that a yurt is the best solution, as its building is fast and nature friendly. The family made the foundations and a Hungarian expert created the yurt 50 square meters big. They have been living there since the fall of 2016 and they are quite happy with it yet.

Photo: szeretetkert.wordpress.com

As Szilárd states, life in the yurt is perfect. Heating is provided by a disc furnace and a stone furnace, though they needed a lot of wood during the winter. Electricity comes from a 12-volt sun collector, and their water supplies are provided by a well nearby – but they are going to dig an own well soon. They are planning to build an ecological house next in cooperation.

“We want to create visible reality based on our dreams, and the journey began,” Szilárd alleged. “We are hoping to serve as an example for those who feel that they are held back by financial, social or emotional obstacles from creating their own love garden. Our blog and Facebook profile show how we get information, what we read, to whom we talk, where we search, what our pleasures are – and finally, we will definitely get to our realm of miracles. We hope that we can inspire those thinking about self-sufficiency and creating a communion.”