Damanhur

The Federation of Damanhur was founded in 1975 by Oberto AIraudi in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy at the foot of the Pennine Alps. The by now almost 1000 inhabitants of the ecologically-minded community share in particular a respect for all individual life forms.

The Federation of Damanhur

In Damanhur, everyone is responsible for their own spiritual and social behavior. Trust, respect, acceptance and solidarity are among the basic requirements for living together in the community.

Above and beyond this, the members of the Federation of Damanhur (La Federazione di Damanhur) place importance on self-realization so as to be able to fully development one's individual talents. To support the achievement of these goals and values in everyday life, the members of Damanhur have a complex democratic constitution that, among other things, mandates the dissemination of positive thoughts and fosters the idea of constant renewal.

Those who want to live in Damanhur must bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm with them. In addition to displaying humor and friendliness, each and everyone is expected to contribute steady work to the community as well as in to social and ecological areas. The ideals of the collective have precedence to personal interests. Among the core ethical and spiritual values are also the respect of all life forms (ethereal and physical) and the renunciation of all forms of intoxicants. Thus, for example, smoking is forbidden on the entire community complex.

The citizens of Damanhur are divided into four different levels dependent on their desire and ability of engagement. Class A and B citizens are the only ones who, after a half-year probationary period, live directly in the Federation. They are divided into 20 so-called "nucleo" communities of 10 to 20 people under one roof. Along these lines, the different nucleos as a whole form the federal system of Damanhur and adhere to its democratic regulatory system. Class C and D citizens, on the other hand, live outside of Damanhur.

Each nucleo is dedicated to a specific research or task area, which in turn determines the daily life of the inhabitants. In this regard, they deal particularly with topics such as ecology, art and spirituality. Each year, the given nucleo elects a representative from among themselves, who then joins the other spokesmen to make the political decisions.

Every citizen of Damanhur renders monthly tributes; all expenses and costs of the individual nucleo are shared by its members. The micronation also has its own currency, the credito, which is meant to remind us that money has no value in itself but is only an instrument of exchange, and also has its own schools (which are funded, however, with the support of Italy) and a daily newspaper.

More than two-thirds of the Damanhurians work in Federation-owned companies, while the rest pursue outside jobs. Half of Damanhur's food provisions are grown internally, and the energy used is to a large extent solar power.

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