Ashram Germany – Life in a spiritual community
The awareness that genuine community is possible when people are willing to encounter each other—beyond control, expectations and power games.
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A Living Laboratory for Peace: Discover Tamera in Portugal
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13.03.26
A place where lakes were built to heal the land, and where people are exploring a culture of peace
In May 1978, after years of searching, Dieter Duhm, together with Sabine Lichtenfels and Charly Rainer Ehrenpreis, launched their first community experiment in southern Germany. The aim was to establish an interdisciplinary research center that would bring together experts in bionics, architecture, food security, and emerging technologies. Early on, they realized that lasting solutions could not be achieved without a stable social foundation, and that addressing inner human conflicts was essential.
The central question guiding the project became: "How can people live together over the long term in trust?"
In 1995, the group moved to Monte do Cerro, a 140-hectare plot in the shape of an eagle, in rural Alentejo, Portugal. During a meditation at a spring, Sabine receives the name “Tamera,” later learning it is an ancient Egyptian word for “land of water.” Rather than following a fixed plan, they approach the land as artists and ecologists, listening to its latent potential. Their first vision includes the large lake built in 2007. Wildlife greets them with unusual trust, and they begin to connect with both visible and invisible beings, receiving guidance for creating the Healing Biotope.
Today, visitors arrive in Tamera to the gentle sounds of birds above the lakes that now glimmer in the early sunlight. Cork oak trees shade quiet paths, and the air smells of wet earth and blooming flowers. Groups gather for morning meditation, while others walk along trails to explore the surrounding landscape, sensing how the land itself has been transformed over decades of care and research.
Healing the Land – and Ourselves
Over the years, Tamera’s founders and residents created a “water retention landscape” – lakes and ponds that restore degraded land, attract wildlife, and make the region resilient to drought. But Tamera is more than ecological restoration.
It is a living laboratory, a “Healing Biotope” where humans explore how life can thrive socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
The community’s programs cover interconnected areas such as regenerative ecology, conscious relationships, community building, renewable energy, meditation, and art. Visitors participate fully in daily life, from practical work on the land to group dialogues about trust, cooperation, and the future of human culture. Many guests describe their time as life-changing. Not because the community promises all the answers, but because it shows a different way of living together, even if only for a short time.
An Invitation to step into the Experiment
Throughout the year, Tamera hosts seminars, introduction weeks, and retreats. Some focus on personal development, others on ecological restoration, community life, or the inner foundations of peace.
For travelers seeking more than relaxation – those curious about living differently and connecting with a deeper vision – Tamera offers a rare experience: a chance to step into a living experiment, and to feel that a peaceful and regenerative future is not just a dream, but something that can already be lived today.
You can find more information about this multifaceted project on the Tamera website.
