What is it to be German?

The remarks of Sri Aurobindo about Germany that are found in his book 'The Human Cycle' have served as a reference with regard to the contents of the German Pavilion. According to these insights, the fulfillment and future task of the German soul lies in the happy realisation of both the idealistic and pragmatic aspects of its nature. Pre-eminent aspects of the German culture may be on one hand philosophy/vision and music, and on the other hand a dispassionate and rational attitude towards research and production. Hence the need for a Pavilion model that will fulfill the full spectrum of these qualities. The Pavilion is not to embody only the German soul aspects in a symbolic way, but should also be of practical benefit to a vital and essential aspect of Auroville.

As Germans are in general very practical people, efficient and work-minded, it should not be difficult to agree on a construction plan or a material action. It is more difficult for the Germans to agree on the ideology behind the German pavilion. The feelings and opinions regarding the pavilion expressed by Germans who live in Germany and by Germans living in Auroville tend to be far apart. As I am German myself, but living in Auroville for almost 20 years, I feel kind of detached from the daily life process in Germany, but all these discussions in the last months around the German soul brought back to me the question as to why I incarnated in Germany this time, and not in some other country.

As the soul chooses to be born in a particular country, it automatically takes on certain qualities of that particular nation-soul to work with these qualities in life. In that sense I may feel like a world-citizen in Auroville, but with certain German qualities which express themselves through my work and how I do and perceive things. During the ceremony yesterday, I silently expressed my desire to see this beautiful goddess-being who is the nation-soul of Germany with my own eyes one day.

Each country building their national pavilion in Auroville will have to go through these discussions to find out what their nation-soul is expressing in the world, and how they identify with it. This process has - as far as I can see - barely started. It will make international relations clearer, hopefully more harmonious, and is an interesting tool for self-discovery, separating the 'soul and self' of the country from the 'self and soul' of the individual. Adapted from a report to an international cyberforum submitted by Aurovilian Tine, the Auroville International coordinator residing in Auroville. tine@auroville.org.in Home > The City > International Zone > German Pavilion > Consecration