terminology Kommune I

The free-living and free-loving late-1960s social experiment that was West Berlin’s “Kommune I” was actually pre-dated by another, less-prominent commune, which ironically ended up being called “Kommune II.” Many of Kommune I’s members were prominent student leaders in the nearby Free University, including Fritz Teufel.

Kommune I became prominent for advocating and carrying out humorous “praxis” like flinging paint-filled balloons at the American consulate. Several members of the commune were arrested in the late sixties, charged with conspiring to bomb American Vice-President Hubert Humphrey during a visit. The commune members were released when it became apparent that their “bombs” were actually balloons filled with custard.

After Kommune I fell apart, and inspired by the exploits of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, many of it’s members participated in the low-level terrorism of the West Berlin Tupamaros, and several went on to form the urban terrorist group called Movement 2 June.