Our first community was founded in Germany in 1920, and was one of dozens of communes that sprang up in the aftermath of the First World War. Eberhard Arnold, his wife Emmy and her sister Else von Hollander were the first members.

Leaving the comforts of their Berlin suburb (and Eberhard's blossoming career as an editor and sought-after public speaker), they settled in the tiny village of Sannerz, in the State of Hesse, and were soon joined by other like-minded seekers. Over the next ten years the movement grew rapidly, with people joining from Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Because of the community’s non-violent beliefs and refusal to support the Nazi Party, Hitler’s Gestapo raided the community in 1937 and forced them to leave the country within 48 hours. Only the presence of visitors from North America, who witnessed the raid, prevented wholesale consignment to the concentration camps. Fortunately, a refuge in England was made possible by the British members working in concert with the Home Office, and the whole community moved to a new location in the Cotswolds.

During the next five years, over a hundred people joined from England. During this time the once derelict Cotswold farm was restored to productivity, the publishing business flourished and numerous houses were built. However with the beginning of the war in 1939 and the threatened invasion of 1940, the wartime policy of interning “Enemy Aliens” began to affect the community. Discussions with the Home Office gave the community the opportunity to decide between internment for the German members and the possibility of leaving England as a group. The community opted to seek refuge elsewhere together, and were allowed to migrate en masse to Paraguay in 1941, the only country that would accept a pacifist community of mixed nationalities during World War II.

As preparations were being made to leave for Paraguay many guests kept arriving, mostly associated with the English peace movement. Therefore, while most members were struggling to cope with the beautiful but harsh jungle conditions of South America, a new community was founded in Shropshire, and eventually a second community in Buckinghamshire.

In the 1950’s, several communities were founded in the northeastern United States in response to an active interest in community life as an alternative to war and capitalism. At the same time, two smaller communities were established in Germany, the original homeland.

For several years the communities were spread out over three continents, but in the mid-1960’s all were eventually consolidated in the United States. Then, in 1971 the Darvell Community was founded in East Sussex on the site of a closed tuberculosis sanatorium. It was an excellent location, reachable by anyone in the south of England and close to Europe and our German roots.

For over twenty years, the Darvell Community was the only location in England. But in 1995 we expanded to the Beech Grove Community, at the former Nonington Physical Education College in rural Kent. Since then expansion has continued, with the addition of the Sannerz and Holzland Communities in Germany and, most recently, the Woodgate Community in East London.