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Why not a construction trailer instead of a one-bedroom flat? For some people, life on four wheels is an interesting alternative to a tiny city flat. It can get cold, though. By Lisa Rauschenberger

Claus is sitting in his kitchen smoking a cigarette. His roommates Astrid and Adrian are washing up. Astrid pulls the plug and the dishwater pours into a pail under the sink. “Oops, it’s full already!” Astrid quickly plugs the drain again.

Without a heavy jacket, sturdy shoes and a hat, it can get frosty in the colder season. The kitchen is outdoors: a couple of wooden planks laid between two construction trailers, a railing, and above them a grey metal roof. But, this is just the outdoor area of the kitchen. “In that trailer we have another little kitchen,” says Claus, pointing at the right of the two trailers. “There’s a stove in there, too, that really gets roaring. In the winter you can even breakfast in your pyjamas, it gets so warm in there.”

Life in a construction trailer can be full of privations, especially in the wintertime. Claus doesn’t aim to sugarcoat things. He and his roommates do not have a bathroom – not yet, he emphasizes. “We’re building one. We’re doing it ourselves, like everything here.” They have a small temporary washing area, outdoors. To shower they visit friends or go to a gym.

The toilet is also an adventurous affair: a wooden shed with tarpaulins around it to protect those inside from indiscrete eyes. They plan to change that over the next few weeks. Claus is optimistic. “A few boards around it, a stove, and the whole thing will be right cosy.” In the winter, they have to really heat up the stoves in the construction trailers, because when temperatures drop below freezing at night, even the thickest blanket is no good. “When you get up in the morning it’s sometimes a few degrees below zero,” says Claus.

“It makes me feel alive”

Nevertheless, he and his housemates Astrid, Adrian, Jonas and Anton have decided on a life in the construction trailer and they appear to be quite satisfied. “It’s this link between indoors and outdoors,” explains Claus. “That the temperature changes so much, especially now in winter. Even if it looks tough at first glance, that it’s so cold. But then you throw on the stove and the trailer gets warm as toast, and then, when you go back outside, you really feel the cold. Somehow it makes me feel alive.” It’s an outdoor life. To the left and right of their plot are other gardens that can be reached on narrow pathways. The city seems to be terribly far away. Only the noise from the nearby highway tarnishes the serenity.

In May 2011, Claus moved into the plot in the co-operative settlement in the south of Cologne with his friends – each in their own trailer. Since then, he has lived in a bright blue circus wagon with white window frames. He bought it from an acquaintance for 2,700 euros. It was a steep price, but it was worth it for Claus. “Now I’m a moveable property owner,” he says and laughs. The money he spent on the trailer, he saves on rent; he pays only 50 euros a month for the plot.

From inside, the trailer looks like a cosy, wooden panelled room of a shared flat. Below the loft bed is a worn sofa, next to that a desk and a bookshelf. Claus and his friends are not the only ones who live in trailers. In almost every larger city there are trailer sites: large and small, in the middle of town or further outside, occupied or rented.

Not a political decision

The large sites are resided in by over 20 people each, who regularly organize and invite others to events. “That would be too big for me,” says Claus. “Too many people, too rigidly structured. For me, four to five people are just the right size.”

Living on a trainer site does not necessarily have a political dimension for him. He mainly sees it as a personal decision. He wants to live here. He thinks about it a moment.

“Sure, you could call some things political. For example that we have to deal with what we need here and why, or that we have to help each other a great deal. But, I would never say that everything would be better if everyone lived like me. Or this is totally anti-capitalist. These categories don’t do it for me.” Then Claus has no more time to talk. He has wood to collect and anyway, he and Astrid want to continue their work on the exterior facing for the toilet. There is a still lot to do on the trailer site.