Kommune 1 - The Second Phase: Sex, Drugs and Uschi Obermaier

The Second Phase: Sex, Drugs and Uschi Obermaier

By the end of the 1960s, the societal climate had changed. In the late summer of 1968, the commune moved into a deserted factory on Stephanstraße in order to reorient. This second phase of Kommune 1 was characterized by sex, music, and drugs.

On September 21, 1968, the commune went to the International Song Days in Essen, the Federal Republic's first underground festival. There, Langhans met and fell in love with Uschi Obermaier, a model from Munich. She lived with the Munich-based music commune Amon Düül, but soon she moved in with the communards of Kommune 1, who shared one bedroom. Soon, the press called Langhans and Obermaier the "best-looking couple of the APO".

The politization of the private sphere and the fact that Langhans and Obermaier spoke openly to the media about their relationship, about jealousy and about "pleasure machines" constituted the next breaking of social taboos, ushering in the sexual revolution. Later, John Lennon and Yoko Ono and others followed their example.

All of a sudden, the commune was receiving visitors from all over the world, among them Jimi Hendrix, who turned up one morning in the bedroom of Kommune 1. Obermaier fell in love with him.

Her modeling fees rose sharply, she was given a lead role in Rudolf Thome's cult movie Rote Sonne (1969). (Rote Sonne at IMDB). (Red Sun), and her photographs were all over posters and magazine covers. Rumor has it that the magazine Stern paid her 20,000 Deutschmark (the price of a Porsche 911 at the time) for an interview and nude photos of Obermaier.