Christoph Trummer, the Swiss hermit, is known for living a life of minimalism and solitude. His lifestyle is focused on achieving the greatest possible freedom by relinquishing material goods.
Christoph Trummer is more than 60 years old and has lived for around twenty years without possessions - but, as he says, with the greatest possible freedom. In the summer in a hut by the stream, in the winter in a modest dwelling. Someone who definitely does not adhere to conventions.
In his early twenties, Christoph Trummer left the confines of the Bernese Oberland and headed out into the world to find nothing less than the meaning of life. Shortly after he arrived in India, all his belongings were stolen. He decided not to register with the Swiss embassy, but lived on the streets for months - and was a different person afterwards. When he had lost everything material, he realized that he had gained something: freedom.
This experience in India, almost forty years ago, had a fundamental impact on him. He came back a different person. He, who had completed an apprenticeship as an electrician after school and then attended military training school, had broken free from social constraints and the pursuit of money and possessions.
When Trummer returned to Frutigen, he decided to continue living like this: without possessions, but free and happy. Since then, he has consistently refused to accept our performance-oriented society and only works enough to cover his fixed costs of around 700 francs per month. This leaves him with plenty of time to study life – and enjoy it.
He earns the money by doing odd jobs, such as building dry stone walls. In the summer he lives in a hut on the banks of the Engstligen in the Bernese Oberland, his homeland, and in the winter in a small, over 400-year-old farmhouse in Frutigen, which he can rent on favorable terms and which he renovated himself, using his knowledge as an electrician as an advantage. He taught himself the rest.
For more detailed insights into Christoph Trummer's life and philosophy, you can watch the YouTube interviews and documentaries (you can enable captions in English) and read articles (you may use an online translator):
Hermit Christoph Trummer – In search of freedom | Living without possessions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-NfX488aSQ
Christoph Trummer finds wealth in poverty.
https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/aeschbacher/video/christoph-trummer?urn=urn:…
Living the simple life simply | Christoph Trummer | TEDxBern
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GVmapbIeY
Articles:
Someone who lives differently
A reunion with a dropout: Since a report in the "Kleiner Bund" a good ten years ago, Christoph Trummer from Frutigen has been visited by many thousands of people - in the Engstligen stream bed.
https://www.derbund.ch/einer-der-anders-lebt-844906741182
A life as a hermit – is that even possible today?
Christoph Trummer is a hermit. He mostly lives away from capitalist society in order to find himself. Nevertheless, he remains dependent on society.
https://www.srf.ch/kultur/gesellschaft-religion/abseits-der-gesellschaf…
"Convert" Christoph Trummer lives like Brother Klaus
Christoph Trummer lives in a hut by the stream in the summer. In the run-up to the 600th anniversary of Brother Klaus, the "convert" tells high school students about his life as a hermit. And how it came about.
https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentralschweiz/obwalden/sarnen-umsteiger…