The WuppHouse as imagined is pretty unusual: a place that is free and autonomous like a squat but stable and secure like a legally owned house - perhaps we don't need to chose! There is no 'copy-paste' case for us to follow, so we may need to do a bit of investigative work ourselves.

***Text warning! This article follows on from a presentation which has some pretty pictures, look at that first.***

Working as an informal association of people has many disadvantages regarding the 'stability and security' of a shared property. In this case the ownership of the property is typically seen to be evenly shared between the individuals. This leads to issues when one person wants to sell the property to get some money! The other individuals typically have to 'buy' the share of the leaving individual or else sell the property to get the money to do so. The financial interest of an individual leading to harm against the collective can be avoided...

Working as a formal, incorporated association of people has many advantages regarding 'stability and security' of a shared property. By creating a set of rules in accordance with the law then registering with the state we can create a legal entity. A legal entity can be thought of a 'fake person', separate to any of the individuals but owned by them and able to own property, engage in contracts, fulfill obligations, etc. A legal entity can also be though of as a simple machine which acts only based on its set of rules.

A Genossenschaft is legal entity specifically established to benefit a purpose, it's members and the wider community. It has been developed in multiple countries over hundreds of years and has good things baked in, like users being members, each member having one share, thus one vote and thus an equal say and ownership in the running of the business. (It's an entity pretty much the opposite to those used by multinational corporations to funnel money.)

Contents

DE ↔ EN

Genossenschaft ↔ Cooperative
Wohnungsgenossenschaft ↔ Housing cooperative
Eingetragene Genossenschaft (eG oder e.G.) ↔ Registered/incorporated cooperative
Satzung ↔ Statute (Rules, Constitution, Governing document, etc)
Amstgericht ↔ District Court
Prüfungsverbände ↔ Audit association
Gesetz ↔ Law
Vorstand ↔ Board
Mitglieder ↔ Member
Stiftung ↔ Trust/Foundation

Creating a Genossenschaft

These steps were extracted from a longer article. The Mietshäuser Syndikat International and Prüfungsverbände der Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften e.V. were contacted on 2016-08-24 by Douglas Webb to confirm the steps are accurate and whether there are any important omissions.

Form a cohesive social group.
Compose Satzung in accordance with the law.
Get at least three founding members to agree to then sign the Satzung.
Pass signed Satzung onto a qualified Prüfungsverbände to check it.
If signed Satzung is OK with with the Prüfungsverbände, contact an Amstgericht to register.
If signed and verified Satzung is OK with the Amstergicht and registration proceeds, an eG is formed.

The Prüfungsverband normally takes money. Initially registering costs about 800-2000 Euros. Additionally, your Genossenschaft needs to be a member in one of those Prüfungsverband and they check you every 1-2 years. This costs additional 400-800 Euros. It is unclear for now if we could get this membership for free.

Source Law

Gesetz betreffend die Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften (Genossenschaftsgesetz - GenG) - German Co-operative law
- § 6 Mindestinhalt der Satzung - Minimum requirements for a Genossenschaft Satzung
Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) - German LLC law
[Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 - UK Co-operative law, reference for English speakers]

Interpretation of Law and auxiliary info

Genossenschaftsregister: Ihr Unternehmen anmelden - How to register a Genossenschaft
Liste der Prüfungsverbände mit Prüfungsrecht nach § 53 GenG - List of associations qualified to audit Genossenschaften pre-registration (2014)
Fragen und Antworten zum Thema Stiftung - 100 Qs&As regarding the elusive German Stiftung
FGW e.V: An association set up to help people set up e.G.
Wohnprojekte Portal: "It is designed to help interested people on their way to start-ups, but also serve as a service tool for existing initiatives. We understand it as a contemporary educational opportunities as a reference and information hub." (translated from DE)
Stiftung Trias: "The trias Foundation was established to promote people and projects seeking answers to the social issues of land speculation, of social life and ecological practices. Our goal is, in the long term to withdraw the ground of speculation and feed it to Community and ecological use." (translated from DE)
[How to set up a Housing Co-operative - 20 page guide by Radical Routes, reference for English speakers]

Satzung for inspiration

Wagnis eG Satzung - The Satzung of a Wohnungsgenossenschaft in München.
Vorwärts eG Satzung - The Satzung of a Wohnungsgenossenschaft in Berlin.
Gundwerte eG Satzung - The Satzung of a Wohnungsgenossenschaft in München.
Gemeinsam Leben eG Satzung - The Satzung of a Wohnungsgenossenschaft in Kassel.
Constitution of Loomio Cooperative Limited - Perhaps an interesting set of rules for inspiration from the collaborative software guys.
[Model fully mutual primary housing co-operative rules - Put forward by Cooperatives UK and the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, reference for English speakers]