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• Heidemarie Schwermer grappled with a lifetime of guilt about wealth stemming from her time as a WWII refugee
• She sold everything 16 years ago and now she stays with friends and acquaintances
• The 69-year-old is given most of her clothes and she forages for food at outdoor markets
  

By Tammy Hughes

PUBLISHED: 03:27 EST, 20 June 2012 | UPDATED: 04:18 EST, 20 June 2012

A German woman has lived without money for 16 years following a lifetime of guilt about wealth stemming from her time as a World War Two refugee.

Growing up in Prussia Heidemarie Schwermer was the daughter of a successful businessman and her family kept a nanny and full-time gardener on their payroll.

But when war struck Europe in 1939 for the second time that century Schwermer and her family became penniless and were forced to flee to Germany.

Documentary: Heidemarie Schwermer says she is much happier after living without money for 16 years. She speaks of her experiences in a film entitled 'Living Without Money'

After years of hardship Schwermer's father was able to start over with a tobacco company and cash started pouring in again.

But Schwermer now found herself at odds with their affluent lifestyle.

'We were well-off but ended up as riff-raff,' she said.

'We became rich again and we had to defend it. I've always had to justify myself, whether we were rich or poor.'

Schwermer, now 69, worked at a teacher and then a psychotherapist on a good wage. But instead of welcoming the hard-earned cash she yearned for those formative childhood years of struggle and strife.

As a result she became obsessed with finding new ways to live without money, eventually setting up Germany's first exchange circle in 1994.

'Give and Take Central' helped people swap simple services like babysitting or house cleaning for tangible goods and Schwermer found she need money less and less.

Eventually when a friend asked the divorced mother-of-two to house-sit for her Schwermer decided to take the plunge and live without money for one whole year.

Life without means: The 69-year-old told how friends and acquaintances are happy to take her in

She sold everything - including her apartment - saving just a few small items that she packed into a suitcase.

What was only meant to last 12 months became her life for the next 16 years.

'I only wanted to try to do an experiment and in that year, but I noticed a new life,' she told Business Insider.

'I didn't want to go back to the old life.'

In the beginning Schwermer stayed with old friends but as word of her lifestyle spread she began giving talks on her mission - meeting new hosts on the lecture circuit.

She only accepts train fare for her speaking engagements and rejects any other attempts to pay her.

At first she also did odd jobs around her hosts' homes, like gardening or window washing, to earn her keep but she says that these days they don't expect anything in return.

Message: Schwermer works a lecture circuit giving talks about her alternative lifestyle. She only accepts money for her train fare and refuses all other types of payment

Happy: The mother-of-two only meant to live without money for 12 months but she felt so much better without material wealth that she carried on for 16 years

In a documentary made about her life entitled 'Living Without Money', she's seen foraging for leftover produce at fresh air markets and trading a shopkeeper a few hours of cleaning services in return for food.

She often receives clothing from friends, donating what she doesn't have room for in the small suitcase she carts from home to home.