Stephen and Torsten Mnich grew up on a barge, along with seven other siblings and their parents.
They usually only spent time in their home near Ludwigshafen at Christmas. During their school years, they and their siblings lived in the Mannheim Schifferkinderheim. Weekends and vacations were spent together on the ship. That was a lot of fun, but also pretty cramped, so for the two of them, their 60-square-meter apartment is extremely spacious. They bought their ship, the "Gebrüder Mnich," second-hand. The barge from the 1960s has slightly rounded walls and a ceiling that curves upward.

Their predecessors had had a lot of furniture custom made to fit perfectly into the curves of the ship. The brothers were pleased with it and took it over. They have no desire for dusty cabinet shelves; their furniture extends to the ship's ceiling. Stephen also had a mattress made for his bed, because a cable shaft runs along the corner in his bedroom. Some of the furniture, such as the living room table, he built himself from an old ship's hatch.

Another special feature of life on board: storage space is scarce. That's why Stephen and Torsten have unusual solutions to their space problems: skis hang under the bed, and the shoe cupboard is under the stairs. They often eat in the wheelhouse, because one of them is always sailing during the day. Stephen then usually does the cooking while his brother Torsten drives. So that the skipper can also eat during working hours, the two have built a mobile table that can be moved back and forth over the equipment. They are often on the road 14 hours a day; they are not allowed to drive at night, for which they would need a third person.

The brothers are officially registered with their parents. Since their retirement, Gudrun and Hans-Werner Mnich have lived in their house in Hochdorf-Assenheim near Ludwigshafen. There Stephen and Torsten have a guest room, which they share with their brothers Patrick and Dominik, who also live on their own cargo ship "Kallisto". Their postal address is also there. Since it can take them a while to get to Ludwigshafen, their mother opens important letters and reads them out over the phone.

Despite many restrictions, the two enjoy living on their ship and enjoy the many benefits: Their job is varied, because in addition to steering and maintaining the ship, Torsten and Stephen are also carpenters, locksmiths and electricians. To get to work, they only have to open the door; they don't know morning traffic jams. The view from their apartment is never boring: whether it's a natural idyll, cities or industrial landscapes - there's always something to see. Where others go on vacation, they are at home. So they can easily cope with the fact that they usually only have two weeks' vacation a year and often work on weekends.

Facts about the ship "Gebrüder Mnich": Length: 85 meters. Width: 8.2 meters. Fuel consumption: about 50 liters of diesel per 10 km. In the hold there is room for the cargo of 44 trucks.

A film by Sabine Keller (editor), Stefanie Vier (camera), Paul Heydecke (sound) and Andreas Hebenstreit (editing).

00:00 Life and work on the ship
01:08 Kitchen
03:29 Living room
05:05 Bathroom
06:18 Stephen's bedroom
08:16 Wheelhouse
10:04 Torsten's apartment