Until a year ago, Kharkiv was their home, now Alla, Vitali, Natalia, Danilo and Timafe live in one of the remotest corners of the district.
On a farm near Bernbeuren, the refugees live a safe but completely different life than before.
Bernbeuren – Between gnarled apple trees, paddocks and bleating goats, the massacre that Putin has been causing in Ukraine for a year seems pretty far away.
Here no sirens wail and no bombs fall on the houses, not even cars speed past.
Despite this, the noise of war is present every day for Alla, Vitali, Natalja, Danilo and Timafe.
The Ukrainians sit on a bench in front of the farmhouse and squint in the sun.
The five of them – the youngest just 13 months old – have been living at the Aussiedlerhof near Bernbeuren for almost a year.
The Balzer family, who run the farm on the Auerberg with a view of the Alps, took in the refugees last April.
"After the outbreak of war, it was clear that we would help," says Andrea Balzer.
Living together works well - "like a second family"
The job center pays them a small compensation for the apartment.
Eight euros per square meter and an electricity flat rate.
Not much, "but it's not about the money for us," says Balzer.
The Balzers have accommodated the Ukrainians in rooms that are otherwise occupied by children who spend their riding holidays on the farm.
There is an eat-in kitchen, a bathroom and two rooms that the Balzers had already fully furnished before the refugees arrived.
The people of Bernbeuren continue to offer riding holidays.
The children are simply distributed to other rooms.
"You just have to slide down a bit."
Living together works well.
Although language is a barrier, they can communicate reasonably well using gestures and translation apps.
"The Balzers are like a second family to us," says Alla, the grandmother of the Ukrainian family.
You support each other as best you can and have a close exchange.
"We even celebrated Christmas and New Year's together."
New life: "The pure idyll, but the full contrast"
But the first time after the escape was not easy.
“Kharkiv is a big city,” says Alla wistfully about her homeland.
She lived there with her family in the center, always surrounded by lots of people and hustle and bustle.
Life is different on the farm near Bernbeuren.
It's a good three kilometers from here to the village, 20 to Schongau, and there are no neighbors.
The family can only get away in Danilo's small car.
Alla and Vitali's 23-year-old grandson bought it with the money he earned from jobs in Schongau and Munich.
Alla says life on the farm is "pure idyll, but also full of contrast".
The silence gave Ukrainians a chance to process the bombing, the escape into Kharkiv's metro tunnel and the West.
But it took some getting used to, especially in the beginning.
The homesickness is great - the family would like to go back
The family could not leave the war behind.
Alla's son and her daughter Natalia's husband are still in Ukraine.
To the horror of the family, Danilo also intends to return home.
He wants to fight for his country as a soldier.
When his mother Natalja talks about it, she fights back tears.
"We tried to talk him out of it," she says.
"But his decision stands."
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Ukrainians are trying to distract themselves from thoughts of war.
They attend the integration course in Schongau and lend a hand wherever possible.
Last year they planted vegetables.
They brought the seeds for the tomatoes and cucumbers with them from the Ukraine, where Alla and her husband Vitali also have a small house with a garden in the country.
They would love to spend the rest of their lives there.
The other family members are also very homesick.
They toy with the idea of going back.
"If they really leave," says Andrea Balzer, "they could always come back to us.
We'll keep the space free for them.
The local newspapers in the Weilheim-Schongau district are represented on Instagram under "merkur_wm_sog".
