Over the last 200 years, two cemeteries have developed a sort of "who's who" in Osnabruck. Due to their artistic, cultural, and societal importance, they now are under monumental protection and will be converted to parks with open green spaces. For this to happen, these important graves and the overall character of the cemetery need to be preserved. You will help prepare and paint the lattices, trim the area around the grave and clean the gravestones, remove ivy and other pesky plants, and reinforce the pathways. Through this work you will get a peek at the work involved in preserving monuments and learn about the history of Osnabruck.
Location:
Lower Saxony; Hannover 140 km.
Free Time:
In Osnabruck you will find such activities such as a zoo, botanical garden, Industry Museum, night tours in the old section of town, a pool, the "Summer in the City" festival with concerts, cabaret, and movies. An Africa festival will also be taking place, along with the National Garden Festival 2010 in Bad Essen. For more information please check www.osnabrueck.de, www.landesgartenschau-badessen.de, www.kalkriese-varusschlacht.de
Accomodation and food:
Meals will be prepared as a group. Your group will be staying in a school.
The Hessian Brick Museum (Ziegeleimuseum) needs your help! Here, where roofing tiles and stones were made for over 100 years, you will be helping to build an area where others can experience this history behind this old factory. First the room with the factory's large, powerful oven needs to be completely renovated. A dark pathway, a barefoot path, and a sound/music area are just a few of the 40 stations which will make up the museum's latest exhibition called "Sinnesgänge". This will be both inside and around the oven. In order to make this happen, the oven room needs to be washed and the window cleaned and repaned. The stones around the oven are full of soot and misshapen, these need to come out, be cleaned and fixed, then put back in again. This camp is for those that enjoy experiencing alternate lifestyles and manual work.
Free Time:
Excursions to Kassel, Frankfurt, and Hannover are possible. The museum is located right on the Kaufung Forest and is therefore surrounded by a gorgeous landscape. In nearby Helsa you will find a pool, and on the museum grounds you can have bonfires. There will be a "Sensory Experience" themed workshop as well.
Special Requirements:
You must be ready to live in simple conditions. Work may become physically challenging at times.
Accomodation and food:
Catering: Meals will be prepared as a group. You will be sleeping in tents on the museum grounds.
The city of Hanover's International Garden Organization has planted gardens on top of two parking garages and on another piece of land in the Sahlkamp district. Here, families from all over the world plant and raise vegetables, spices, and flowers. In order for these families to get to know German families, there are common garden areas, as well as language classes, cooking, music, and ecology lessons. You will be supporting this project and the families by building a stone wall, planting berry bushes, and putting in hedges, which will give small animals and birds a place to live in the garden.
Location:
Hannover.
Free Time:
Along with the project, there is a study part where you will be learning about climate change and ecology, with field trips to Schönhagen, to Bremerhaven's Climate House, and to Hanover to learn about consumption. Touristic highlights in Hanover include the Maschsee, various gardens, and a zoo.
Accomodation and food:
Meals will be cooked as a group. The group will stay in a nearby youth centre.
Teamwork needed! At the K-FE 2010 Youth Festival, for youth by youth - July 23rd-25th, further information at www.k-fe2010.de starting in February - street dancing, streetball, football, breakdancing, graffiti, action events, skating, music (Friday - Ska, Reggae, Hip Hop; Saturday - Rock, Metal, Hardcore, etc), and an ecumenical church service in a circus tent, theatre, youth circus, and much much more will take place.
First you will help set up for the festival (fences, stages, tents, electricity, sound, light, and hospitality). During the festival you continue doing hospitality work and will help work the festival. At the end, your help is needed to take everything down and clean the grounds, which is part of a nature protection area.You will work from the 19th until the 28th of July and have the 29th and 30th of July free.
Free Time:
Of course, you will have plenty of time to experience the festival yourselves and get to know the locals. Many local bands will be there, such as Die Happy, Jennifer Rostock, Itchy Poopzkid, Ohrbooten, Skaos and Pure Inc, etc. Excursions to places such as the Black Forest, Switzerland, Alcase, and Freiburg are possible. Or, relax in the pool or canoe on the Rhine!
Requirements:
Manual labour is required; a basic German knowledge is an advantage.
Accomodation and food:
Meals will be prepared as a group. You will stay in the youth house of the Jamhouse Youth Culture Association.
How did our ancestors live 2500 years ago? Since 1999, archaeologists have been building a recreation to show how the Iron Age settlers once lived. Here in Titz is a branch of the Rhine Office for Archaeological Preservation. Under expert leadership, you will work with authentic tools to build an Iron Age house, following historical blueprints, so that you can get a visual idea of the living environment of the day. You will work with wooden beams, build walls out of trellises and clay, and finish it off with a thatch roof. You will then produce tools and crockery, as well as other every day objects. There will be a small study portion, where you will learn about the various methods you will be using as well as get a tour of an archaeological site.
Free Time:
Titz lies within the triangle that the cities of Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Aachen make up. Excursions to the lower Rhine, as well as to Belgium or the Netherlands are possible. On the grounds themselves, you can play volleyball, have a picnic, or bake pizza in the clay oven.
Accomodation and food:
Meals will be prepared as a group. You will sleep in the Titz-Höllen branch rooms.
The Weltbühne in Heckenbeck, a small town with 450 residents, is a cultural center with a large theatre in a former guest house. The town has a good mixture of traditional and experimental country life. There are organic shops, an organic farmer's market, trade and repair businesses, a school and many social organizations. It is here that you will spend three weeks getting to know the town and, under the leadership of a drama teacher, putting on your own drama. Your group will choose the theme of the piece, and the theater is yours for rehearsals. In the third week you will present your drama to the participants of another nearby workcamp and to the local residents of Heckenbeck. Transport for grocery shopping will be organized. You will also have the chance to help at the farmer's market and exchange your labor for fresh vegetables! This is a project for those who enjoy the country life. For further information please see www.heckenbeck-online.de, www.weltbuehne.info.
Location:
Lower Saxony; 60 km south of Hannover, 45 km south of Hildesheim, 45 north of Gottingen.
Free Time:
Heckenbeck is rurally located. Bikes will be provided for you to use. The city of Bad Gandersheim is 4 kilometers away, easily reachable by bike. Alfeld, or the Harz mountains are reachable by train. For further information please see www.bad-gandersheim.de, www.alfeld.de, www.fagus-gropius.de.
Requirements:
Good knowledge of either German or English is required. You need to be able to ride a bike.
Accomodation and food:
Meals will be prepared as a group. You will stay at the "Weltbühne Heckenbeck" cultural centre.
The grounds of the Umweltstation Hämmerleinsmühle (www.haemmerleinsmuehle.de) were designed from an ecological standpoint. It is here that a "Culture Garden" will be built, where nature, people, and culture can interact and function together. The central element of the workcamp is the artistic and manual work. In various workshops you will create objects from natural and recycled materials. The workshops will be led by trained artists, and done in small groups.
The following workshops are being planned - Metal Workshop - Entranceway, fence, and arch; Wood Workshop - wooden benches and chairs, an observation deck, and sculptures; Felt Workshop - large tapestry, felt objects; Lichen Workshop - art pieces out of wicker and objects for the garden; and a Paper and Paint Workshop. The pieces you create will be exhibited to the public during the end of camp party.
Free Time:
Georgensgmünd lies in the heart of the Frankish Lakeland. Feel free to go for a swim, take part in the local festivals taking place, go climbing, or take trips to the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds, to Nuremberg, Munich, or Rothenburg. For further information please see www.georgensgmuend.de.
Requirements:
Work clothes and sturdy shoes are needed.
Accomodation and food:
Meals will be prepared as a group. You will stay at the Georgensgmünd Youth House, which includes a cafeteria and a large common room. The rooms you will sleep in are right nearby, each with six beds in an apartment with shower and toilet facilities.
You will work on an ecological farm which is also a social institution. An everyday task for some of the group will be helping small animal farming. Please note that they do not have horses! You have to be prepared to start your work at 7 a.m.! Furthermore you will do landscape work. A summer party will take place on the last weekend and your help will be needed to prepare and run it. In case of bad weather you will work inside of the former mill. There will be the possibility to talk with locals.
« I would recommend participating in a workcamp, especially with VAP, who ensured that I found a project to suit me and provided essential training for me in preparation for my trip. Being part of a workcamp really is a life-changing experience, oh, and it looks great on your CV! »
