In the first week of the camp there will be an intensive German language course (2 x 90 min. per day) in order for you to learn conversational German used in everyday situations as well as develop a better idea about the German language in general. Your language teachers are native German speakers and have experience teaching German as a foreign language. During the first week, they will also be a part of your group. In the second and third weeks you'll be helping with the restoration of war casualties' graves in Reinickendorf, in the north of Berlin. This particular war graves cemetery was established for the burial of both German and non-German soldiers and civilians. You and the other members of your group will be helping with tasks such as mowing and renewing lawns, and cleaning gravestones and concrete frames.
Accomodation & food:
All participants will sleep on the floor of one room in the youth leisure centre "PallasT". You will prepare and cook meals in small groups.
Location & leisure:
Berlin offers a wide range of free-time opportunities for any time of day. In order to accommodate the many different interests of your team, you'll receive a Cityticket which can be used for all public transport across Berlin, valid for the duration of the camp.
Requirements:
This camp is for participants with no prior knowledge of the German language.
Age:
18-26
Location:
Berlin
Language(s):
English, German
Airport:
BER: Berlin - Metropolencode (Berlin, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
In Flechtdorf there is a monastery from the Middle Ages. Here, the association at the Flechtdorf monastery has taken on the responsibility of restoring and maintaining this listed building and its grounds, in order to make it useable for events again. If you are interested in preserving monuments and hands-on manual work, then this is exactly the camp for you! Your help is needed: firstly we need help to renew the exterior doors in the west wing and to build a wooden ramp on the first floor. Secondly, we need help to build a suspended ceiling in the south wing and the area for storing stones and wood needs protective roof covering. Additionally, there are many maintenance tasks and improvements to be done all over the grounds of the monastery, above all the wooden beam ceilings and wallpaper must be taking out from the horsemen's building.
Accomodation & food:
You will be staying in the Aartalhalle in Flechtdorf. You will prepare and cook meals in small groups.
Location & leisure:
In your free time you can go swimming in the Diemel reservoir and take a trip to the factory towns of Korbach and Frankenberg. In Willingen there is a climbing hall as well as a kart and bowling centre. You can also visit the castle in Bad Arolsen and the fort in Waldeck. Other possible destinations are the towns of Kassel and Hannover. The doucmenta, one of the most famous art exhibitions in the world, will be taking place in Kassel during your stay.
Requirements:
This project is a tri-national project open only to participants from Germany, France and Spain. It is also only suited to participants who can really get involved with manual work.
Age:
16-26
Location:
Flechtdorf
Language(s):
English
Airport:
FRA: Frankfurt Main (Frankfurt, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
At the Heiligensee cemetery, north-west of Berlin, you and your team will be helping with maintenance work on the graves of war victims. There are both German and non-German soldiers and civilians, for whom a war grave cemetery was created. Together with your team you'll be helping to mow and restore grassy areas and, amongst other things, cleaning gravestones and concrete frames. Besides this, you'll be repairing fencing surrounding one section of the cemetery. You will only be working 4 days per week, so will therefore have the opportunity to not only enjoy Berlin's wide range of free-time activities, but also to take advantage of walking tours related to this topic (culture, history, East-West Germany and Berlin...)
Accomodation & food:
You will be staying in the Berlin-Tegel castle. You'll cook your own meals together.
Location & leisure:
The accommodation is near to the "Tegeler Fließ" nature reserve, therefore your group has many opportunities for outdoor games and walks. This is also true of the wider surrounding area, where you can easily reach both Mecklenburg and Rheinsburg lakes, the Spree forest and the Oder river, as well as many more beautiful landscapes. The city centre of Berlin is just 30 minutes away, so you'll receive a Cityticket to use on all public transport across Berlin for the duration of the camp.
Requirements:
-
Age:
15-17
Location:
Berlin-heiligensee
Language(s):
English
Airport:
BER: Berlin - Metropolencode (Berlin, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
During the first week of the workcamp, you'll be spending your mornings in an intensive German language course (2 x 90 min. per day), in order to develop your knowledge of conversational German used in daily life as well as how the language itself works. The language teachers are native speakers who have experience teaching German as a foreign language. Despite this course, you're still all part of the group during the first week. In the second and third weeks, you and your team will be helping with maintenance work on the graves of war victims at Reinickendorf in North Berlin. There are both German and non-German soldiers and civilians, for whom a war grave cemetery was created. Together with your team you'll be helping to mow and restore grassy areas and, amongst other things, cleaning gravestones and concrete frames.
Accomodation & food:
You'll be sleeping on mattresses on the floor in a scouts' house in the Alt-Tempelhof district of Berlin. You'll prepare and cook your own meals together in groups.
Location & leisure:
Berlin offers a wide range of free-time opportunities for any time of day. In order to accommodate the many different interests of your team, you'll receive a Cityticket which can be used for all public transport across Berlin, valid for the duration of the camp.
Requirements:
300€ extra fee for the language course and Berlin Cityticket.A basic knowledge of German is absolutely necessary for this workcamp.
Age:
18-26
Location:
Berlin
Language(s):
English, German
Airport:
BER: Berlin - Metropolencode (Berlin, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
The volunteers are asked to help on the excavation ground of the fortress with building work, repairing and painting walls, carrying stones or cleaning. Other tasks can be removing of bushes or documentation of your work. It is possible that you will be asked to help on another excavation place to do punctured excavations (1m x 1m) and filter the finds. Please be prepared for any work outside.
Accomodation & food:
You will live in a community house in the village, with toilet and shower facilities provided. All bed linen is provided.
The historical Bärnau-Tachov park is a new archaeological open-air museum (opened in 2011), which invites its guests to take a trip through time to the daily life of people living in the 9th to the 13th centuries. During the tour, you can wander through an early-middle-aged Slavic village, scale an 11th century motte castle and arrive at a high middle-aged settlement. Under the guidance of trained professionals, a 1:1 reconstruction of middle-aged houses from this time have been, and will continue to be, built. You will get involved with the construction of these wooden houses with loam and wattle walls and thatched roofs, and on the shaping of the natural and landscape area. Besides this, you'll be helping to organise a museum festival both for children and the rest of the family.
Accomodation & food:
You'll be staying in sheltered accommodation with beds near to the historical park. You will prepare and cook meals in groups.
Location & leisure:
There are several opportunities for day trips – for example to the concentration camp memorial in Flossenbürg, the KTB Geo-Centre (Drilling Tower) in Windischeschenbach or to the public observatory in Tirschenreuth. You could even visit out neighbours in the Czech Republic (Pilsen, Prague, Eger). In Bärnau itself there is the German Knopfmuseum (button museum) and the Waldfreibad Altglashütte (outdoor pool complex). Bärnau is difficult to reach with public transport, so you'll need to be prepared to use your talents to organise trips. You'll be able to book a bus to use for travelling.
Requirements:
Waterproof work clothes are absolutely necessary, since the work will take place outside.
Age:
16-26
Location:
Bärnau
Language(s):
English
Airport:
NUE: Nurnberg (Nuernberg, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
« I had not appreciated that so few people come out in the East Asian countries that my telling them was something extraordinary. This was also the most interesting aspect of the workcamp in terms of trying to expand the awareness of other ways of living, and there was never any hostility or problems because of it. »