International Workcamps

For the last 20 years Open Houses Network has organised international workcamps at historic monuments and buildings mostly situated in the countryside. The workcamps offer the possibility to live together with people from different countries in basic conditions. The volunteers are working together to restore these historic monuments, buildings and their guest houses.

Lohra Castle

Lohra Castle is situated in the heart of Germany in northern Thuringia. The castle, which is surrounded by a scenic hilly landscape, is located on the edge of a nature reserve area. Being one of the largest castles in Thuringia, Lohra dates back to the Middle Ages. The history of the castle covers more than 1000 years. Today, it includes 20 buildings from different times, for example, medieval fortifications, remnants of a tower from the 11th century, a roman chapel, a manor from the Renaissance period as well as stables and granaries from the 19th century. The ensemble is situated in the centre of a beautiful forest. From the top of the buildings you will have a wonderful view over one of the most impressive landscapes of Germany called the Harz. After the castle had been unoccupied for decades, Open Houses started to restore the castle and to revive it by cultural activities at the beginning of the 1990s. Since then, a large number of art workshops, exhibitions, concerts and international meetings took place at the castle.

Castle Camps

The volunteers will do some care, reparation and maintenance works inside and outside the castle to prepare it for coming projects and seasons. Among other things these works will be: cultivating the castle garden and mowing the lawn, as well as winter preparation work such ascollecting of fire-wood in the forests around the castle, which has to be cut and stored in the castle`s cellar for wintertime.

An important work to be done is the continuation of digging works to guarantee the water-supply of the medieval castle. Beside this it will be necessary to build a new insulation of one corner of another guest house. The volunteers will dig the hole from outside of the building and install new insulation to prevent the walls from water.
The volunteers will also insulate the small chapel’s roof from the inside so that the building will be protected from wind and rain. Beside this the volunteers will empty and clear up the storehouse to prepare it for the following restoration works. In the future it is going to be a theatre with a stage. The opening will be in October. Furthermore it will be necessary to repair pot-holes in the road leading to the castle.

June, 15 till June, 28	Lohra Castle	12p	18+	W01
June, 29 till July, 12	Lohra Castle	15p	18+	W02
July, 13 till August, 02	Lohra Castle	18p	18+	W04
August, 10 till August, 30	Lohra Castle	18p	18+	W08
August, 31 till September, 13	Lohra Castle	12p	18+	W10
September, 14 till September, 28	Lohra Castle	12 p	18+	W11

Rathewalde Youth Accomodation House

The Rathewalde Youth Accommodation House is situated at the health resort Rathewalde in Saxony. The building is located directly at the border of the National Park Saxon Switzerland – a low mountain range which is very popular in Germany for people who like active holidays. The mountains are famous for their typical formations of sandstone with lots of small caves called “Bove” and overwhelming views from the mountain tops. The nature reserve offers various possibilities for hiking and climbing tours of different levels as well as cultural events like theatre performances at the open air stage called “Felsenbühne” in Rathen.

The Youth Accommodation House was built around 1880 with a wooden structure as the core, has been used for accommodating young people since the first half of the 20th century. In the 1950s, it was donated by its owner to the Saxon Protestant State Church to assure the continuity of the offered services. During the following decades many volunteers renovated and extended the mansion, so today it charms its visitors by different styles from sequential construction periods.

The mansion is surrounded with a beautiful, partly natural garden, an orchard and large rhododendrons. From the eastern boundary with its handmade iron fence, there is a fascinating view on a gully and a rock formation on the opposite side. The building was operated by the Saxon Protestant State Church until 2003 and has been reopened by Open Houses Network in 2005.

Ecological Camp

Main tasks in Rathewalde are gardening works. The participants will have to clean the mulberry-tree garden and the campfire place, such as disposing the old leaves and branches which were cut previously. They will mow the lawn and cut the wild grown plants. The volunteers will also collect fire-wood and work on repairing a garden fence surrounding the old half-timbered house.
Furthermore there will be the opportunity to help with reparation and painting works inside the building.

August, 17 till August, 31

Rathewalde Youth

Accomodation House

18+

W09

Wolterslage Manor

Wolterslage Manor is situated in mid-Altmark region amongst the nature reserve “Untere Elbe” nearby Berlin. The manor is surrounded by an idyllic and rather peaceful countryside that is well known for its green meadows, pastures and fields. Close to the manor there is a lake where the volunteers can swim and sit around a campfire.
The calm surroundings, far away from the busy every day life in big cities, of Wolterslage Manor are a perfect place to relax and enjoy the nature during the leisure time, after the work is done.

The building is a typical example of manor architecture from the second half of the 19th century. Though the architectural design is simple, the brick walls are delightfully detailed. The windows, shutters, doors and mountings are all rare craftsmanships and had not been used as intended. The Manor had been abandoned for several years and still remained unchanged.

After renovation the manor will be put at the disposal of groups who wish to carry out particular projects fitting to the peacefulness of the surroundings.

Youth Camp

The participants of the workcamp will do care, reparation and simple maintenance works inside and outside the manor. Among other things volunteers will help to repair the old roof that protects the manor from wind and rain. Further works will be to tidy up the cellar and the workshop of the building.
The main topic of the care works will be cultivating the manor garden including mowing the lawn and laying out new paths.

July, 27 till August, 10 Wolterslage Manor 8 participants 18+ W05

Gantikow Manor

Gantikow Manor is situated 80 kilometres north of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Open Houses Network uses this beautiful building, which is surrounded by a sleepy village with a small church and attractive countryside, as an accommodation for guest groups, workcamps and other projects. The facade of the building is decorated with unique paintings. Inside the manor it is possible to visit an interesting art museum. A small lake is situated nearby the old building. It is possible to go swimming even for children because the water is very clear. The beautiful garden around the manor invites passengers to relax.

Camp at the Manor

The volunteers will do some care and gardening works outside the manor to prepare it for coming projects and seasons. Among other things these works will be: cultivating the garden and mowing the lawn as well as winter preparation work such as collecting of wood in the forests around the manor, which has to be cut and stored for wintertime.
Volunteers will stay together with the participants of Tour Camps and will have a great opportunity to meet many more people from different countries

August, 03 till August, 17 Gantikow Manor 10p 18+ W07

Tour Camp

In this camp the group stays in Gantikow manor. The manor is situated 80 kilometres in the north of Berlin. Open Houses Network uses this beautiful building, which is surrounded by a sleepy village with a small church and attractive countryside, as an accommodation for guest groups, workcamps and other projects. The facade of the building is decorated with unique paintings.
A small lake is situated nearby the old building. So it is possible to go swimming. The beautiful garden around the manor invites people to relax.

From this place the group is going by a minibus to two other manors in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania), both are like 90 km fare away. The villages are closed to the Müritz national park. This region is noted for his numbers of beautiful lakes which inspire to drive with canoes.

Tour Camp

Both manors with his gardens did not have a lot of care the last decades. The volunteers will cut the grass and bushes. And there are some other maintenance works which should be done like repair broken windows. The group will sleep some nights in a scout tent for not to have to drive every day from Gantikow to the other manors. At the same time there will be another workcamp at Gantikow Manor.

August, 03 till August, 17 Tour Camp 7p 18+ W07

Festival Camp at the Rectory and Eickelberg

Parum is a small village nearby Güstrow. It almost just consists of one church, the former rectory, the church school and two old farmhouses. The church dates back to the Middle Ages. To save it from totally falling apart it was renovated by the parish in almost non-commercial work. The other buildings of the village are all restored quite well.
The rectory was built in 1841. Its construction corresponds to a classicistic style; it is the biggest rectory in whole Mecklenburg. That leads to its status being representative for typical manor architecture of this period.
Behind the house there is a meadow that borders on some worth fully woods facing down to the lake of Parum. The interior of the house is almost unchanged, the old room disposition, original doorways, windows and fittings and also wide hallways. Since Parum is a very small place. There are very simple conditions where people can enjoy a natural, quiet and a retired life-style.

Two years ago, Open Houses Network made the renovation of this building to its task and so, part by part, a new project was started. Because of its age and some constructional mistakes from the past the building still has some big defects, which need to be repaired.

The main work for the volunteers during the last years was to make one side of the roof straight enough for the installation of a solar energy plant. Therefore the volunteers built a base frame for the solar equipment. They had to remove the roof tiles and the laths, so that they could put a new roof sheathing under the tiles to make the old roof straight again. Everything had to be done partly, so that rain could not be a danger.
Last year the volunteers started to remove the tiles and the laths from the other side of the roof. They made the roof straight again and started to repair the truss and recover it with ancient roof tiles.

Eickelberg

At the weekend 11/07 – 13/07, the village has his 775 anniversary. Therefore, the volunteers will help the community to prepare for the festival. Open Houses made a film in 2006 and 2007 about the work of the network in the last twenty years. This film will be shown on the festival. In 2007 we dug a hole around the rectory to drain it. This summer we want to close this hole. Other works will be connected with gardening, like cutting the grass in the rectory garden.

There is another village called Eickelberg, not far away from Parum. The church in Eickelberg was restored by Open Houses from 1997 untill 2000.
The group will work in the garden around the church and prepare a small celebration of Open Houses as previously mentioned. A concert will be held and the film also will be shown again as well.

June, 29 till July, 21 Parum Rectory 8p 18+ W03

Ecological Farm in Baalsdorf

In 1989 the farm in Baalsdorf could be bought. The area is located in the eastern part of the city Leipzig. Here an organic food producing farm and a market garden was developed. At the beginning of the 1990s an association for ecological food producing was found, which works towards anthroposophic and ecological ideals. Today the association is the owner of the farm and the ground. The goal of the project is to support the natural vitality of soil, plants, animals and humans. At the moment a lot of fields have to be cultivated especially with different kinds of vegetables.
One family together with apprentices and other employees is living and working at the farm. Beside the work on the fields they have to care for cows, horses, pigs, sheeps, chickens, pigeons, cats and bees.

Camp at an Ecological Farm

Throughout the workcamp the brickworks of a neighbouring building and the gable of the barn will fit flush to preserve the stone structure of the walls and therefore the buildings of the farm. The manual work will not be strenuous but will take an enormous amount of time. Beside this, the volunteers are also welcome to help in the garden and on the fields.
The city Leipzig offers a lot of various cultural possibilities. From Baalsdorf it is very easy to get to the centre. Participants of the workcamp can spend their free-time with sightseeing or visiting museums, cinemas, concerts, the theatre and galleries. Not very far away from the farm it is also possible to go swimming in a lake and relaxing in the sun.

July, 13 till July, 26 Linke-Farm Baalsdorf 12 participants 16+ W21

Scout Education Centre Sager Schweiz

The Scout and Girl Guide Education Centre is situated in the region called Sager Schweiz. The centre is a project of the Christian Scout Association in north-west Germany. The goal is to invite children and youth groups to attractive educational and free-time activities. The project is just managed through voluntary workers. The centre is in existence since 2003. From that time on scouts and girl guides and volunteers are working to extend the quality of the premises. People are getting to know each other while spending time on manual and educational work and organising their leisure time together.

Scout Camp

Throughout the workcamp the volunteers will support the work with children, youths and especially international orientated scouts in an active and creative way.
The renovation of the main building is going to be the main point during the workcamp. In addition to that, the participants will lay down a path of ecological training and education along the area of the education centre and build a small house with an oven inside for baking bread. Furthermore it will be important to complete the construction work of the barn next to the main house. Together the group is going to have a lot of fun during the manual work and their free-time.

July, 20 till August, 10 Scout Education Centre Sage 20 p 16+ W22

August, 10 till August, 24 Scout Education Centre Sage 20 p 16+ W26

Bogensee Youth Accomodation House

Bogensee is situated 25 km in the north of Berlin in an area that is characterised by an aged beech population and surrounded by moors and several lakes.
Within the forest the workcamp will take place at a youth accomodation house called “Jugendwaldheim Bogensee”. The buildings go back to the thirties and were already used in the former GDR as youth accomodation houses. The recent aim is to revive this place and create an international youth centre where young people from all over the world are invited to learn about environmental themes and commit to nature. The focus of interest will be on practical experience in ecological education.
At the forest school called “Waldschule” and during special seminars volunteers study and work in the forest, in the project garden and in the yard.

Ecological Camp

Volunteers will work in two or three small groups in the wood-workshop. They will collect fire-wood in the forest, remove weeds, care for the herb and project garden and participate in the biotope and species protection programme. Especially bats living in that region need the help of humans to find protected nesting places. The participants are going to work in the forest and care for the benches and signs along the education path through the forest. Furthermore they will help with renovation work at the youth accomodation house.

July, 5 till July, 21 Bogensee Youth Accomodation House 10 p 18+ W20

July, 26 till August, 11 Bogensee Youth Accomodation House 10 p 18+ W24

Alt Ungnade Ecological Community

Alt Ungnade is a community of 18 people (aged 22 to 40 years) living in a small settlement near the bay on the Baltic Sea (10 km). In contrast to the modern society, they try to live sustainable and in close touch with the nature. Therefore they live in caravans on a former farming site, surrounded by fields and trees. Most of them are landscape ecologists so nature conservancy is quite important for their community. But within the scope of their association called “freiraum” (free space) founded 2007, they are going to establish cultural, environmental and social education for this region as well as international connections.

Environmental Camp

There will be two projects during the camps that the group can work on. The first one is to build up a caravan as sanitary facility. The community wants to build up this six meter long vehicle with organic resources. As second target the community would like to build a clamp, to store their self-made vegetables. Next to this, there is a lot of small work to do: helping in the garden, repairing and cleaning, taking part in feeding the animals, finishing the work on the organic toilet.

August, 09 till August, 31

Alt Ungnade Ecological Community

15 p

18+

W25