Campo di volontariato
Lohra Castle
Next towns: Bleicherode (6 km), Nordhausen (20 km), Erfurt (75 km), GERMANIA
For more than three decades, Open Houses has organised international workcamps at historic buildings and sites, many of them located in rural areas and embedded within cultural landscapes of high heritage value. These projects bring together volunteers from different countries to live and work collectively in modest conditions, encouraging a shared experience of responsibility, cooperation, and intercultural exchange. The practical activities typically include landscape care, maintenance, and small-scale conservation or repair works that support the long-term preservation of the sites. Through this hands-on engagement, participants contribute directly to safeguarding local heritage while gaining insight into traditional materials, techniques, and the everyday realities of conservation outside large institutional frameworks. Work is generally organised for approximately six hours per day, five days a week. Afternoons, evenings, and weekends are reserved for shared activities, informal learning, and visits to the surrounding region, fostering social exchange alongside the practical work.
Il Progetto
Lohra Castle, with its centuries-old architecture and vast natural surroundings, is not only a site of historical significance but also a living, functioning place that requires continuous care and attention. This workcamp offers volunteers the opportunity to actively contribute to the sustainable management of the castle, ensuring that its grounds remain accessible, welcoming, and well preserved. The workcamp plays an essential role in the long-term care of the site, allowing future visitors and guests to experience and appreciate Lohra Castle as a harmoniously maintained historic and natural space.
Attività principali
The volunteers will engage in seasonal maintenance tasks, including mowing and collecting overgrown grass, clearing organic material from public areas, and ensuring that the castle’s open spaces remain well-kept. These tasks are crucial for the aesthetic and functional upkeep of the historic ensemble, preserving the visual integrity of the castle and its surroundings. The work also extends to the general maintenance of communal spaces and halls, contributing to the overall experience of visitors who use the castle for cultural events, educational programmes, and retreats. The income generated from these activities is directly reinvested into the castle’s conservation and educational projects, meaning that the work of volunteers directly supports heritage preservation efforts, even if not through conservation itself. Beyond the practical tasks, the workcamp offers a unique and immersive experience. When the castle closes its doors to the public in the evenings, it becomes the volunteers' home, a place where they can experience the privilege of inhabiting a medieval site. In this way, they take on the role of stewards, caring for the space as if it were their own. The experience encourages a sense of responsibility, ownership, and connection to heritage, reinforcing the idea that heritage sites thrive not only through large-scale restoration projects but also through the daily care and attention given to them by those who value their existence.
Campo di volontariato
Lohra Castle
13 set → 25 set (13 giorni · 12 notti)
Dettagli
Luogo Next towns: Bleicherode (6 km), Nordhausen (20 km), Erfurt (75 km), GERMANIA
Area tematica ENVI, CONS, RENO
Età 18-30
Lingua English
Codice OH-W07
Appuntati il codice del campo, ti tornerà utile
Cosa è incluso
Alloggio
Pasti
Nessun pagamento anticipato. Ti invieremo i dettagli per procedere con il pagamento in un secondo momento via email.
Punto d'incontro
Workcamps and Building Weeks usually start on Sunday or Monday, Heritage Volunteers Projects on Saturday or Sunday (in exceptional cases also on Mondays). The first mentioned day is always the arrival day. We ask the participants to arrive between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. so all the volunteers can already get to know each other and can have their first common dinner before the work will start at the following morning.
Aeroporto più vicino: Leipzig/Halle (LEJ, 155 km), Frankfurt/Main (FRA, 280 km), Berlin (BER, 300 km)
Stazione più vicina: Gebra/Hainleite (5 km), Wolkramshausen (12 km).
Dove alloggerai
Accommodation
In most of Open Houses' camps the volunteers will live at the same places they also work on, what means that they live more or less on a building site. In most of the Heritage Volunteers Projects the accommodation is located in a certain distance to the working site. The accommodation is usually very simple there are shared rooms with simple beds or mattresses at most of the places. Shower, toilet and kitchen are at the place, but sometimes not in the same building. The equipment is simple but fair. After work, when everybody wants to take a shower, there can be a limit of hot water.
Food
The meals will be prepared together as they are part of the community life, what means that every participant will be responsible for the meal at least once during its stay. So, it would be very nice if the participants could bring typical recipes from home in order to introduce each other to the preparation of food from all over the world.
Scopri Lohra Castle
Lohra Castle, located in northern Thuringia, Germany, is one of the region’s most characteristic medieval fortifications, situated near historic trade routes that once connected central Europe. Though modest in scale, the castle occupies a commanding position within a hilly landscape bordering a natural reserve. With a history extending over more than a millennium, the site reflects successive phases of architectural transformation shaped by changing political, economic, and social conditions.
Leisure time
The camp places are mostly situated in small villages in rural areas, so the participants should not expect busy places and normal city activities for the leisure time during the working days. Small trips in walking distance are possible in the afternoon. On the weekends it is possible to organise an excursion to nearby cities or to have other leisure activities.
Requisiti
Open Houses does not provide Wi-Fi internet access at its project sites. At Lohra Castle, as well as at most locations where our programmes take place, there is no possibility to connect to a wireless network. Mobile phone reception is generally available therefore, participants who require internet access must arrange this independently through their own mobile data provider. Sending organisations and participants are kindly asked to prepare accordingly in advance, as no on-site alternative can be offered.
Please also note that washing machines are not available at the camp locations.
More detailed information including additional information regarding travel advice will be later sent with the info sheet.
Organizzatore
The projects of Open Houses are based on sustainable principles, ensuring that Lohra Castle is maintained not just as a historical monument but as a living environment where culture and nature coexist. The castle is surrounded by a vast natural protected area, making its preservation an effort that combines aspects of cultural and natural heritage conservation. Through their contributions, volunteers help safeguard the balance between history and nature, keeping Lohra Castle a welcoming place for future generations of visitors, researchers, and heritage enthusiasts.
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