OH-W08 Lohra Castle | OH-W08 | 2024-09-15 - 2024-09-28 | RENO,CONS | Age: 18 - 29

Open Houses are more than just empty buildings. They re places steeped in history, both obvious and hidden. These are places that have been around for centuries, shaped by those who lived there long ago and those who left recently. They re spaces where dreams and ideas thrive, where people from different backgrounds, cultures, and ages can come together to share and connect. The history of Open Houses Network began in the mid-1980s when a group of young people in East Germany decided to restore village churches as volunteers to prevent them from falling into disrepair. Their efforts breathed new life into these spaces, hosting exhibitions, concerts, and gatherings that went beyond mere restoration work. Today, while there s less need for places free from political pressure, it s still hard to find spots where people can meet without commercial agendas or bureaucratic hurdles. The balance between public engagement and private life is tricky to navigate, requiring constant effort to cut through red tape and financial constraints. The idea of shared public spaces is fading, with fewer places available for collective work. The Open Houses Network aims to change that. We re not just doers; we re visionaries who want to create and protect spaces where people can come together, collaborate, and make a difference. Our projects and events are invitations for everyone to get involved, to make space for commitment, change, and connection.

Work: The projects of Open Houses are based on sustainable principles. Therefore, the activities at Lohra Castle combine aspects of cultural heritage preservation and aspects of natural heritage preservation. The castle is surrounded by a vast green area and the volunteers will help in the maintenance of it. Near the youth accommodation houses that are part of the Lohra Castle complex there is a camping site which can be used by youth groups, for this reason the area should be made accessible from overgrown grass. The tasks will be mowing and collecting the grass. Additionally, the participants of the project will support the work on renovations on the Castle grounds. The hilly massive around Lohra Castle is listed as National Nature Reserve. Open Houses supports the Reserve since several years with volunteering activities. In a forest near the Castle the participants will remove trees and bushes which are not corresponding with the protection aims in order to clean the paths and make them enjoyable again. They will also will collect the wood remaining after maintenance works, load it on a truck, unload it at the castle and split and stack it for wintertime or for the fireplace. Besides that, the volunteers will continue the maintenance of the green area at the castle. In addition, in the later part of the summer, they will support the recollection, assortment, splitting and storage of wood to prepare the castle for the harsh winter months. The volunteers work six hours per day five days a week. The afternoons and evenings can be used for nearby cultural attractions, games, group activities, campfires and other similar things. On the weekends the volunteers have the opportunity to visit nearby places.

Accomodation and food: 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. FINANCES All costs linked to the project are covered, including food, accommodation, insurance and transportation during the stay at the project. Travel costs to and from the camp place are not covered. Participants should organise their journey to and from the project place by themselves and on their own expenses. Furthermore, participants should bring their own pocket money.

Location: BurgLohra

Location and Leisure: 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 natural reserve area. Being one of the largest castles in Thuringia, the history of castle Lohra begins in the Middle Ages. It s architectural styles which have been preserved in the structures of the ensemble attest to a prolonged period of occupation and historical evolution up until today. The castle is more than thousand years old, and it is a relic of German medieval past that is still standing at the heart of a region through which the story of the German nation has been written. Today, it includes twenty buildings from different time periods, showcasing this historical evolution to the enchantment of visitors and heritage enthusiasts: medieval fortifications, remnants of a tower from the 11th century, a Romanesque double-floored chapel, a manor house from the Renaissance period as well as stables and granaries from the 19th and the early 20th centuries. The ensemble is situated in the centre of a beautiful forest. For years Lohra Castle was vacant. In the 1990s a civil society association which became today’s Open Houses, began to rescue the castle and to revitalise it through cultural activities. The process of rehabilitation of cultural heritage not only brought new life and use to an otherwise forgotten monument, but it also provided with a new space where young people could reconnect with tangible heritage while valorising the relevance of preserving a historical monument. Since then, a large number of international workcamps, heritage volunteering projects, heritage training courses, seminars, exhibitions, concerts and other activities with international participants have been taking place every year in the castle.

Airport: BER

Train/Bus station: Next bus station: Großlohra, Friedrichslohra/Wartehalle Next railway stations: Gebra/Hainleite (5 km), Wolkramshausen (12 km).

Information sheet will be sent four weeks before the beginning of the workcamp. However travel arrangements can be done with the already provided information about the nearest airport and bus stop.

Language: eng

Extra Fee: 0