Freudenstadt: Conservation and Revitalisation of the Historic Waldlust Park Landscape

Code: 0953ba28188145e29427015c4b0b8476 Copied

Germany Construction Environment Renovation Construction Environment +1 Fixed dates

About the project

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

Open Houses is a non-profit network dedicated to the preservation and reactivation of historic buildings and sites as shared cultural spaces. Rather than treating heritage as static or purely commemorative, Open Houses understands historic places as environments shaped through continued use, dialogue, and collective responsibility. The organisation initiates and supports projects that combine hands-on conservation with cultural, educational, and community-oriented activities, enabling sites to remain physically accessible and socially meaningful. The main objective of Open Houses is to reactivate historic sites as living parts of their communities, supported by international volunteers who contribute to their conservation and rehabilitation through practical engagement. The origins of the organisation date to the mid-1980s, when volunteer groups in East Germany began restoring endangered village churches. These efforts quickly evolved beyond repair work into the reanimation of the buildings as lived spaces for exhibitions, music, discussion, and communal engagement. This approach (linking practical preservation with active participation) remains central to Open Houses today. European Heritage Volunteers is an international programme network initiated and administered by Open Houses to extend these objectives across Germany and beyond. Conceived as a platform for capacity building in the heritage field, it brings together students, emerging professionals, and skilled craftspeople to participate in hands-on conservation projects, training courses, and educational initiatives at heritage sites. The programme combines practical work, such as traditional building techniques, landscape conservation, documentation, and maintenance, with structured learning components addressing heritage theory, site management, and cultural context. Implemented in cooperation with site owners, conservation authorities, and partner organisations, European Heritage Volunteers functions as a bridge between professional heritage practice and international exchange, fostering the transmission of traditional skills, interdisciplinary learning, and shared responsibility for the safeguarding of cultural heritage.

💼 What the programme involves

The European Heritage Volunteers Project at the Waldlust Hotel in 2026 continues earlier engagements at the site and concentrates on the care, management, and gradual recovery of the historic hotel park. Participants will engage in practical landscape conservation aimed at restoring the readability and safe use of the designed woodland environment that once formed part of the spa experience. Work will focus on the selective clearing of invasive and self-seeded vegetation that obscures historic paths, terraces, and sightlines, as well as on the maintenance of pathways and the stabilisation of stone-built elements such as steps, edging, and retaining walls. These measures are intended to secure existing structures, reveal characteristic spatial features, and support the park's continued use while respecting its historically evolved character. Particular attention will be given to understanding the interaction between natural growth and designed landscape features, allowing participants to engage with conservation challenges specific to historic parks. Through this work, the project highlights approaches to maintaining culturally shaped landscapes as living environments that require ongoing care rather than reconstruction.

🏠 Accommodation on site

Accommodation: The participants will be lodged at the famous Waldlust Hotel in the historic rooms that have been rehabilitated to host guests. They will sleep in shared rooms and all basic necessities are covered. 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. Insurance: In cases of accident and liability all participants from foreign countries are insured by Open Houses. Nevertheless, individual travel insurance is recommended. Participants from outside European Union are insured in cases of illness, too. Participants from the European Union should bring their European Health Insurance Card. 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.

📍 About the location

The Waldlust Hotel in Freudenstadt, founded in 1899, is a representative example of late 19th-century hospitality architecture in the northern Black Forest and reflects the development of spa culture and health tourism that shaped the town's growth. Conceived as a grand resort, it became one of Freudenstadt's leading establishments, closely associated with the Luz family, a hotelier dynasty that operated renowned hotels in Freudenstadt, Baden-Baden, and Austria. After a renewed period of use following the Second World War, the hotel gradually lost its original function and today stands as an important testimony to this phase of social and cultural history. The building is currently cared for by the Friends of Waldlust Association, which is committed to safeguarding the structure and exploring future cultural uses. Surrounding the hotel is a historic park with promenades, terraced paths, stairways, and sandstone retaining walls that once formed part of the guest experience. Although partially overgrown, the landscape preserves the spatial framework of its original design and illustrates the connection between spa architecture and leisure landscapes in the Black Forest.

⚠️ Requirements

Special requirements are sending a CV, application form, and motivation letter to [email protected] prior to selection there will be an interview. Candidates should be interested in the topic of the project / training course and demonstrate it in the motivation letter and interview.

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