💼 What the programme involves
The hilly massive near Lohra Castle is listed as National Nature Reservation and Open Houses supports the Nature Reservation since several years with volunteering activities.
In a forest around three kilometres from the castle the participants will remove trees and bushes which are not corresponding with the protection aims and 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. Beside that, the volunteers will continue the maintenance of the green areas around the castle.
🏠 Accommodation on site
Within the old service buildings of the castle, you will stay in four little houses with 3- and 4- or 6- bedrooms with showers (limited hot water) and toilettes. The equipment is simple but fair. The fully equipped kitchen, which is situated next to the accommodation houses, is a separate building with large tables and benches inside. The atmosphere is rustic and historic.
The meals will be prepared together as they are part of the community life, what means that everybody will be responsible for the meal at least once during its stay. So it would be very nice if you could bring typical recipes from home in order to introduce each other to the preparation of food from all over the world.
📍 About the location
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, the history of the castle Lohra begins in the Middle Age. The castle is more than 1,000 years old. Today, it includes twenty buildings from different times: medieval fortifications, remnants of a tower from the 11th century, a Romanesque 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 Open Houses started to restore the castle and to revive it by cultural activities. Since that time, a large number of Workcamps, Building Weeks, exhibitions, concerts and other activities with international participants took place in the castle.
The castle is situated next to a nature protected area. You can explore the landscape by foot; worth seeing is the chapel in Münchenlohra. Excursions to Sondershausen, Mühlhausen or Nordhausen will be discussed once you arrived.