📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Open Houses
💼 What the programme involves
The historical stone bridge crossing the castle moat has to be restored in the future. The therefore necessary replacement bridge will cross the moat on another place than the original bridge did. That’s why the volunteers will construct new paths and stairs so that it will be possible the reach the replacement bridge.
Additionally, the participants will clear up different parts of the ensemble and take care of the green area around by cutting grass, mowing lawn and digging up the garden.
In July Open Houses organises Workcamp and Building Weeks in the same period at Ollendorf Water Castle.
The two working groups are living together and they are one community. The only difference between the two projects is the different topics they are working on.
During the camp it will be possible, that volunteers join the other working group, because of their skills or their own interests. Therefore please have a look both at the Workcamp and Buildings Weeks descriptions.
🏠 Accommodation on site
simple conditions, shared rooms with beds, warm showers and toilets,
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.
📍 About the location
Ollendorf is situated between Erfurt, capital of Thuringia, and Weimar, the European Capital of Culture 1999. The small village is surrounded by a beautiful countryside.
Ollendorf Water Castle was probably built in the 13th century as a protective fort at the “via regia”. The “via regia” was the most important medieval trading route which ran from Flanders via Frankfurt and Leipzig to Russia. In 1692 the castle had been destroyed by a fire and only the foundations could remain. The current manor house was built in 1694 in a simple rural baroque style, replacing the former castle. Following the decline of the “via regia” in the 19th century, the site was later used for agricultural purposes, and store houses and barns were built. During the last decades, due to long vacancy, the manor fell into disrepair. Since several years Open Houses is active at the Water Castle and could safe it from falling apart. Many works has been done since than, both focusing on the restoration of the historical complex and the renaturation of the castle’s surroundings. Due to the young people from different countries, who have lived there and have taken part in its restoration during the last years, the castle changed into a place of creativity and open-mindedness. Ollendorf is a good place to start excursions to important historical and cultural places like Weimar and Erfurt which are not far from the village.