Black Forest Village Grafenhausen

The people in Grafenhausen count on your help to renovate parts of their much appreciated Skulpturenpark (sculpture park), but also to add beautiful and useful natural elements to it. In this big green area, located in the centre of Grafenhausen, you can find many different contemporary artistic works and installations, done by various artists. For this reason, the Skulpturenpark is a regional touristic attraction. The community of Grafenhausen now has different projects in mind, which you will help realise: • Bring in flowers! You will help create flower beds in different parts of the sculpture parc, for the delight of the visitors. This includes working with earth, preparing the soil, planting flowers and building outside delimitations. • Create a garden to produce natural colours! You will create a garden area from scratch, which will be specifically for plants, which will be used by a local artist for painting! Indeed, the artist Judith Anders uses natural products like beetroot or curcuma for the colours in her art pieces. This project will be done in cooperation with her. You will be working with soil, shovelling and planting. • Renovate wooden sitting areas. For this task, you will be working with wood, sanding down damaged parts and painting benches and table anew. The work will be led by a professional instructor, so no previous experience is needed. Sometimes you might be split up in smaller groups to do different tasks. Working hours will be approximately from 8am to 4pm from Monday to Friday with a 1-2 hour break for lunch.

You will be accommodated in a beautiful wooden group house, in the middle of the village, called the Hagehus. The house is equipped with hot showers and toilets which can be separated by gender, a kitchen, a big common room and a dorm. You will sleep on mattresses on the floor (bed sheets are provided but no pillow nor cover) in the dorm, one big common room. Please bring your own sleeping bag! In the house, there is a washing machine and a Wifi connection. The bakery/café and local supermarket are at walking distance. Your group of volunteers will be responsible for grocery shopping and cooking together. The food will be bought with the camp budget and everybody will take turns for cooking, washing the dishes and cleaning. In order to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet, we encourage volunteers to reduce meat and try more sustainable dishes.

Grafenhausen is located in the very south of Germany, in the famous Black Forest. It is a very nice village with typical south German architecture, surrounded by beautiful landscapes. In addition to the forest, there are many lakes and mountains close-by. Indeed, the Feldberg, the highest German mountain outside of the Alps, is about half an hour by car, which makes this area perfect for hiking trips! The famous German beer "Tannenzäpfle" is brewed in Grafenhausen and you’ll have the possibility to visit the brewery during your stay. The village is in a very rural area, so be prepared for two calm weeks in the Black Forest, far away from the big city life. To go shopping, the community will lend you a small bus and for excursions you will receive travel passes with which you can use public transportation in the whole Black Forest area. From the next train station, there are regular connections to Freiburg (a university city) and Lake Constance. Grafenhausen is located at about 1.000 meters altitude; therefore the weather at the end of the summer can be quite unpredictable. Be prepared for warm and sunny temperatures, as well as coldness and rain.