Nature Reserve Maulbronn Monastery

You will work in the monastery forest of Maulbronn Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the early Middle Ages, Cistercian monks built an extensive network of drainage and irrigation ditches, ponds and lakes here. The aim was to ensure sufficient water all year round for drinking, milling, farming and fish farming. Large parts of this system are still preserved. Today, they are not only part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also a nature reserve, as a very special place for biodiversity has developed here over the centuries. A variety of interesting tasks await you at this famed site. Your support is needed for: + Ditch maintenance: Where necessary, the ditches are made functional again. This involves removing obstacles to drainage and disturbing vegetation. Stones, soil and sediment are removed to restore the ditch bed to its historical state. + Construction of leaf rakes: The ditch system has been crossed by connecting paths since the beginning of its construction. The flotsam of the water-bearing ditches, consisting of brushwood and leaves, can lead to blockages in front of the culverts and prevent the flow of water. The accumulated water then flows over the paths and causes great damage. This is remedied by so-called leaf rakes made of oak wood, which are installed in the ditches upstream of the culvert. In several places, you will replace defective leaf rakes with new ones made from local oak wood. + Inventory and documentation: While the location of the ditches is well documented using a La-serscan aerial survey, there is a lack of data on their current condition. All maintenance measures are therefore documented and the permeability of the watercourse described (major obstacles). In particular, the risk of incipient erosion at dams and the like is recorded. + Repair of dams: The Cistercians changed the natural flow direction not only by means of ditches, but also by building smaller dams. Some of these are damaged and are being repaired. For this purpose, earth has to be brought into the existing outlets by hand and compacted. The work will be supervised by two forest workers. All the different tasks are coordinated with both the environmental protection authority and the heritage protection authority.

You will stay in a hikers' lodge in a neighbourhood of Maulbronn also used for youth activities. In the house you will find everything what you need for your stay - several dormitories with beds, showers, toilets and a kitchen. Please bring your own sleeping bag (and pillow if required)! The hikers' lodge is isolated in a forest clearing. So you will have perfect opportunities to enjoy living in nature, make a campfire and watch the stars at night. Your accommodation is 7km from the worksite; you will be taken there every morning with two mini-busses. 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.

Maulbronn is a town in the district of Karlsruhe, in Baden-Wurttemberg. The town is famous for its monastery, of which visitors can take a guided tour. The area of Maulbronn is very rural with a nice mixture of forests, fruit orchards and vineyards. There are many hiking or biking trails. As different local initiatives are involved in the project there will be shared activities and parties with locals and they will be happy to show the most interesting places of the area.