Beyond all borders! Actively working for peace and understanding!
You would like to ...
- live as part of an international group for a while?
- explore historical and political topics?
- enjoy and arrange leisure activities?
- work voluntarily for two to three weeks to maintain war graves or memorials so as to preserve them as a peace memorial?
You are the right person for us! Each summer, the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.) organizes numerous workcamps and youth exchanges all over Germany and Europe. Young people between the ages of 16 and 26 years from all European countries can take part.
Work on war graves and memorials
At most of the workcamps, participants work approximately 10 hours per week maintaining war graves or memorials to preserve them as peace memorials. For example, they help with the preservation and restoration of German war grave memorials of the First and Second World War, war grave memorials of other nations and fundamentally important memorial places such as concentration camp memorials to preserve them as peace memorials.
Make new friends! International meeting and intercultural learning
The workcamps in Germany are truly international with young people from many different countries. In some work camps the focus is on two or three specific nationalities. The programme offers an opportunity to discover common interests beyond national borders or affiliations at the same time as to notice differences. At last you may develop your own point of view. Topics may be historical events, handling prejudices, racism, human rights or the European Union. Of course the participants will also meet people from the host country.
History on location – get to grips with history!
To work for peace means remembering periods of war and tyranny, asking critical questions and searching for the historical context (how could it happen at the time?) and sharing views with others. What does peace mean for me? At many of the workcamps there will be conducted tours to war graves, memorials or visits to museums, conversations with witnesses and workshops around the topic ‘peace’.
Leisure activities – here you can really experience something!
Experience fun and action together with other young people! Depending on the programme many leisure activities are offered which might include: sightseeing and shopping, cultural events, camp fire evenings, barbecues, disco nights, walking tours for nature lovers or sporting activities.
