The ijgd has been organising volunteer service programmes since 1949. We are an independent, non-profit association for international youth work, a recognised independent youth welfare organisation, and one of the largest and oldest workcamp organisations in Germany. Each year, we assist around 5,000 young people into volunteer work in Germany and abroad. We give them the opportunity to be creative, act in solidarity, take responsibility for themselves, and discover their own true potential and strengths. Our principles: Ecological learning, voluntary contribution, self-organisation, social development, intercultural learning, gender equality, anti-racism/anti-discrimination and political education.
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Your host community Germersheim is looking forward to your help with renovation tasks in the fortress museum. The fortress is present everywhere in Germersheim. The numerous historic buildings are listed and are used in a variety of ways: as a museum, university, music school and youth center. The Ludwigstor, as one of the preserved city gates, will be “your fortress building”, which is used as a museum but is closed due to necessary renovation and restoration work. With your help, it will be reopened in 2026. To this end, we are organizing two work camps with the city of Germersheim this year. In this summer camp, your help is needed to renovate the exhibition rooms. The rooms are to be restored to their original “historical” state as far as possible and everything that deviates from the construction period is to be removed. Specifically: historical windows must be thoroughly refurbished, plywood panels that keep out daylight must be carefully removed, the window timbers must be sanded and revitalized with oily paints. Some of the historic wooden floors have PVC coverings, which should be carefully removed without damaging the substrate, e.g. with a spatula or special tools. Door frames that do not correspond to the construction period, i.e. were added later, must be carefully removed, as must wall areas that close off former passageways. The aim is to recreate the historical room shape with vaulted ceilings and natural lighting. In order to restore the rooms to their original size, some of the masonry walls even have to be removed. The various demolition materials have to be transported through the building for disposal and sorted, and possibly also stored for reuse.
As you can see, you can really let off steam here, but it's also strenuous work that requires a bit of strength! Turn up the music and off you go. If you want to really let off steam in an old fortress, this is the place for you. Another aspect is that you should document your work digitally, e.g. with a video diary of your work or a photo documentation that not only shows you at work, but also the spatial changes before and after your work assignment.

Rooms of the former district administration, right in the center of Germersheim.
You cook together. You will be provided with money for shopping. Vegetarian or vegan meals are possible. Please indicate any intolerances when registering.

You have lots of leisure options: you can be in Speyer in 12 minutes by S-Bahn, with a beautiful historic old town, the cathedral, technology museum, Sea Life, Bademaxx (leisure pool), cafés and bars. The university cities of Heidelberg and Karlsruhe are also very easy to reach by train. You can also travel to France, e.g. to Strasbourg. If you like hiking, you can do so in the Palatinate Forest with its many castles and huts to stop off at. To discover Germersheim, you can take a guided tour of the town. Germersheim has an old town with several stores and cafés. www.germersheim.eu
You can take an electric boat trip (night trip) or a canoe trip on the Rhine. An absolute highlight for the region is the almond blossom, which will be in full bloom during your workcamp. Very beautiful for nature lovers and great photo opportunities www.mandelbluete-pfalz.de.

Camplocation: Germersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate; Karlsruhe 35 km, Heidelberg 55 km

You will receive more information after your confirming registration with the specific infosheet for your project.
Please arrive at the accommodation latest till 6pm (if possible)