Celtic house Bopfingen

CODE: IBG 09

Work:

We invite 12 international volunteers to help continue the construction of the Celtic housing complex in Bopfingen. So far, seven workcamp groups, local volunteers of the community of Bopfingen and a team of professional craftsmen have been working on the three houses of the Celtic housing complex. Your task will be to continue the work there by finishing the walls and floors. The working place is set on the top of the hill “Ipf”, so you will be working outside a lot with a wonderful view over the region. All the materials you work with are natural materials like clay, wood, and stone. The work will be led by a professional instructor, so no previous experience is needed. Expect manual work! You will work around 30 hours per week, somewhere between 8am to 4pm from Monday to Friday with a 1-2 hour lunchbreak.

Accomodation and food

You will be staying at a local gym hall at about 10 minutes walking distance from the city centre and 15 minutes from the train station. You will all sleep in the very big main room of the gym hall. Camp beds are provided but please bring your own sleeping bag! In the gym hall there is also a kitchen which you can use for cooking, tables and chairs, different toilets which can be separated by gender and one bathroom with one shower. 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.

Location and leisure

Bopfingen is a small town in southern Germany. It has a beautiful centre with a lot of houses in old German style. What makes Bopfingen special is the hill next to the town which is called “Ipf” with its flat plateau on the top. The “Ipf” has an important historical meaning in this area. In former times, the Celts lived there and until today a lot of archaeologists and historians come to explore the region. It is surrounded by beautiful nature where you can go for a walk or hike. Around Bopfingen, you will find various museums, the romantic historic city of Nördlingen, and the Ries (a large circular meteor impact crater with a diameter of 24 km). If you would like to visit a bigger city, Ulm is not far away with its famous cathedral and the highest church tower in the world.

Project hosted by

The town of Bopfingen invites an international workcamp for the seventh time this year! A couple years back, researchers found archaeological evidence from the Celtic people that used to live here thousands of years ago in the Iron Age. The town’s project for the next years is to rebuild some of the houses in Celtic style to show tourists how the Celts may have lived in this area. By participating to this project you contribute to protecting the local cultural heritage in a sustainable way (UN SDG 9 and 11). You will also be part of the strong partnership between international volunteers and this project in Bopfingen, as international workcamps have helped with building the complex almost every year.

Directions to meeting point

Please, try and arrive at “Bopfingen” train station between 1pm and 7pm on July 19th. Find the best connection on the German railway company's website: https://www.bahn.com/en

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