Past, present and future for Jamlitz Railway station

CODE: ICJA2511

Work:

With your help, we would like to carry out urgent work to preserve the historic railway station site. Nature is reclaiming what once belonged to it and working against memory. Together with your help and the support of the village, we want to fight against oblivion and make the station grounds visible again. The work you carry out will take place outside and is mostly horticultural: this means physical labour with hoes, saws and spades to clear the site of wild growth and bushes. Work can be physically demanding!
During the work you will have the opportunity to learn a lot about the place and to talk to the local people and hear how they perceived the different periods. The Jamlitz railway station is also run in cooperation with the nearby Lieberose Memorial in Jamlitz and the young residents are often involved in its upkeep. You can also become active at the memorial site and help to maintain the greenery and work against forgetting.
In our bicycle workshop, you can repair bicycles and take them on trips to the nearby Schwansee lake and through the meadows and forests.

Accomodation and food

Volunteers will be accommodated in the former railway station, there are rooms with several beds, sleeping bags must be brought along. We will cook and eat together with the residents of the railway station. If you want, you can spend the night in a tent, we can set up tents for this purpose.

Location and leisure

Jamlitz is situated in a very rural location and has many exciting things to offer in addition to relaxing nature, bathing lakes and a historic landscape that can be explored on foot or by bike. At the end of the 19th century, Berlin artists discovered this place and founded an artists' colony, which still characterises the identity of the village today. During the National Socialist era, a large military training area was to be built here. The project met with resistance from the local population and was never completed. However, a satellite camp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was built, which sadly earned the village a reputation as one of the most important sites of the Shoah in Brandenburg. After liberation from National Socialism, both the camp and the military training area continued to be used by Soviet troops. The railway station was at the centre of all these events and today bears witness to the different areas.
You will have the opportunity to get to know the history in various ways. On guided tours and seminars, through conversations with locals and explorations on your own, you can uncover and understand the overlapping layers.
We also think together about which excursions and activities can be organised. Whether a visit Cottbus or Eisenhüttenstadt or Berlin is up to you.

Project hosted by

The “Justus Delbrück Haus” | Akademie für Mitbestimmung (Academy for Co-determination) in the former Railway Station Jamlitz is an open place where everyone is welcome and can take part in events such as exhibitions, cinema evenings and other events. The organisation Karuna e.V. (Future for children and young people in need) bought the disused railway station in Jamlitz in 2008 and transformed it back into a lively place. Several organisations are now working together here, filling the past, present and future with life. You will find both a historical site rich with stories to tell and a vibrant space for exchange, where, in addition to educational programmes, leisure activities also take place. Moreover, a residential community for former homeless and decoupled young people has been established. In cooperation with the Lieberose memorial site in Jamlitz, socially disadvantaged children and young people in particular get the opportunity to escape everyday life, take advantage of artistic, historical and experiential educational programmes and experience a democratic and self-determined life. The railway station is located far away from large cities and is surrounded by forests and lakes, meadows and fields. This is very conducive to working with the young people and is part of the educational concept. “Arrive and simply be in the here and now”. This is the motto for working and living at the Railway Station Jamlitz. For further information see also the website of Justus-Delbrück-Haus (https://www.demokratiebildung.info/).

Directions to meeting point

Additional comments

Please bring a sleeping bag, possibly a pillow, towel, with you. You will need work clothes, rain gear and sturdy, closed shoes. As it can get cold at night in August, even in summer, please bring warm clothing. Don't forget sun protection in case of strong sun. For your free time, please bring a swimming costume, music, your talents and something specific from your life.
The project is in a very rural location.
There is a swimming lake about 15 minutes away by bike. Volunteers should be able to cycle and swim safely.
Alcohol and drugs are not permitted in the project itself. After registration, we require a self-declaration on child and youth protection.