Name: History Camp at Hötensleben Border Monument 2026
Start: 2026-08-09T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-08-23T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Grenzdenkmal Hötensleben

History Camp Hötensleben

About History Camp Hötensleben

In August, the Hötensleben Border Monument Association invites young people from several countries to a two-week history and work camp. Monument maintenance, excursions, encounters with contemporary witnesses, and participation in the Rock am Denkmal festival — history and commitment combine at one of the Börde district's most impressive memorial sites.

Dates 09 Aug — 23 Aug 2026

Venue Oschersleben (Bode) (15083)

Prices 0.00€ — 50.00€

Status —

Edition 2026

History Camp Hötensleben — edition 2026

Tickets →

The History Camp at the Hötensleben Border Monument will take place from August 9th to 23rd, 2026. Two weeks of youth work camp with maintenance work, excursions, encounters with contemporary witnesses, and participation in the Rock am Denkmal festival.

From August 9th to 23rd, 2026, the Border Monument Association is organizing the annual History Camp. International young people will meet at the Hötensleben Border Monument for two weeks of maintenance work, historical educational activities, and encounters with contemporary witnesses. Registration via the association.

Highlights History Camp Hötensleben 2026

International youth encounter, maintenance of an authentic GDR border monument, and participation in the Rock am Denkmal festival.

Programme History Camp Hötensleben 2026

Week 1 (August 9–16, 2026)

Welcome and introduction to the history of the Border Monument
Maintenance work at the monument site (vegetation control, restoration)
Excursion to the Marienborn Memorial for German Division
Visit to the Schöningen Spears exhibition
Encounter with contemporary witnesses

Week 2 (August 17–23, 2026)

Further maintenance and documentation work
Visit to the Schöningen open-cast mine
Traffic education, fire drill with the local association
Participation in the Rock am Denkmal festival (on the festival grounds at the monument)
Final presentation and farewell

Program in cooperation with the municipality of Hötensleben, the Marienborn Memorial, and local associations.

Prices History Camp Hötensleben 2026

Participation includes accommodation and meals. Co-payment approx. €50 (funding possible).

Practical information

Practical information — History Camp Hötensleben

Registration

Via the Hötensleben Border Monument Association — registration form and conditions at grenzdenkmal.com.

Getting There

Hötensleben, part of Sommersdorf/Westliche Börde. By car via the A2 (exit Helmstedt-Ost) and Helmstedt. Helmstedt train station, then bus.

Accommodation

Accommodation, meals, and program are included in the work camp.

Requirements

Participants aged 16 and over with an interest in German-German history and remembrance work.

Grasping History with Your Own Hands

The Hötensleben Border Monument in the municipality of Hötensleben (part of Sommersdorf/Westliche Börde administrative district) is one of the most important memorial sites of the inner-German border. After reunification, citizens preserved an authentically maintained segment of the former GDR border as a memorial site spanning approximately 350 meters: barrier systems, watchtowers, expanded metal fencing, patrol paths. Today, the site is managed by the Grenzdenkmalverein e.V. Hötensleben (Hötensleben Border Monument Association) in cooperation with the Marienborn Memorial for German Division.

Once a year in August, the association organizes the History Camp – a two-week international youth work camp where young people from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, and other countries work together at the monument, attend workshops, and undertake excursions. The focus is on maintaining the authentic memorial site: vegetation control, minor restoration work on the historical fence elements, documentation of the site.

More Than Work — A Place of Learning

The work camp is also an educational program. The program includes visits to the training workshops of the nearby open-cast mine, the Schöningen Spears (the oldest fully preserved hunting weapons in humanity), the Federal Archives in Friedrichsdorf, and the Marienborn Memorial. Several generations meet: contemporary witnesses, former border guards, mayors of border municipalities, firefighters, traffic educators. The young people also participate in the Rock am Denkmal festival, which takes place on the festival grounds next door during the camp period.

Hötensleben and the Green Belt

The border monument is part of the “Green Belt” along the former inner-German border – a biotope corridor that is now maintained as a cross-border nature conservation area. Those who accompany the work camp learn not only history but also landscape conservation and biodiversity management. In the state of Saxony-Anhalt, which has the largest share of the Green Belt with over 340 kilometers, Hötensleben is one of the central learning sites for German-German history and ecological remembrance work.