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Keep the crew happy – cook & create at a lake retreat near Berlin

4.5
(11 reviews)11

The experience

You'll be the heart of our renovation crew – keeping everyone fed, energized, and happy. Cook vegetarian meals, organize spaces, and bring your own flair – whether that's morning yoga, group workouts, or just creating a warm atmosphere after a day of construction work. Mid-February to end of March at a lake 40 min from Berlin. Sauna sessions, shared meals, and the chance to shape the vibe of a place we're building together.

What you offer

30 hours of help per week

Painting & Decorating: Help with painting or decorating the property facilities.

Cleaning: Help clean the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and common areas.

Housekeeping: Help with changing the bed linens and general housekeeping.

Cooking: Choose the menu, pick ingredients and cook delicious dishes.

What you get

2 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Team Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other people.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Get free drinks or beverages.: Drink up! Get free and tasty drinks for yourself.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Fast Internet Access: High-speed internet for you to work remotely

Dedicated Workspace: Specific space for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English or Intermediate German

Between 18 and 50 years old

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Neupitz is a retreat location directly on a lake in Brandenburg, about 40 minutes from Berlin. We host team retreats and offsites for companies, as well as individual guests who come to work remotely in a quiet, natural setting. The property includes a main house from the early 1900s and several GDR-era bungalows that we're gradually renovating.

This is our third season, and we're using the weeks before opening to get serious work done. From mid-February to end of March, we won't be hosting regular guests – it's construction time. A crew of 5-7 construction volunteers will be working on site, and your job is to support them so they can focus on the building work.

You'll be one of two support volunteers. Together, you'll take care of cooking, shopping, cleaning, and laundry – the things that keep a working crew happy and functional. You'll also help organize spaces like our basement, attic, laundry room, and storage areas. Occasionally, you might help with light renovation tasks like painting.

You don't need to be a professional cook, but you should be comfortable preparing simple, good vegetarian food for a group of 8-10 people. Think practical comfort food – meals that are satisfying without taking three hours to prepare.

You'll stay in the main house. Depending on how many volunteers are here, you may have a private room or share with one other person. A few times a week, we fire up the sauna at the lake.

Activities & Shift

You'll work 30 hours per week with 2 days off. Since there are two support volunteers, you can coordinate your schedules so someone is always on duty.

**Daily tasks:**

- Preparing vegetarian breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the crew
- Grocery shopping and meal planning
- Cleaning common spaces
- Laundry

**Ongoing projects:**

- Organizing and cleaning the basement, attic, laundry room, and storage areas
- Occasionally helping with light renovation tasks (painting, tidying up after construction work)

Rules

- Minimum stay of 2 weeks, longer preferred
- Comfortable cooking vegetarian meals for a group – nothing fancy, but you should enjoy it and have some experience
- Organized, proactive, and able to work independently
- Enjoy community life and taking care of others
- Fluent English or fluent German required
- Hands-on attitude – you see what needs doing and you do it
- Openness and joy in connecting
- Self-initiated, action-oriented and team spirited