Das Ehrenamt — Volunteering

Volunteering in Germany

A large share of people in Germany do some form of volunteer work, das Ehrenamt, and a great deal of social life depends on it: sports clubs, the volunteer fire brigades in rural areas, church groups, homework help, and the food banks that collect surplus food from supermarkets and distribute it to people on low incomes. Many cities also have neighborhood centers, Nachbarschaftshäuser or Stadtteilzentren, that bring several of these activities under one roof. Volunteering is often organized quite formally. Volunteers may sign an agreement, receive training, and be covered by accident and liability insurance, either through the organization or through public schemes, and organizations take data protection seriously because they handle personal information. Some forms of volunteering come with a small tax-free allowance. Language cafés, Sprachcafés, are a common offer for people who are learning German, including many refugees and new arrivals. They are usually informal: the point is to speak, not to be corrected, and volunteers who learned German themselves are often especially good at putting newcomers at ease.