Summer Vocational Camp

The first promising practical measures were carried out in the summer of 2003. Fifteen Czech and German students worked together in the gardens for a week, cutting overgrowth from the historic walls, removing refuse, and cutting the lawns.

The vocational camp was organized and carried out by the Gardens Committee in cooperation with the Vocational School for Technology, Nutrition and Economics in Annaberg-Buchholz in Saxony. The tasks were prepared beforehand by a landscape architect and approved by the National Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Prague, in what has now become a standing collaboration, justified by the urgency of the task.

The collaboration with the city administration of Osek has also proven valuable; they observe the developments in the monastery gardens very attentively, assisting with tasks when it is in their power to do so, making tools available and providing personnel to help with the work.

The public has paid close attention to the work in the monastery gardens and the media has shown kind attention - the response to the vocational camp was overwhelming. Volunteers from the region around Osek, who heard of the work through the press, helped for many days.

After further assistance from the students during the fruit harvest in the fall of 2003, the monastery and the school decided on a "maintenance contract" in order to solidify the teamwork that had developed. The vocational school is responsible over the long-term for two maintenance projects each year. As part of the joint Czech-German contribution to the preservation of the cultural heritage, in coming years the vocational camps in the Osek gardens should attain a fixed size for the course of the year.

The main goal of the work in 2003 was the removal of overgrown trees as well as grass growing in pavilions and stairs of the abbot's garden; roots were threatening the underlying historic structure. For 2004, we plan to safeguard the progress achieved last year in the abbot's garden and to remove the worst overgrowth in the convent garden.

The students and teachers perform very valuable work, every spade of earth turned helps to arrest the process of decline. At the same time, the fundamental restoration of the underlying structure must be envisioned - with the involvement of experts in theory and practice and supported by sufficient financial investment.