First BAUER Trainee Camp brings together trainees from German companies

Schrobenhausen, Germany – Networking, getting to know colleagues, team-building and bit of partying as well – that was the intention of the first BAUER Trainee Camp. A total of 172 trainees from all German companies of the BAUER Group came to Schrobenhausen in mid-June for a three-day campout with sunny weather and pleasant temperatures. 

To get a first glimpse of who they were actually dealing with, the trainees presented their companies after a brief welcome – including greetings from CEO Peter Hingott and Training Manager Gerhard Piske. Apart from the Bauer apprentices from Schrobenhausen, trainees attended from Bauer MAT in Allgäu, the companies Klemm and Eurodrill in Sauerland, GWE in Peine, Lower Saxony, as well as Schachtbau Nordhausen, the subsidiary from northern Thuringia.

The campout was set up at the SSV sports club in Hoegenau. Apart from many small tents, larger tents were also pitched to accommodate participants who didn’t bring their own, as well as a large catering tent and additional sanitary facilities besides the facilities at the sports club

Most of the activities were held on the premises of the sports club. On the second day, the apprentices were split up into ten mixed groups to accomplish various tasks together. For example, they had to gather natural materials to reconstruct a company logo, complete skill-based games or answer tricky questions. After accomplishing each task, the group’s results were evaluated.

For the challenge of constructing birdhouses, the jury obtained expert assistance from children in the neighboring forest kindergarten, who assessed the small structures once they were finished. The children were allowed to award points and then take home the birdhouses at the end.

Trainees who hadn’t been to the Aresing plant before were able to take a tour of the plant in the afternoon. The other trainees remained at the camp and played soccer with the CEO. He only meant to stop by to see what was happening at the SSV camp, but it didn’t take long to persuade him to join in the game.

In the evening, the young people had another visit: After the winning group for the challenges was announced and prizes were awarded, the plan was to spend the second evening quietly by the campfire. Then Florian Bauer came by with his fellow band members Christoph Soier and Juergen Kukol. They played a few well-known songs together and were accompanied by a powerful chorus of fans. In the end, one of the guest trainees even took a turn on the guitar. “Then the ice was really broken, there was a fantastic campfire atmosphere,” reports Gerhard Piske. 

Overall, he is happy with how the first BAUER Trainee Camp turned out. With more than 170 young people between the ages of 16 and 25, there was lots to do. When asked how much he slept over those three days, the Training Manager grins: “Not at all!” But he did manage to walk roughly 48 kilometers on his many rounds across the site. The next morning it was time for the trainees to pack up their tents and make their way back home: maybe a bit tired, but having gained some valuable experience. Not to mention the new friendships that were formed.