The Bavarian Volunteer Card is a visible sign of recognition for special civic commitment. It expresses appreciation for your daily commitment to voluntary work, which should be particularly recognized and rewarded. For example through

• attractive discounts from major brands and manufacturers
• Free admission to public institutions such as museums, castles, palaces and lake cruises on the Tegernsee, Ammersee, Königssee and Starnberger See,
• Discounts when visiting cultural and leisure facilities, such as theaters, amusement parks, etc. e.g. theaters, leisure parks,
• Discounts and rebates at municipal facilities and private providers, such as swimming pools, pharmacies, hairdressers and restaurants,
• national prize draws for participation in exclusive events

The Bavarian Volunteer Card can be used beyond the boundaries of your own district or city with all acceptance partners of the participating districts / independent cities.

The blue volunteer card is valid for 3 years from the date of issue, the expiration date is printed on the card. The gold volunteer card is valid indefinitely. Both variants are only valid in conjunction with an official ID (passport, identity card, driving license).

Further information can be found under "Further links".

Active Card and Active Card app, application

Alongside the Bavarian Volunteer Card, the Active Card is a long-standing instrument for recognizing and appreciating the volunteer work of people in Erlangen who are committed to helping others and the city community on a daily basis. Volunteers receive discounts at many municipal facilities and the Erlanger Stadtwerke swimming pools. Applications are made per association/initiative, the cards are not personalized. In addition to the paper cards, a limited number of licenses for the Active Card app are made available to each club/group each year.

Associations that volunteer for Erlangen can obtain an Active Card from the Office for Citizen Participation and Volunteering. The Active Card has now been extended to the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt.

What are the benefits of an Active Card?

50% discount on

• Performances at the Markgrafen- and Garagentheater Erlangen,
• gVe concerts,
• the annual fee of the city library,
• Events such as the Comic Salon, Puppet Theater Festival, Poetry Festival.

Reduced admission to the Kunstpalais and the Erlangen swimming pools. At the city museum you pay €2.50 admission instead of €4.00.

The Bavarian Volunteer Card is now also available digitally. The application is made via the linked online procedure.

• The district or independent city in which you live or volunteer has introduced the volunteer card.
  
• The blue volunteer card, which is valid for three years, is issued to all citizens aged 16 and over who
  • have volunteered an average of five hours per week for at least two years or at least 250 hours per year for project work, or
  • are holders of a Juleica (youth leader card) or
  • are active in the volunteer fire department and have completed squad training or have completed at least the basic module of the modular squad training (MTA), or
  • are active as emergency personnel in civil protection and rescue services and have completed basic training, or
  • regularly perform active military service in the Bundeswehr as a reservist, either by having completed a total of at least 40 days of reserve service in the past two calendar years or by having been a permanent member of a district or district liaison command in the past two calendar years, or
  • have completed voluntary service in a Voluntary Social Year (FSJ), a Voluntary Ecological Year (FÖJ) or a Federal Voluntary Service (BFD).
    
• The golden volunteer card, which is valid indefinitely, is issued to
  • Holders of the Prime Minister's Decoration of Honor or
  • Firefighters and emergency personnel in the rescue service and other disaster control units who have received a service award in accordance with the Firefighters' and Relief Organizations' Decoration of Honour Act (FwHOEzG) for at least 25 years of active service or
  • reservists who have regularly performed active military service in the German Armed Forces for at least 25 years, during which time they have either performed at least 500 days of reservist service or have been a permanent member of a district or district liaison command, or
  • Volunteers who have volunteered at least 5 hours per week or 250 hours per year for at least 25 years.

They must be an association based in Erlangen and their work must be carried out by committed volunteers. If all this applies, you can register in our freinet database with your contact details. You can register on your own, see "Submit documents now".

If you want to use the Active Card app and the Active Card is already available for discounts in your organization, you can ask us whether the limited licenses for the app have already been allocated for this year.

The volunteer card is issued on application. You can apply for it at the district administration office or the independent city of your place of residence. The district or independent city must have introduced the volunteer card.

At the end of its period of validity, the volunteer card must be applied for again; it is not automatically renewed.

Counties and independent cities that wish to introduce the volunteer card should contact the Bavarian Center for Family and Social Affairs.

The Bavarian Volunteer Card is now also available digitally. The application is made via the linked online procedure.

You can choose whether you want to show it on your smartphone. You can also still be sent a card in credit card format.

If you have any questions, please get in touch:

Phone: 09131 - 86 2962 or

e-mail: ehrenamtskarte@stadt.erlangen.de

The blue volunteer card can only be applied for by currently active volunteers. No volunteer card can be issued for past volunteer work.

• Confirmation of the scope of your voluntary work
  Confirmation from the association / organization in which you are involved about the scope of your voluntary work.

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