General terms and conditions

In the event of any deviations resulting from the translation, theformulation set forth in the German version shall prevail.

§ 1 Scope of application, defence clause

For the use of the services on the website vostel.de, the following General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter referred to as "Terms of Use") apply exclusively in their version valid at the time of registration. The user can view these conditions at any time on the website vostel.de, where these terms of use are also permanently available for permanent storage for the user. We do not recognise the user's conditions unless we have expressly agreed to their validity in writing.

§ 2 Description of services

The website vostel.de (hereinafter: "Website") is a platform for all aspects of volunteering. The website is operated by vostel volunteering UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Elsenstraße 82, 12059 Berlin (hereinafter referred to as the "Operator").
The aim of the website is to bring together users interested in volunteering (hereinafter: "volunteers") and social, cultural and ecological institutions, initiatives and organizations (hereinafter: "providers"). Volunteers have the opportunity to search for and register for possible assignments; they can write messages to operators and express interest in possible assignments by registering in so-called lists of interest. Providers have the ability to publish and manage volunteering opportunities and material donation needs; they can write messages to volunteers and create and manage lists of interested people. Volunteers and providers who use this website are referred to individually and collectively as "users".
By using the website, the user declares his agreement to the terms of use.
The operator himself will not become a contractual partner of the contracts concluded exclusively between the providers and volunteers, in particular no employment relationships will be established with the operator. Also the fulfilment of the contracts concluded via the website takes place exclusively between the providers and volunteers. Contracts concluded between the providers and volunteers are subject exclusively to the conditions agreed with the provider. It is the responsibility of the respective providers and volunteers to ensure adequate insurance cover or to have this confirmed by their contractual partner.
The website offers users the technical possibility to use the website within the framework provided by the operator in order to publish content themselves. The operator grants the respective user a limited, non-exclusive and non-transferable right to call up, use and display the website and its content and applications in accordance with the provisions of these terms of use.
A check of the data deposited with the registration will only be carried out to a limited extent. A guarantee for the correctness of the published identity of the users of the website is not taken over by the operator of the platform. Contents published on the website by users are not checked for their legality, correctness and completeness and do not represent the opinion of the operator. Objections to data and/or content used and/or published by users must be sent to the following address: .
the providers and volunteers are exclusively responsible for the performance of the respective volunteer assignments, there is no obligation for the operator to monitor, educate or inform. In particular, the providers themselves are responsible for ensuring that the volunteers carry out the support services within the framework of the respective rules and behaviour of the providers.

§ 3 General principles for the use of the website

The users are obliged to observe and comply with the applicable legal provisions when using the website and any other services of the operator. It is the responsibility of each user to ensure that its content is lawful and does not infringe the rights of third parties.
Users may not use addresses, contact details and e-mail addresses obtained from other users through the use of the website for any purpose other than for the communication necessary to carry out the application. In particular, it is prohibited to resell these data or make them available to third parties in any other way or to use them for the sending of advertising, unless the user authorised to use the data has expressly agreed to this beforehand.
The operator is entitled to all rights to the website. The user is not permitted to change, publish, send, distribute, perform, edit (including the further distribution of these adaptations) or exploit in any other way the content of the website in whole or in part without the prior written consent of the operator, unless he acts within the framework of the application of the website expressly provided for by the operator. The user does not acquire ownership of any material downloaded from the website to his computer, but only a limited right of use.
It is of particular concern to the operator to ensure the security of the user's personal data. All personal data of the user collected on the website are collected and processed exclusively in compliance with the operator's data protection declaration; the provisions of the data protection declaration are part of these terms of use. By agreeing to these terms of use, the user simultaneously declares his consent to the collection and processing of his data as provided in the operator's data protection declaration.

§ 4 General Principles for the Registration of Providers and Volunteers as Users

Only natural and legal persons and other associations of persons with legal capacity are permitted to register as users. The use of the website is only permitted to persons of unrestricted legal capacity with a minimum age of 14 years. If the user has not yet reached the age of 18, the prior consent of the legal representative(s) (usually the parent(s) with parental authority) must be provided and presented at the request of the operator. In addition, the user confirms during registration by clicking with the mouse that he/she has either reached the age of 18 or that he/she has at least reached the age of 14 and that consent in the aforementioned sense has been given.
A user contract between the operator of the website and the respective user is concluded by a declaration of acceptance (click on the confirmation link) and/or by the activation of the user account. This also includes the terms of use laid down here as an integral part of the user contract.
There is no claim to the conclusion of a user contract. The operator expressly reserves the right not to accept offers for use of the website in individual cases without stating reasons. In this case, the operator will immediately delete the data provided by the user in the registration form.
The operator uses the so-called double opt-in procedure for registration. The operator will confirm the registration of the user by e-mail to the e-mail address deposited by the user. The registration is only completed when the user has confirmed his registration via a confirmation e-mail sent to him for this purpose by the operator by clicking on the link contained therein.
By registering, the user assures that he is not yet a registered user or that he has deleted an existing user account.
It is forbidden to register user accounts with foreign or otherwise inaccurate information.
Users must keep their password secret and carefully secure access to their user account. Users are prohibited from allowing third parties access to their respective user account and password; these exclusively entitle the respective user to use the website. They are obliged to inform the operator of the website immediately if there are indications that a user account has been misused by third parties.
Every user is basically liable for all activities that are carried out using his user account, unless the user is not responsible for the misuse of his user account.
User accounts are not transferable. The user is prohibited from assigning his rights and obligations resulting from the terms of use in whole or in part to third parties or transferring them to third parties in any other way.
The operator reserves the right to delete user accounts from incomplete registrations after a reasonable period of time.
By registering, the users declare their consent to receive information from the operator by e-mail about the subject of the website, functions, possible uses and innovations. The consent can be withdrawn at any time by an informal declaration, e.g. by an e-mail to the following address: .
The user grants the operator the right to pass on his personal data to third parties in compliance with the operator's data protection declaration, insofar as this is necessary for the fulfilment of commitment offers or donation enquiries.

§ 5 Registration and publication of possible uses for providers

The use of the website for providers requires registration as a provider and the creation of a user profile. There is no entitlement to registration.
The requested data for the registration or publication of a possible use are to be indicated completely and correctly, as far as these are marked as obligatory data.
The registration as a provider is carried out by an authorized employee. This can then add further employees as administrators. The examination of the representation authorization is incumbent here on the offerer.
If after the registration or publication of the application the indicated data or contents change, which are regarded by another user (Freiwillige) as substantial information (like for example application date or - place), then the offerer is obligated to correct the data and contents immediately.
The providers declare their consent that the contents made available by them can be viewed by other users on the website for the purpose of implementing this user contract and can be made available to other users for the purpose of offering and arranging possible uses.
By transmitting, using and embedding content, in particular trademarks, logos and/or other copyrighted information (such as images, text, page layout or form), in user profiles and applications, the providers declare that they are entitled to use and sub-license such content. The operator is granted a non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use the contents for the purpose of advertising the engagement offers that are transmitted to the operator within the scope of registration or publication of the possible use. This license ends when the account or the opportunity is deleted.
The operator reserves the right to make editorial changes to the possible uses, to correct spelling mistakes, to adapt the style of the texts to the other texts on the website and to change images. The provider will be informed about the changes.
The provider agrees that the operator may publish content such as photos and texts on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Couchsurfing, Blog) for the purpose of marketing the volunteering opportunities.

§ 6 Registration and application for volunteer opportunities

The use of the website to search for social, cultural and ecological engagement offers is possible without registration. However, in order to register as a volunteer for a project, users must register as a user. There is no right to registration.
the requested data for registration as a user (volunteer) or for information essential for the application (e.g. language skills) must be complete and correct, as far as these are marked as mandatory information.
When registering a volunteer, only individual persons may be indicated as the owner of the user account.
If, after registration, the data provided change and another user considers them to be essential traffic information, the user is obliged to correct the data and content without delay.
the volunteer declares his consent that the contents and personal data provided by him can be viewed by a provider as soon as the volunteer has registered for one of the services belonging to the provider. Other users do not receive any information about the volunteer.
The volunteer declares by transmitting, using and embedding content, in particular trademarks, logos and/or other copyrighted information (such as images, text, page layout or form) in user profiles, that he/she is entitled to use and sublicense such content. The Operator shall be granted a non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use the Content submitted to the Operator during registration. This license ends when the user account is deleted.
The offers of volunteer services are subject to availability. The registration for possible uses takes place according to the "First Come - First Serve" principle. This means that assignments for volunteer projects are usually always awarded to the person who first registered for this assignment. There is no claim against the operator for the allocation of a volunteer assignment.

§ 6a Prohibition of circumvention

Registration to use the website as a volunteer is not permitted if this is done on behalf of, on the instructions of or in the interest of one or more companies, and if this deliberately or unconsciously circumvents the actual fee-based use of the website as a provider. In case of suspicion, the operator reserves the right to contact individual users using the data (e-mail address) provided during registration in order to find out whether a (chargeable) registration as a provider should have taken place.

§ 7 Subject and Scope of the User Agreement

The operator makes the website with the described functions available to the users. The use of the website or individual functions of the website or the extent to which individual functions can be used can be linked to certain conditions.
The operator reserves the right to introduce measures that delay the publication of content on the website for security reasons.
The claim of users to use the website and its functions exists only within the framework of the current state of technology. A temporary limitation of the services is to be accepted if this is necessary with regard to capacity limits, the security or integrity of the servers or for the implementation of technical measures and if this serves the proper or improved provision of the services (maintenance work). The operator also reserves the right to discontinue and change the website in whole or in part at its own discretion and without prior notice. The operator accepts no liability whatsoever in the event of such a discontinuation or change.
in the event of a functional capability according to the aforementioned paragraph 3, the user shall not be entitled to any claims for damages against the operator.

§ 8 Sanctions, suspension and termination

The operator can take appropriate measures if there are concrete indications that a user violates legal regulations, the rights of third parties, these terms of use or if the operator has any other legitimate interest, in particular to protect registered users from fraudulent activities. Suitable measures include in particular:
- Deletion of contents
- The warning of users
- Restricting the use of the website
- Temporary and/or permanent blocking of the user account
A user can be definitively excluded from using the website if he has provided false contact data, in particular a false or invalid e-mail address, transfers his user account, significantly damages other users or the operator, in particular misuses the services of the operator or violates the circumvention prohibition according to § 5a. After a user has been finally blocked, a claim to restoration of the blocked user account is excluded.
As soon as a user has been blocked, this user may no longer use the website with other user accounts and may not log on again.
The user contract concluded with the operator can be terminated by the user at any time without giving reasons and without observing deadlines. For this purpose, the user can either delete his user account or send the termination in writing or by e-mail. The operator will then immediately delete the data provided by the former user.

§ 9 Costs and compensation for expenses

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 4, the use of the website by volunteers is free of charge.
The use of the website is free of charge for non-profit providers.
If the website is used by a non-profit provider, the operator shall contact the provider before activating the registration with the exact costs. Until then, no costs will be incurred by the provider. The provider is free to agree to these costs or to reject them. In case of rejection, the registration of the provider will not be activated; the provider will not incur any costs. In the case of approval, the activation is dependent on the advance transfer of the agreed costs for the agreed term. In this case, further use of the website by the provider will be at the agreed costs.
The use of the website is subject to a charge for companies and their employees who wish to become involved as volunteers.

§ 10 Acceptance of the contract

The operator is entitled, with a notice period of four weeks, to transfer his rights and obligations from the user contracts concluded with the users in whole or in part to a third party. In this case, the user is entitled to terminate the user contract in text form within the notice period.

§ 11 Indemnification

The user indemnifies the operator from all claims which other users or other third parties assert against the operator due to violation of their rights by contents posted by the user on the website or due to his other use of the website. The user also assumes the costs of the necessary legal defense of the operator including all court and attorney fees in the statutory amount. This does not apply if the user is not responsible for the infringement. In the event of a claim by third parties, the user is obliged to provide the operator immediately, truthfully and completely with all information necessary for the examination of the claims and a defence.

§ 12 Disruption of the Website

Users may not use any viruses, mechanisms, software or other scripts in connection with the use of the Website that could endanger or interfere with the functioning of software or hardware.
users may not take any measures that may result in an unreasonable or excessive load on the infrastructure.
users may not block, overwrite or modify any content generated by the operator or interfere with the website in any other way.
The contents stored on the website may not be copied or distributed, used in any other way or duplicated without the prior consent of the copyright holder. This also applies to copying by means of "Robot/Crawler" search engine technologies or other automatic mechanisms.
Should the user violate the aforementioned obligations, he is obliged to compensate the operator for the resulting damage; in addition, he will indemnify the operator from any claims for damages on his part or that of third parties.

§ 13 Limitation of liability

The operator is liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence. In the case of slight negligence, the Operator shall only be liable in the event of a breach of material contractual obligations, i.e. obligations on the fulfilment of which the User regularly relies and may rely for the proper performance of the contract. In this case the liability is limited to the amount of the typically arising, foreseeable damage.
Furthermore, the operator is liable without limitation for the assumption of guarantees or other liability independent of fault as well as for claims according to the product liability law or in the case of culpable injury to life, body or health.
The above limitations of liability also apply analogously to employees, legal representatives and vicarious agents of the operator.
The operator is not liable for loss of data or other damage to the user's computer system caused by downloading material from the website.
The operator is not liable for incorrect user information in the user profiles and/or application possibilities or the misuse of such data and information which the registered users themselves have made available to third parties.
the operator assumes no liability for the uninterrupted availability or a loss of data of the system as well as for system-induced failures, interruptions and/or malfunctions of the technical systems, as far as these are outside the sphere of influence of the operator and he is not responsible for them.
These Terms of Use apply exclusively to the Operator's website. Insofar as the possibility of forwarding to other websites of third parties is given via the website with the aid of links, the operator is neither liable for the accessibility nor for the content of such third party sites.

§ 14 Written form, applicable law and place of jurisdiction

Unless otherwise agreed, the user can submit all declarations to the operator by e-mail via the contact form or by fax or letter to the operator. The operator can send declarations to the user by e-mail or by fax or letter to the addresses given by the user as current contact data in his user account.
The operator reserves the right to change these terms of use at any time and without stating reasons. The changed conditions will be sent to the users by e-mail at the latest four weeks before they come into effect. If a user does not object to the validity of the new Terms of Use within two weeks of receipt of the e-mail, the amended Terms of Use shall be deemed accepted. This applies regardless of the actual knowledge of the changes by the user.
The contract of use including these terms of use is subject to the substantive law of the Federal Republic of Germany to the exclusion of the conflict of laws rules.
For users who are merchants, legal entities under public law or special funds under public law, Berlin shall be the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from the contract of use and these Terms of Use.
If a provision of these Terms of Use is or becomes void or contestable or for any other reason invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected. It is the express intention of the parties to maintain the validity of the remaining provisions in any case and accordingly to exclude the applicability of § 139 BGB in its entirety. In such a case, the parties to this contract undertake to replace the void, contestable or ineffective provision by a provision which comes as close as possible to their meaning and which corresponds to their intent.