Jugendstrafanstalt Arnstadt, Youth detention center in Arnstadt, Germany
The Jugendstrafanstalt Arnstadt is a custodial facility for young offenders in the state of Thuringia, located on the edge of the town of Arnstadt. The site is divided into separate wings for closed custody, open custody, and remand detention.
The facility was built in the late 2000s to replace the outdated youth prison in Ichtershausen. In 2014, the first inmates were transferred to the new building in Arnstadt.
School and job training are central to daily life here, since many of the young people arrive without a completed education. From the outside, the buildings look more like a modern school campus than a detention facility.
Visits require prior arrangement and approval, so it is worth contacting the facility before making any plans to go there. The site sits outside the center of Arnstadt, so plan your journey in advance.
Every resident has a private cell fitted with a refrigerator, which is not standard in most similar German facilities. This reflects an approach that tries to give young people a degree of personal responsibility even while in custody.
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