Correctional facility
The Wiesbaden correctional facility, which opened in 1963, was the first new juvenile facility to be built after the war. Conceptually, it was influenced by the idea of the so-called graduated prison system. An initially stricter prison system was later to be followed by more relaxed and open forms.
Wiesbaden Prison was built on a 56,000 m2 site between 1959 and 1963 as the first new youth prison in the Federal Republic of Germany after the war.
Both young offenders and pre-trial detainees and later young adults up to the age of 24 are cared for in four independent wards according to the principles of residential group detention. Originally designed for around 240 prisoners, the prison was at times occupied by an average of 390 prisoners. Today, the capacity is set at 280 prisoners. There is no longer any overcrowding. Prisoners are housed in single rooms and groups of up to ten people.
The prison concept associated with the new building in 1963 was influenced by the idea of the so-called graduated prison system. After an initially strict prison regime, prisoners were eventually to be led into more relaxed and open forms. Today, this idea is applied more strongly, specifically and individually to the individual prisoner and not generalized for the prisoners, as was the case in the past.
The first head of Wiesbaden Prison between 1963 and 1974 was the social education worker Max Ernst Busch, who was particularly committed to improving educational work with young offenders.
In the 1980s, when the occupancy pressure in other Hessian prisons was high, Wiesbaden Prison was forced to take in remand prisoners and later young prisoners up to the age of 24 to relieve the pressure. Three new accommodation buildings were built on the prison grounds and then some of the old buildings were converted. This created a clearly separate unit for the execution of remand detention for juveniles and adolescents.
From the very beginning, there was a need for a sports hall at Wiesbaden Prison. In 1984, with strong support from the Sportförderungsverein für junge Strafgefangene e. V. and the prisoners' sports club "SG Theodor-Fliedner e. V.", founded in 1980, it was finally possible to build the sports hall and hand it over for use. At the same time, the first sports instructor in the Hessian prison system was hired at Wiesbaden Prison.
As part of the expansion of Wiesbaden Prison (the site now covers 71,000 m2), three further accommodation buildings, each with 60 prison places, were put into operation in 1990 and the sports field, built with financial support from the Sports Promotion Association and covered with artificial turf, was handed over for use.
In November 1993, two renovated buildings were reoccupied. Their recreation yard is equipped with a permanently installed basketball court, a table tennis table and a set-up volleyball court. Both buildings also have a fitness room. The same applies to the so-called D-House, which housed young adults until 2004 and will be demolished in the medium term.
Both the new construction of the accommodation buildings for the execution of juvenile sentences and the conversions in the pre-trial detention area were shaped by the idea of a residential group prison. Its task is to instruct prisoners to learn and practice social co-responsibility in the residential group. The structural planning for the new construction of the old accommodation buildings has not yet been completed and will be a task for the future.
Occupancy
The proportion of non-German prisoners averages between 60 and 70% and is spread across an average of around 40 different nations. In addition to Turkey, the main countries of origin are Morocco and Eastern European countries.
Vocational education and training and vocational training programs
Young prisoners are trained in the prison's factory buildings. Vocational training, including vocational schooling, is offered in the following professions: baker, carpenter, metalworker, painter and varnisher, electrician, catering specialist, cook, warehouse logistics, bricklayer and building cleaner. A production school has also been set up as well as vocational preparation measures.
In addition to full training, so-called qualification modules or partial qualifications are carried out in modules, the particular value of which lies in the fact that the Wiesbaden Chamber of Industry and Commerce or the Chamber of Crafts or Guild of Skilled Crafts conducts an examination at the end of the courses. Prisoners who are not yet up to the basic requirements of working life are given special support.
Special educational and treatment services
The focus of the treatment is on getting used to a structured daily routine and establishing group skills, as well as dealing with addiction and violence problems that are often present. An average of 40 prisoners are undergoing external psychotherapy. The counseling and treatment of prisoners at risk of addiction has been provided for years by the Jugendberatung und Jugendhilfe e. V. Frankfurt am Main. It also provides counseling for foreigners. Various treatment services are offered to prisoners by prison specialists and freelancers. They are supplemented by a large number of volunteers. The City of Wiesbaden supports the prison in many ways, in particular by helping to institutionalize religious support for prisoners of Islamic faith.