SPD starts summer tour 2025 with a look at the Hünfeld prison of the future!

SPD starts summer tour 2025 with a look at the Hünfeld prison of the future!

On July 23, 2025, the Fulda SPD district council group opened its 2025 summer tour with an impressive visit to the Hünfeld Correctional Facility (JVA). Led by SPD state parliament member Tanja Hartdegen and Hünfeld SPD parliamentary group leader Uwe Heinicke, the members of the delegation were warmly welcomed by Senior Government Director Michael Vogt and the JVA team. The Hünfeld JVA, which began operations in 2006 and is considered one of the most modern prisons in Hesse, offers space for up to 502 male prisoners with prison sentences of up to five years.

The tour of the institution gave the group members a deep insight into the organization and the challenges associated with the prison system. The visitors held discussions about central topics such as rehabilitation, education and job offers for the inmates. As Uwe Heinicke emphasizes, the correctional facility is now part of normality in Hünfeld and plays an important role in society.

State-of-the-art facilities and high employment rates

The Hünfeld JVA is not only architecturally special, but also offers a variety of training and jobs. A total of 370 jobs are available for prisoners, which corresponds to an employment rate of 76%. The prison attaches great importance to offering inmates IHK-certified training opportunities, which lays the foundation for successful reintegration into society.

Particularly noteworthy are the facilities such as the medical service, the sports hall and even an asylum church. There is also a prisoner's library and a prisoner's own newspaper called “Insight”. The modernly equipped institution specializes in offering the inmates a good but safe environment in which they can develop further.

Discussion about rehabilitation and outpatient therapy places

A central concern of the SPD district council group is the resocialization of former prisoners. The critical state of outpatient psychological and psychiatric care was addressed. Many former prisoners often do not find sufficient support after their release, which causes them to relapse into problematic behavior patterns. As the group members have announced, they would like to work politically to improve the framework conditions for outpatient therapy places.

Finally, parliamentary group leader Michael Busold was impressed by the modern and humane orientation of the Hünfeld JVA. The visit marks the start of a series of further dates on the 2025 summer tour, where current topics in the Fulda district will be addressed in order to provide important impulses for the region.

A deeper look into the structures of the Hünfeld JVA also shows that it is part of a larger trend towards partially privatized prisons in Germany. This development includes the takeover of certain services by Serco GmbH, which is active in the facility. However, overall responsibility remains with the state, which is an important element in the context of the German penal system.

For further information on the background of the Hünfeld JVA and its development, it is worth taking a look at the articles from East Hesse News and Krimpedia, which provide comprehensive insights into the topic of privatization and the current challenges of the prison system.