Prisons in Germany

Prisons in Germany are a set of penal institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany. Their purpose is rehabilitation--to enable prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility without committing criminal offenses" upon release--and public safety.^[1] Prisons are administered by each federal state^[2] , but governed by an overarching federal law. There are 183 prisons in all, with the most located in Germany's most populous states Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.^[3] In 2022, the total number of prisoners in Germany was 56,325, an incarceration rate of 67 per 100,000 people.^[4]

Prisoners in Germany are given different freedoms and responsibilities. Most prisoners are obligated to perform paid work in an effort to promote resocialization efforts.^[5] Often, prisoners have television, posters hanging in their cells, private bathrooms, and free time in which they can roam around outside their cells. These conditions, along with the focus on rehabilitation, have resulted in advocates using German prisons as an example for improvement to prison conditions in other parts of the world.^[6][7][8]

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Before 1970, there were five kinds of confinement in Germany. They were Zuchthaus (prison), Gefängnis (prison), Einschließung (jail), Arbeitshaus (workhouse), and Haft (custody). A Zuchthaus was a prison of hard, physically exerting labor, such as breaking rocks, where prisoners had to work, even to the point of collapse. This was repealed by a reform of the penal code, which took effect on March 31, 1970 . Today, a Gefängnis is known as a Justizvollzugsanstalt, or "Justice Enforcement Facility".

The first German Prison Act was passed in 1976 by federal legislation. It applies only to adults. Because of a 2006 decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, also Juvenile corrections has to be put on a legal basis by the end of 2007. In an unrelated development, the Federal German parliament decided in 2006, to reorganize relations between the Federal government and the Länder (states) ("federalism reform"). In this context prison legislation was assigned to the individual Länder. By 1 January 2008, prison laws for adults would come into effect in three Länder (Bavaria, Hamburg, Lower Saxony). In the other Länder the old Federal Prison Act will remain in force for the time being.

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The head offices for the state prison services are in the respective state justice ministry. There, a prison service department controls the organization of the prison service, personnel matters, basic and advanced training for prison staff, budgets, construction, cooperation in prison service legislation, the employment of prisoners, and vocational training and education for prisoners. It also reviews petitions and complaints and its representatives visit and inspect the prisons regularly. There is no mid-level authority anymore between the Ministry of Justice and the prisons. This direct contact facilitates decision-making and ensures the ministry is close to the life of the prison service.

As a rule, pretrial confinement is conducted at a facility close to the public prosecutor's office that is prosecuting the case. Criminals who have never been imprisoned (or were imprisoned for a maximum of three months) are generally assigned to prisons for first-time offenders (Erstvollzug). Recidivists are assigned to so-called regular imprisonment (Regelvollzug). People who receive long sentences are imprisoned at a maximum security prison (Langstrafenanstalt). Special institutions are also provided for female and juvenile prisoners and for those with special health or psychiatric needs. Social-therapeutic prisons (sozialtherapeutische Haftanstalten) are special departments for prisoners that have been punished for sexual crimes. In these prisons, groups of 10-15 prisoners live together and each group is supported by assigned social workers, correction officers and psychologists. The goal of these sections is to give the prisoners a chance to refurbish socialization deficits. Looking at World Prison Brief's website, adults make up the largest percentage of people in prison currently in Germany. According to Prison Studies, adults make up 97.2% of all prisoners with 2.8% being juveniles/minors/young prisoners. (Prison Studies, 2018)

The total number of prisoners in Germany as of 31 March 2023^[update] was 44,232, of which 40,925 were imprisoned, 2,698 were in youth custody, and 609 were in preventive detention. The following table gives the prison population over time.^[9]

A large proportion of German prisoners are foreigners; over 15,000 in 2023, about 35% of the prison population.^[9] In 2019, all states of Germany reported an increase in the share of foreign and stateless inmates in the Prisons in Germany in the preceding 3-5 year period, with the proportion of foreign prisoners above half in several states. The largest foreign groups were from Poland, Tunisia, Libya, Czech Republic and Georgia.^[10] Foreign prisoners often do not understand prison rules because they are not explained in their native tongue.^[11]

• Crime in Germany
• Law enforcement in Germany

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prisons in Germany.

• University of Bremen prisons archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20111130234419/http://www.strafvollzugsarchiv.de/