Münster, 1 September 2025 – Münster has a palace for students. It is time to give apprentices a castle. Volt does not want to demolish the prison on Gartenstraße, but to transform it into a Freedom Campus, a place for living, vocational training, leisure and culture. “From walls to opportunities” is not a slogan, but our mission. A symbol of isolation becomes a home for the skilled workers of tomorrow. The housing situation is serious.
Münster, 1 September 2025 – Münster has a palace for students. It is time to give apprentices a castle. Volt does not want to demolish the prison on Gartenstraße, but to transform it into a Freedom Campus, a place for living, vocational training, leisure and culture. “From walls to opportunities” is not a slogan, but our mission. A symbol of isolation becomes a home for the skilled workers of tomorrow.
The housing situation is serious. Apprentices in particular lack affordable housing, including for block-release teaching that lasts just a few weeks a year. Central meeting places and modern learning spaces are also missing. At the same time, the prison (JVA) is an outstanding architectural monument ready to be used: built in 1853, neo-Gothic, listed, within walking distance of the station, the city centre and the Promenade. A “city within the city” with sports facilities, a library, a hospital wing, a canteen, workshops and classrooms – exactly the infrastructure a campus needs.
“If we move vocational training out of the margins and into the spotlight, the next step towards education on an equal footing is clear: a castle for apprentices,” says Sven Konopka. “The Freedom Campus opens up the cells and turns them into affordable rooms in shared flats; the workshops become labs for the future and the hospital wing a training centre for nursing and social care professions. Münster should no longer be just a student city. Münster is becoming a stronghold of education – with a palace and a castle.”
Konopka stresses that this is not a finished master plan, but an open process: “The proposal is an invitation to the whole city. We want to develop the idea further together with residents, businesses and, above all, the apprentices themselves. To do so, the city must exercise its pre-emption right – that is the only way this unique opportunity can arise.”
On Thursday, 4 September 2025, from 6 pm, the City of Münster will provide information on the future of the JVA site in the assembly hall of the Ratsgymnasium and invites everyone to get involved.
Further information on the City of Münster's event is available HERE.
