What is prison life like in Germany?

Question

I was told by a German girl that a prisoner in Germany lives with luxury. The prisoner has a nice cell, with tv and entertainment gadgets. I still refuse to believe this. So how is prison life like for a criminal in Germany?

Answer 1

I heard that Germany can send people to jail for thought crimes.

Answer 2

I never was in prison, except for some 4 hours I spent in a county jail when I got arrested for reckless driving, and that was quite enough for me. My jail cell had an open toilet (which stank), and an army bed with a blanket on it to sleep on (which I thankfully had not to make use of). There were bars at the window, and there was an emergency button you could press to call the warden. There was a chair and something you might call a "table"; I'd say it rather was a small bench which barred the way between the "bed" and the toilet. The toilet was not in a closed compartment, but in a corner of the cell.

Maybe for people who are imprisoned for a longer time, their friends and relatives can send them some stuff, like TVs and radios, books, pencils and paper; but that's only when you get a longer sentence and behave well. Anyway, I've seen TV reports about German prisons here, and I wouldn't like to live my life on 8 square meters. Prison cells MAY look nice, but living in one of them is a thing I'd rather avoid.

Btw, a life sentence in Germany CAN be a real life sentence; there's a bit of a misunderstanding which I think I should make clear. It's true that a life sentence means 15 years, except for double or multiple murder, which will be 25. But if the judge finds somebody to be "a danger to society", he/she may order unlimited custody ("Sicherheitsverwahrung"), which, as a matter of fact, is lifelong imprisonment. That is the hardest penalty imagineable in Germany, as the death penalty is banned by federal law.

Answer 3

A good friend of mine is in prison in Berlin right now. And he has a TV, a DVD player and a Playstation in his own cell. As anywhere else, they are not allowed to have cell phones or laptops but besides that... I wouldn't say he lives in luxury, how can one say that? But he's got some gadgets to kill time, yes...

Answer 4

Germany, like many other socialist countries in Europe typically have by our standards a somewhat "luxurious" lifestyle in prison. Nice beds, TV's, entertainment gadgets, etc. I've been told by Germans bums on the street will purposely break the law in order to get into prison. The socialist system sends a lot of  government assistance and money to their prisons so that's why you've heard what you've heard.

Answer 5

probably similar to the US...it  probably also all depends what crime you did and which prison you are in...some have Tv rooms and workout rooms, but so do they in the US (maybe except in Maricopa County, AZ...where the Sheriff is very tough and makes them wear pink underwear....lol)

In Germany they seem to get quicker out though for their crimes, which is unbelievable for me...15 years is their life sentence ....

But I'm not a 100% sure about all of that because I have never been to prison and hopefully never will go there