They lend a sympathetic ear, encouragement and consolation: prisoner attendants are often the only person the inmates can relate to.
The work of the volunteers is also a great support for the prison system - for this reason.
Munich – Reinhold Wagner (name changed) has been behind bars for two and a half years.
Everyday life in prison is monotonous, Wagner cannot hope for visitors: he abused his daughter and his family no longer wants any contact with him.
But there is one ray of hope: once a month he meets with a volunteer supervisor.
"It feels really good to have someone to talk to who's just there and listening and hanging out with you."
Even criminals need human attention
Around 1,480 volunteers in the 36 Bavarian prisons take care of those who like to be ignored by society.
You have murderers, drug dealers and scammers in front of you.
And yet they see the prisoners primarily as fellow human beings.
"It's about really deep, compassionate listening," says Laureen Koch.
She has been a volunteer at the Stadelheim prison in Munich for seven years.
Twice a week, the 60-year-old leads groups on the subject of non-violent communication - and has already experienced several times how supposedly tough guys and invulnerable women suddenly start crying when they put their feelings into words.
Gerhard Gruber is also familiar with such emotional situations.
A prisoner kept asking him whether he really had come because of him.
"He couldn't believe it at all."
Volunteers are a support for prisoners and the judiciary
Gruber is one of the volunteers who provide 1:1 care.
In principle, anyone who meets certain requirements, for example, who has not been in prison in the last five years, can do this.
"They accompany the prisoners in conversations, during leisure activities or when going out and when they are reintegrated into society," explains Minister of Justice Georg Eisenreich (CSU).
"In this way, our volunteers make a valuable contribution to rehabilitation and are an important support for our prison system."
"If you live behind bars all day, you sometimes have the feeling of being cut off from the world," says the head of the JVA Stadelheim, Michael Stumpf.
The volunteers therefore have an important bridging function - they take care of the inmates, even if this is not always easy.
"These are people who don't always play by the rules of the game, who may have learned all their lives to cheat their way through."
Sometimes there are too high expectations on both sides
Carmen Dietenberger, who looks after the volunteers in the JVA Stadelheim, also knows the pitfalls: the supervisors should not let themselves be manipulated, and sometimes there are excessive expectations – on both sides.
You have to make it clear to some prisoners that the volunteers will not get them a job or an apartment, nor will they contest the verdict.
"They are not lawyers, they are not servants, and they are not secretaries."
The topic of proximity and distance also plays a major role, even if each volunteer handles it individually.
"I'm very reserved with private things.
It's a tightrope walk, because we also want to be authentic and honest," says Koch.
Ultimately, it is about a “natural respect” for one another.
Pity, on the other hand, is counterproductive.
"One must not only see the prisoner in the victim role," stresses Dietenberger.
Instead, you have to make it clear to him that he is not only determined by his past, but that he can still do something with his life.
"At 60, 70 percent you can make a difference.
With some, one suspects that things will be similar again when they return to their old milieu.”
Volunteers as family substitutes
The volunteers are not afraid of their assignments.
They don't have to either: Although they are alone in the conversations and when they go out with the prisoners, there has never been an attack in Bavaria.
The reputation of the volunteers among the prisoners is high, emphasizes Dietenberger.
“These are civilians from outside.
All the others who work here are employees of the institution, representatives of the state power.”
Reinhold Wagner doesn't let anything get in the way of the volunteers either.
"It's family replacement.
It is a great appreciation that they take the time for us.” However, real friendships rarely develop.
Elke Richter
Also read:
Prisoners in Stadelheim get their own hospital and detention pending deportation: no offense in prison