As of: February 9, 2024, 5:49 p.m
By: Lisa Metzger
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She has been in the Nuremberg prison for five years - and doesn't want to leave anymore: Harlequin the cat roams around the grounds and not only amuses the staff.
Nuremberg - A prison is a place where no one actually likes to spend time - especially not voluntarily.
But apparently this assumption does not apply to everyone, as can be seen at the Nuremberg prison.
At least not to the four-legged prison comrade who has had his home there for some time: the black and white cat Harlequin is an integral part of everyday life in the prison.
She was once brought along by an official because Harlequin didn't get along with her peers.
But here in the prison she is a popular resident.
“She likes to lie around and is welcome everywhere,” the prison service manager, Martina Becker, told BR.
The cat has been enriching the lives of the inmates and staff for five years now.
Animals have a positive impact on prisoners
This is also confirmed by her colleague Thomas Vogt, head of the prison.
In the BR he says that Harlequin is a welcome guest among both women and men.
The cat often sits in the consultation room where the social workers conduct their discussions.
Your presence leads to the situation becoming a little less tense and relaxed, says Vogt.
The cat gives young people a feeling of normality.
“You get into a conversation and perhaps get to know the problems in more depth and can then start with the tasks that the youth detention center also has to fulfill,” says Vogt in the BR.
The Nuremberg JVA has had a permanent inmate for five years: the black and white cat Harlequin (symbolic image).
© Imago/Pond5Images/Steinach
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Nuremberg JVA: Cat has eight hectares as a home
However, the cat is not allowed into the cells themselves.
But that's just a small restriction in the stray's territory.
Harlequin is allowed to roam eight hectares.
She often hunts for mice in the yard and the nursery - her main job.
And on cold, wet days she also roams the corridors and offices inside the prison building.
Occasionally the prison cat stands in front of a locked door, but then a guard usually comes and unlocks it for her.
“Most of the time she is patient,” Becker tells BR.
“Only sometimes, when things are a little more urgent and she wants to go outside, she speaks up and makes a racket.”
After five years in prison, Harlequin has of course also found her favorite place: next to the entrance door of the women's asylum, she sits on the window sill, with a thick cushion under her that fits exactly between the window and the bars.
An additional guard post for the Nuremberg prison – that certainly can't hurt.
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