Jena grammar school on the first map of the Thuringian school cycling competition

The best schools in the SCHULRADELN 2025 competition were honored at Erfurt City Hall. Two Jena schools took the first two places in the "School with the most bicycle kilometers (absolute)" category: Otto-Schott-Gymnasium Jena and Angergymnasium Jena.

They were honored by the Thuringian Ministry for Digital Affairs and Infrastructure and the Working Group of Bicycle-Friendly Communities in Thuringia (AGFK-TH). The school cycling event, which is integrated into the CITY CYCLING campaign, took place for the third time across the state.

Minister Steffen Schütz said at the award ceremony:

"John F. Kennedy once said: `Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bicycle.` Who would disagree. Cycling is free of emissions, cycling is usually the fastest way to get around town and cycling is healthy for body and soul. School cycling is a good thing all round and that's why my company will continue to cover the costs - participation remains free of charge for schools and pupils."

The Chairwoman of the AGFK-TH, District Administrator Petra Enders, added:

"The earlier cycling is tried out, the more children and young people will continue to enjoy it as adults. People who cycle a lot have fun and make an important contribution to climate protection. I would like to thank everyone for their participation and commitment to the school cycling campaign."

For three weeks, participants were asked to cycle as many kilometers as possible - on their way to school and in their free time. The aim is to raise awareness of the benefits of cycling for health and the climate from an early age. At the same time, the campaign makes an important contribution to road safety education and thus to safer behavior of children in road traffic.

28 times around the world by bike

This year, 167 Thuringian schools from 25 towns and municipalities took part in the competition. During the competition period, 7,747 pupils, parents and teachers covered 1,129,863 km. This corresponds to more than 28 circumnavigations of the earth. In total, 185 tons of CO2 were avoided. The number of participating schools and the number of kilometers cycled increased significantly in 2025. That shows: Enthusiasm for climate-friendly mobility continues to grow.

The aim of the school cycling campaign is to better integrate cycling into everyday school life and the everyday lives of children, young people, parents and teachers. All schools and school types can take part in the competition, provided that their local authority takes part in CITY CYCLING.

Otto-Schott-Gymnasium achieved 74,343.8 kilometers and can look forward to prize money of 1,200 euros. Angergymnasium Jena achieved 72,565.9 kilometers and received prize money of 900 euros.