Big crowd at the launch of the "Education Center" in the Goethe Galerie
(Jena, 17.05.2025) Numerous visitors young and old attended the opening of the new "Education Center" in the Goethe Galerie on Saturday. Families with children in particular used the opening day to discover the new rooms on the upper floor of the shopping center, win prizes on the wheel of fortune and leave creative ideas for future courses on the wish wall. The team around founder Miriam Kubrat from Steinarium Jena and companion André Toussaint were overwhelmed by the positive response: "We saw so many shining children's eyes - that's exactly what we wanted to achieve. The great feedback gives us a boost for the start of our courses next week," said Kubrat.
The Klemmbaustein courses are aimed at children and young people from elementary school upwards in three age groups. Special STEM courses on robotics and programming are in preparation. The Education Center also offers coaching and further training for adults and companies.
Johannes Schleußner, head of Jena's youth and education department, was also a guest at the opening and is particularly pleased with the creative discovery opportunities: "What has been created here is more than just a place to play," says Schleußner. "It's a space for creativity, for discovering and learning together. Analog offerings like this are valuable because children learn to create real worlds with their own hands." In this way, children's curiosity can unfold and skills can be developed that will remain important long into adulthood.
The center manager of the Goethe Galerie, Michael Holz, was also pleased about the move to the upper floor: "The new Education Center is a wonderful example of how retail can work today - as a place of encounter and shared experience. Offers such as the Education Center not only contribute to the attractiveness of the Goethe Galerie, but also to Jena's city center as a whole." According to Holz, the center management is always open and responsive to such and similar experimental ideas.
The founding team of the Education Center had had the idea for their course room in mind for several years. The concept was fine-tuned last year as part of the StadtLab ideas competition organized by the Jena Economic Development Agency. After coming second in the competition and a two-week test phase at Löbderstraße 6, the Education Center is now starting regular operations. From May 19, Miriam Kubrat and André Touissant are looking forward to welcoming numerous young and young-at-heart guests to their new Klemmbaustein domicile.
The opening on 17.05.2025 was not only a celebration, but also supported a cause close to the hearts of the two founders. The Steinarium team collected donations for the Jena women's shelter with a wheel of fortune campaign. In the evening, 250 euros were handed over to an employee of the facility.
All information about the new Education Center can also be found at www.steinarium.de.
EducationCenter-Eröffnung-Gruppe1-Foto-JenaWirtschaft
© JenaWirtschaft
Happy about the opening of the new Education Center: Jena's Head of Education Johannes Schleußner, the Steinarium team Miriam Kubrat and André Touissant, StadtLab-Jena Project Manager Grit Sachse and Michael Holz, Center Manager of the Goethe Galerie (from left to right)