Young people from Jena experience alpine adventures

An extraordinary vacation offer is taking young people from Jena to the Alps this summer: from 3 to 7 August 2026, participants aged 16 to 27 will travel to the Neue Thüringer Hütte in the Hohe Tauern National Park. The trip is the result of a special collaboration between youth work in Jena and the Jena section of the German Alpine Club (DAV) - a collaboration that is the first of its kind.

Streetwork Lobeda, Streetwork Winzerla, the Jena fan project, the Hugo youth center and the city of Jena in cooperation with the Jena section of the DAV are involved. The aim is to open up new experiences for young people and give them an intensive experience of nature away from their everyday lives.

Historical site with a connection to Jena

The Neue Thüringer Hütte, located at an altitude of 2,240 meters, is a place with a special historical and regional connection: it was built by the Thuringian section of the Alpine Club and is still run by it today. The hut will celebrate its centenary in 2026. For the participants, the trip is not only an adventure in the Alps, but also an encounter with a piece of regional history and a connection to Jena.

"I am very pleased and happy to support young people who want to explore nature on foot. Goethe also had this experience and said: 'Only where you have been on foot have you really been'. With this in mind, I am looking forward to the vacation trip for young people from Jena to the Thüringer Hütte in the Hohe Tauern National Park - in the centenary year of our hut",

says Holger Fischer, 2nd Chairman of the Neue Thüringer Hütte.

Before heading into the mountains, the trip starts with a stay in Salzburg. This is in response to the frequently expressed wish of young people to get to know larger cities outside their familiar surroundings.

Focus on experiencing nature and community

The trip focuses on experiencing nature, community and new challenges. Sporting ability plays a subordinate role: all participants can experience the ascent and descent to the hut. Various activities are offered on site - from communal activities around the hut to more challenging tours, such as the summit ascent of the Larmkogel (3,017 m).

To ensure safe participation, suitable alpine equipment is organized in advance together with the young people. In addition, preparatory meetings are held before the trip, in which the group gets to know each other and prepares for the demands of the tour.

"The idea for this trip arose from street work, with the aim of opening up new experiences for young people. It's about stepping out of your own world, broadening your horizons and getting to know other realities of life that you would otherwise hardly come into contact with in everyday life - such as the German Alpine Club. Participants gain experience in new contexts, get to know processes and gain confidence in dealing with unfamiliar situations. This enables access to things that would otherwise often remain closed and can have a long-term impact",

explains Eric Vasold from Streetwork Winzerla.

The city of Jena also sees this as an important added educational value:

"The self-effective experience of nature in the surroundings of the Neue Thüringer Hütte offers young people the opportunity to develop social skills such as self-confidence and a sense of responsibility. The vacation trip thus lives up to a central principle of experiential education: "The mountains speak for themselves",

says Thomas Schnabelrauch from the Youth and Education Department.

The German Alpine Association particularly emphasizes the special quality of the nature experience:

"Spending time in the Alps stands in contrast to an increasingly fast-paced and noisy world. Those who get involved experience an environment in which other things count - the sound of a stream, the call of an eagle or the silence of the mountains. This experience leaves its mark and creates new perspectives",

says Dietrich Söldner, 1st chairman of the DAV Jena section.

Registration and further information

The trip is aimed at young people between the ages of 16 and 27. The participation fee is 50 euros. Registration is still possible until 30.05.2026.

Interested parties can obtain registration forms and further information from the participating institutions (Fanprojekt Jena, Streetwork Lobeda, Streetwork Winzerla, Jugendzentrum Hugo) or by calling 0173 5739191.