Children's and youth farm confirms board: season starts in March 2026

The Offenbach Children's and Youth Farm has long since become an Offenbach institution. The high level of continuity of the volunteers on the board of the sponsoring association also contributes significantly to its success. At the most recent general meeting of the association, which was founded in 2003, elections to the board were on the agenda. All office holders were confirmed in their positions for a further two years. The Board of Directors consists of: Cornelia Wicht-Gerhardt as Chairperson, Petra Reich as Deputy Chairperson and Secretary and Jürgen Schomburg as Deputy Chairperson and Treasurer. Katharina Blum, Dominik Imeraj, Simon Isser and Daniel Thomas were elected as assessors.

The association's board and the educational team are currently preparing for the new 2026 farm season. From March, the extensive grounds on the Buchhügel will once again open regularly from Wednesday to Friday for open farm operations. In addition, numerous cooperation projects will take place in the mornings and afternoons with schools and educational institutions from Offenbach. At weekends, the site can be rented for children's birthday parties or class parties, and the dates in 2026 are already fully booked into the fall.

At the general meeting, the Board of Directors gave an all-round positive assessment of the year 2025. On a total of 127 opening days, 3642 children visited the open farm. Of these, 2611 children took part in open hours, while 1031 children came as part of cooperation groups and group visits during opening hours. In addition, over 1,500 children visited the farm with their school classes during the mornings. A wide range of projects and activities with cooperation partners provided a broad educational offering for the children. There were workshops and activities on species conservation, beekeeping, a wood workshop, creative activities, World Play Day, World Children's Day, a small festival on Neighborhood Day and numerous regular activities in the garden and animal areas of the site. The volunteer activities were very popular and a large group of volunteer families regularly help to keep the grounds in good shape and develop new areas. The big farm festivals were also real events in 2025 and each attracted several hundred interested visitors to the farm grounds.