The saying goes that many cooks spoil the broth. However, what is a common saying does not apply at all to the municipality of Kirkel, the Gesellschaft für Arbeit und Qualifizierung (AQuiS) as part of the labour market instruments of the Saarpfalz district job centre and the Förderkreis der Kirkeler Burg. In fact, all three have been working together for years to ensure that one of the municipality's most successful programmes, the castle summer for schools, is a real hit every year. In 2026, over 6,000 pupils from primary schools in the region are once again expected to visit the craftsmen's village at Kirkel Castle in the weeks leading up to the summer holidays. There, they will be able to experience medieval crafts with their own hands.
Behind these weeks of fun for the children, however, there are much longer preparations. And this is where it becomes clear that the three actors - to stay with the metaphor - are really good at stirring the pot together. So who does what? Of course, the municipality, with the head of the cultural department Sarah Klein, is in charge of organising, running and financing the event. But for the children to have fun at the forge, in the leather workshop and at the many other stations in the craftsmen's village, a lot of material is needed. And here we remain in the image of the chefs: AQuiS and its team provide the important ingredients. From precisely cut wooden boards to blanks for the popular sword forging and much, much more is prepared in the AQuiS workshops in Kirkel-Neuhäusel.
What do the preparations for the castle summer for schools look like from AQuiS's perspective? During a tour of the company's workshops, it became clear that there is a lot of work to be done so that primary school pupils can experience their excursion into the world of medieval crafts up close. Nevertheless, as Sarah Klein made clear during the tour, a lot of material is purchased to equip the individual trades. However, much of it is also prepared by AQuiS for further use at the castle summer. "Fabrics, boards and pieces of leather are pre-cut. Stones are cut to size for the set stone workshop and lots of wool is wound for the weaving workshop." Klein was not finished with the list of what AQuiS is doing to prepare for the castle summer. After all, she summarised everything that the AQuiS team does every year in a simple mathematical formula: "Castle Summer for schools minus AQuiS equals zero!" In other words: it doesn't work without it. And AQuiS organiser Martin Thiele ensures that everything runs smoothly between the community and AQuiS, i.e. that the kids end up with a delicious meal.
But who are the people who make such an outstanding contribution to this successful event?
"AQuiS is the non-profit employment company of the Saarpfalz district," explained authorised signatory Anja Lange. "We provide work for the citizens of the Saarpfalz district in order to promote their integration into working life."
Dietmar Schönberger, head of the Saarpfalz district job centre, added that AQuiS is a labour market policy measure.
"Our aim is to give people with their talents who are currently unable to find employment on the regular labour market the opportunity to do meaningful things here." The AQuiS project in particular shows "what great results can be achieved".
The whole thing is financed with funds from the Job Centre and the European Social Fund.
So if primary school pupils from the region can now experience medieval craftsmanship up close over the next few weeks, this is largely thanks to the efforts of AQuiS.
But there was also the Kirkel Castle support group as the "third chef". That's right. And its commitment is also essential for the ongoing success of the Kirkel Castle Summer for schools. "The Förderkreis Kirkeler Burg does an enormous amount of groundwork when it comes to the castle grounds," summarises Sarah Klein. "So it's the interaction between the municipality, AQuiS and the support group that makes the castle summer a success."