Educational projects

Since 2008, the youth music project has brought children and young people closer to the world of classical music. Michael Otto is its committed patron. The project was initiated by the Otto Group and the women’s chamber music quartet “Salut Salon” to let Hamburg schoolchildren from thirty-five participating schools sing in a choir, become part of an orchestra, learn instruments, and attend classical music concerts. Furthermore, they bring so-called MusicMobiles – something that also now exists in Karlsruhe and Dresden – to concerts, theaters and museums. 30,000 children and young people have participated in The Young ClassX events organized with the Elbphilharmonie, the Ensemble Resonanz chamber orchestra and the Dresden State Operetta, to name a few examples, and also held internationally. “Music not only promotes the cognitive and creative abilities of children and young adults, but also their emotional and social intelligence. It is, therefore, of particular importance for the young generation and thus for the future of our society,” says Michael Otto in regards to his commitment. It is also important to him that children and young people, also from less privileged families, can access high-quality music education. The Young ClassX received the OPUS Classic Prize 2022 for Encouraging Youth. The project is free of charge for children and young people.

“Michael Otto is an absolute role model, having initiated a wide range of projects and having made something of his life with all his opportunities. Unlike so many others, he could live a completely different life, but he has decided to acknowledge his social responsibility.”
Clemens Malich
Artistic director of the Mendelssohn Orchestra Family and module leader in The Young ClassX

In an interview with the Hamburg Abendblatt newspaper in 2005, Michael Otto said:
“It is in the inherent interest of the economy to get graduates of even the lowest level of education into vocational training. Otherwise, we will soon have a problem in Germany’s future labor market due to the declining birth rates.” 
That was a prophetic statement against the backdrop of today’s shortage of skilled labor.

To offer graduates of the lowest level of secondary school (Hauptschule) better opportunities for starting a career, in 1999 Michael Otto partnered with Hapag Lloyd to found the Hamburg-based “Initiative for Employment”. In cooperation with the Hamburg Senate, Hamburg schools, the Federal Employment Agency, and other companies, it evolved into the Hamburg Hauptschulmodell in 2000, which was renamed HANZ – the Hamburg Training Network – in 2013.

HANZ pursues a clear goal of enabling young people with formally lower school-leaving qualifications to enter regular vocational education and training. Its success speaks for itself. During the first ten years of the project, there was a tripling of the number of graduates from the lowest level of secondary school who voluntarily began vocational education and training after school.

The concept attracted national and international attention. Regions throughout Germany, as well as institutions in the UK and Switzerland, have adopted the model. To this day, HANZ offers young people with low formal education qualifications concrete opportunities to make a successful start to their professional lives.

The social challenges may have changed since then – but the relevance of the topic remains unremitting. Whereas in the past it was often a struggle to integrate young people with educational disadvantages, today it is the companies who are increasingly struggling to find suitable trainees. Key factors in this are demographic change, issues of match and disorientation in career choice and planning.

An alarming finding is that around 2.9 million people aged between 20 and 34 in Germany do not have any formal vocational qualifications – that is around 19% of this age cohort (source: BIBB).

HANZ has therefore continuously expanded its target groups and fields of activity. In addition to supporting secondary school students, the network is now aimed at all young people who are unable to make the transition from school to vocational education and training on their own – including so-called NEETs (people Not in Education, Employment or Training). HANZ rigorously combines the interests of young people and companies in securing skilled workers for the future.