Farm visit

Schoolchildren: This is where the Wiener Schnitzel “grows”

Andreas Maurer is very keen to inform children about species-appropriate husbandry and animal welfare. And the pupils soak up the information with curiosity.

(Bild: Holl Reinhard/Reinhard Holl)

City children have less and less contact with nature. Organic farmer Andreas Maurer wants to change this with school tours

Andreas Maurer's organic farm is located in the middle of the residential area on Leopoldauer Platz in the 21st district. Animal welfare is the top priority here, and his father converted the farm completely to organic back in 2015. Maurer regularly explains what this means and where the food that ends up on the plates actually comes from to school classes that he shows around his farm. Just like the pupils from the 4th grade of an all-day school in the 9th district.

The children are particularly taken with the "birthing station" with the little piglets.

(Bild: Holl Reinhard/Reinhard Holl)

"Many don't have a district"
"Many children in the city don't really have a connection to the farm. Excursions like this are very important to learn where meat actually comes from," explains teacher Monika Müllner. And the 10-year-olds are extremely inquisitive. "Why is one piglet all black? Why is the pig's tail not curled like that? Do the pigs like to share the hay?" Maurer answers all the questions competently and in a child-friendly way, explaining the difference between conventional and organic farming, such as the fact that the piglets are allowed to stay with their mothers for longer.

200 kilos

of hay are eaten by the 120 pigs on the organic farm every week. Maurer produces 80 percent of the animal feed himself.

Andreas Maurer runs the organic farm with his parents.

(Bild: Holl Reinhard/Reinhard Holl)

The piglets are the stars
The children are particularly taken with Hermine and her eight piglets, who are just three weeks old. They look a little sadder when they learn that the pigs are slaughtered at nine months old, two pigs every two weeks. But the children also have to learn this before moving on to the henhouse, the sheep and the horses. Teacher Müllner: "It is very important that the children learn how to behave towards animals. They will certainly remember today."