Normal homes (“Normalheime“) were intended for “unattached children endangered by their milieu with no significant educational difficulties” between the ages of 3 and 18. The continuation of the normal home for children (3-14 years) was the youth home (14-18 years). Minors who were placed in normal homes attended external schools, and were thus often victims of discrimination due to the stigma of being an institutionalized child. Nevertheless, many children and adolescents also had positive experiences in this type of home, as evidenced by the exemplary statement on the side.
However, there are also reports of normal homes where collective punishment, withholding of pocket money, imprisonment, mistreatment and sexual abuse were the order of the day. Due to staff shortages, it can be assumed that children in normal homes also did not receive the attention and care they needed.