Growing old behind bars: inside Germany's 'grandpa prisons'

Standard prison units, like this one at Neumünster in northern Germany, are ill-equipped for inmates with mobility issues and other age-related conditions. AFP - HANDOUT

Germany – Reflecting demographic trends, Germany's prison population is ageing. The largest unit for senior prisoners in the country is in Bielefeld-Senne, east of Cologne – where inmates live in specially adapted cells and aren't required to work once they pass retirement age.

Walking into Senne prison, 200 kilometres east of Cologne in western Germany, things look a little different from what you might expect.