GIVING SPACE – Herrenhaus Edenkoben

Herrenhaus Edenkoben

Herrenhaus Edenkoben is a private house where artists, composers and writers can live as residents on a scholarship basis. They are selected by an international jury. The scholarship holders present themselves and their works in exhibitions, concerts and readings. Other famous artists contribute to the widening of the programme of events. The estate in a baroque style is situated in the southern Palatinate, in the west of Edenkoben, surrounded by vineyards, and with an open view over the plain of the river Rhine and of the hills and castles of the Haardt mountains up to the Black Forest. The estate is surrounded by a high baroque wall and contains, apart from two studios, five apartments and several guest-rooms, a hall for events such as concerts, exhibitions and readings, several common rooms, a cellar which can also be used for events, and wide-ranging grounds, i.e. a courtyard and gardens.

Herrenhaus Edenkoben

KUNST LEBEN

The History of the House

The beginnings of the Herrenhaus – so called by the people after its former aristocratic owners – are shrouded in darkness. It was the north wing of the main building and the east part of the stables that were erected first, presumably in the 17th century at the latest; as well as the little utility building which was used as bakery, wash-room and toilet. In 1736 anyway, a connecting building was erected between the stables and the south wing of the main building (attached before to the north wing). Further supplementary buildings and conversions were carried out in the 19th century. An early owner was Heinrich von Stengel, resident in Neustadt, who later settled in Munich. He was a magistrate’s clerk and in the service of Karl Theodor, Kurfürst (elector) in Mannheim. Still before the French Revolution he sold the estate to his son-in-law Baron Joseph von Wimpffen. At the beginning of the 18th century – after the Wars of Revolution – the estate was turned into civil ownership, in fact to ancestors of the owners today, by the name of Dambach, then Hinzler and later Stahl. For 125 years linen damask of the finest quality was woven here which also the Bavarian royal dynasty was provided with.

At the beginning of the 1980ies the estate with its baroque main building and several out- buildings was acquired by Barbara and Konrad Stahl. They had them completely renovated and turned into a residence for artists, with studios, flats and facilities for events and performances as well as for exhibitions. Between 1987 and 1997 the house as a residence for artists was run jointly by the Stahls and the Land Rheinland-Pfalz. Since then it has been a purely private establishment, where art comes into existence, and where art can be lived and experienced.