Who We Are
Locations
Ostholstein
Seminar Center Gut Siggen
The seminar center Gut Siggen at the Baltic Sea is more than just a conference location of the Toepfer Foundation - it is a place for reflection and rethinking, for debates and disputations, for encounters with others and the encounter with oneself. The claim "to give space", which can be found in the program of the foundation, becomes reality here.
Siggen is an island in the gears of time. Remote, enchanted. Whoever comes here wants it that way, but must first be lucky enough to be invited by the Toepfer Foundation. And if it is a group of people who gather here, for whatever reason, on whatever topic, then one must assume that thinking and fantasizing in this place gives rise to very special thoughts, plans and intentions.
Seminar Center ©Fria Hagen
View of the manor house
View of the seminar center from the manor house ©Fria Hagen
Manor house room ©Fria Hagen
View from the library of the manor house ©Brigitta Erdoedy
Seminar Center ©Fria Hagen
Seminar Center ©Fria Hagen
Dining room in the manor house ©Fria Hagen
Cliff in Siggen
- History
Siggen is one of the oldest estates in Ostholstein, whose history goes back to the Middle Ages. The manor house was rebuilt several times, and the farm buildings were rebuilt in 1934 after a fire. Alfred Toepfer acquired the estate with its extensive farmland in 1932, and since 1970 Siggen Manor has been used more intensively for foundation activities. Siggen Manor continues to be a farm, which today is owned by a subsidiary of the Foundation. The seminar building, designed by the architectural firm Auer+Weber+ Assoziierte GmbH and awarded a prize by the BDA Schleswig-Holstein, was built between 2006 and 2007. The guest rooms in the manor house were extensively modernized in 2013.
- Location
Siggen is located 20 km east of Oldenburg in Holstein, 70 km north of Lübeck, 70 km east of Kiel. In addition to the manor house and the seminar building, there is a large barn and other farm buildings on the estate. In only 15 minutes you can walk to the Baltic Sea beach, which offers good swimming opportunities.
- Accommodation
The manor house has thirteen individually furnished rooms, four of which are double rooms. In the seminar building there are six single rooms, one of which is adapted for wheelchairs. Five additional guest rooms are located in an outbuilding. Thus, groups of up to 24 participants can be accommodated individually. In addition, a fully equipped guest apartment is available on the premises, which is also suitable for longer-term use, such as artist and translator residencies or research stays.
- Facilities
The conference room in the seminar building offers space for about 40 people. If necessary, it can be divided into two separate rooms and can thus also be used for parallel workshops. For lectures and other events that do not require tables, up to 120 people can be seated comfortably. An office is available for event management. The premises are equipped with the necessary conference materials and technical equipment. The mansion has a dining room, a fireside or social room, and a library stocked, among other things, with writings of the Foundation and its laureates. Access to the Internet is provided in all buildings.
- Hospitality
The seminar center Gut Siggen is managed by a dedicated team that strives to make our guests' stay as pleasant as possible. However, we ask for your understanding that we cannot guarantee a hotel operation with 24-hour service on site. As a precaution, we would like to point out that smoking is not permitted in any of the rooms and that pets are not allowed.
The seminar center Gut Siggen is an integral part of the support program of the Toepfer Foundation. When invited by the Foundation, the Foundation generally covers the costs of accommodation and meals for event participants, but does not generally reimburse travel expenses. The stay at the seminar center Gut Siggen can also be based on an application to the foundation. Acceptance depends on whether the organizer's objectives correspond with the work of the Foundation. In addition, the seminar center can be rented for suitable third-party events.
- Vacation in Siggen
Those interested in renting the vacation home in Siggen can view the occupancy calendar and request a quote here: www.ostsee-ferienwohnungen.de
Hamburg
Office in the Georgshof
The 13-member team of the Toepfer Foundation works in the office in the Georgshof. It is located on the second and third floors of a Kontorhaus in Hamburg's old town, built between 1905 and 1906. The building was acquired by Alfred Toepfer in 1968 and has been owned by the Foundation ever since. The office is where the day-to-day business is conducted and where the ideas for the Foundation's projects and programs are generated, which are also largely controlled from there. Friends and cooperation partners of the Foundation are gladly and regularly welcomed to the Foundation's premises.
Elbehaus
The Toepfer Foundation's Elbehaus, which many of our partners and friends still know as our foundation's guest house, was reopened at the beginning of 2023 after a lengthy renovation phase with a new purpose. The house on Elbchaussee is now being used as part of a residential scholarship that allows up to three scholarship holders to stay for between two and six months at a time. The Hamburg Scholarship is aimed at individuals whose activities are related to the programme work of the Toepfer Foundation. Stays are thus made possible for people from the fields of art and culture, society and education and science, as well as future-orientated land use and sustainability. In its residential use, the house opens up spaces of opportunity, invites people to concentrate on their work in a special atmosphere with an unmistakable view of the Elbe and the harbour and offers spaces for collaborative exchange between residents.
Further information on utilisation and cooperation: Hamburg-Stipendium
Millerntorwache
Between 2013 and 2023, the Millerntorwache was home to the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichtchen. Hamburg residents and visitors to the city could tell their stories and tales about Hamburg, while a team of volunteers listened and recorded the stories. They were published on our YouTube channel and, in some cases, handed over to the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte for further use.
Since 2024, we have been reorganising the Millerntorwache and opening it up for temporary artistic and cultural projects. Curators can use the small but central location to explore themes, ideas and questions relating in particular to urban society and its challenges in an artistic and discursive way. They can show, exhibit or make their own work heard and invite other contributors.
You can find more information here.
Carl Toepfer Foundation
The Carl Toepfer Foundation is the sister foundation of the Alfred Toepfer Foundation F.V.S. It was also founded by Alfred Toepfer, but named after his father Carl. The foundation maintains a residential complex in Hamburg's Neustadt district, which Alfred Toepfer had built between 1968 and 1984. The complex consists of a rebuilt residential building, the former Beyling-Stift from 1751, and various reconstructions of old Hamburg town houses from the 17th to 19th centuries. Today, it provides space for 245 apartments, some with reduced rents for needy senior citizens. Beyond the preservation of historical monuments, the Carl Toepfer Foundation promotes art and culture, science, youth work, and the Low German language and literature.