Weissenhorn Klassik Festival

The Weissenhorn Klassik Festival was founded in 2014 by singer and cultural entrepreneur Esther Kretzinger and is since then held every autumn under her artistic leadership. In just a few years, the festival has grown to become an integral part of the regional cultural life. Every year it welcomes a steadily growing amount of concert guests from all over the place and from the whole of Germany and abroad.

The “Fuggerstadt Weissenhorn” (Bavaria) looks back on a fascinating history in which the town used to play a preponderant role in events of worldwide concern. The legendary merchant Jakob Fugger (1459-1525), which remains remembered as one of the most influent and wealthy persons who ever lived, acquired the town in 1507. This purchase massively improved the financial situation of the indebted King Maximilian I and helped him in his later ascent to the throne as the Holy Roman Emperor. Meanwhile Weissenhorn had become Jakob Fugger’s favourite safe haven.

In Weissenhorn today it is easy to find traces of the past. A picturesque old town with simple yet charming premises has survived through centuries of history. The Fugger château and the historical council hall with its restored wooden ceiling (1565) are a scenery to many festival concerts. Concerts also take place at the historical town theatre, a former barn built during the Fugger reign which was redesigned to a theatre in 1878. With its 142 seats it is the tiniest theatre in Bavaria and captivates with its court theatre atmosphere and its beautiful classical ornaments.

In these premises, the Weissenhorn Klassik Festival offers the unique opportunity to experience innovative and high-quality concerts in an intimate atmosphere, listening to some of world’s most sought-after musicians who normally only perform in large concert halls. Outstanding international artists as Saleem Ashkar, Avi Avital, Bodecker & Neander, Georg Breinschmid, Barbara Dennerlein, Rohan de Saram, the Adapter Ensemble, the Azahar Ensemble, Sharon Kam, Omer Klein, Joo Kraus, Michele Marelli, Rajesh Mehta, Juan José Mosalini, Nicolas Namoradze, the Epoque Quartet, the Schumann Quartet, Konstantin Reinfeld, Marianne Schroeder, Herbert Schuch, Antti Siirala, Dmitry Sinkovsky, Julian Steckel, Tanja Tetzlaff have already been acclaimed by the festival audience during the past years.

With the Weissenhorn Klassik Festival we make art and artistic action the focus of our work. We are committed to high artistic quality and strive to surprise concert guests of any age and fill them with enthusiasm. We are tirelessly working on developing exciting content and regard tradition and innovation both as cornerstones of our artistic work. We attach great importance to working independently and to offering the best possible conditions to our artists and their creative work. Artistic director Esther Kretzinger develops each year an artistic theme which shapes the next festival edition and then elaborates the programming of the concerts in close communication with the guest artists.

As culture specialists we feel a social responsibility and actively seek exchange with younger generations. The Papageno education programme has been an integral part of the festival since the beginning in 2014 and keeps developing further with new concepts and pilot projects and also the support of young talents is present throughout the whole festival programme.