Academy

Location

The Summer Academy Concerto21 takes place in the seminar center Gut Siggen of the Toepfer Foundation. The seclusion of Gut Siggen promotes a concentrated and familiar working atmosphere as well as personal encounters between participants, presenters and speakers.

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 strategy and dispute discussions, for encounters with others and the encounter with oneself. The claim "to give space", which is located in the program of the foundation, becomes reality here.

The venue is perfect because the seclusion allows you to fully focus on the group and the content. Sitting with the lecturers in the evening on the terrace or in front of the fireplace and getting to know them once again from a different, more personal side was particularly interesting.

Johannes von Butlar

Seminar Center ©Fria Hagen

Blick auf das Herrenhaus

View from Manor to the Seminar Center ©Fria Hagen

Room in Manor ©Fria Hagen

View from the Library of the Manor ©Brigitta Erdoedy

Cliff Coast 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.
Accomodation
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.