In the Historic Villa Metzler, next to the Eiserner Steg in Frankfurt am Main, you can experience art, music, literature and science in a classical town house or host your own events: The Kunstgewerbeverein in Frankfurt am Main e.V. is an Arts and Crafts Association, together with its subsidiary Historische Villa Metzler gGmbH, it has set itself the task of making this villa on the Schaumainkai, which is part of the Museum of Applied Art, accessible to the city and surrounding region.
The villa had already become the new home of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in 1967, which had been located in the Neue Mainzer Strasse before the war.
Known in local vernacular as 'Villa Metzler', this house is one of the few remaining testimonies of classical architecture in Frankfurt. It was built between 1802 -1804 by the pharmacist Johann Peter Salzwedel.
Today the villa is part of Frankfurt’s unique museum embankment. Its forms are reflected in the museum buildings, in which the architect Richard Meier lovingly and generously incorporated them. In 1985, Richard Meier used the floor plan and outline of the villa as a module for his first building in Europe, the Museum of Applied Arts (formerly Museum of Arts and Crafts).
The interior of the Historic Villa Metzler was radically refurbished in 2008 and redesigned as a museum. It now offers style or era rooms on the two upper floors and rooms for events and meetings on the ground floor.
The following cultural series of events take place in the Historic Villa Metzler:
Literature (in cooperation with the City of Frankfurt’s Cultural Office):
The literary series Frankfurter Premieren was founded in cooperation with the city’s Cultural Office. By gratuitously providing the reception rooms on up to 12 evenings per year, the association is making a continual and sustainable contribution to the support of the literary scene in the region. The city’s literary department is responsible for the organisation of the content. The Historic Villa Metzler seeks to procure sponsors and patrons for the provision of the rooms.
Music and Musical Talents:
Sounds of the Eras
Together with Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory, the Arts and Crafts Association has devoted itself musically to the various eras, which are presented in the so-called style rooms of the villa (1st and 2nd floor). With the concert format ‘Sounds of the Eras’, students and pupils from the Academy will have the opportunity to perform in an exceptional setting. These events are particularly popular and were initiated by the Arts and Crafts Association.
Harpsichord – Matter of the Heart
Two to four times a year, the Ruckers harpsichord from 1622, which stands on the first floor of the villa, is presented and played by Diez Eichler (Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory) in cooperation with the Arts and Crafts Association.
Children:
'Fairy Tale Stories' with Monika Mosburger or 'Musical Afternoons' for children, amongst others, with the music teacher from the Musical Children’s University Mainz, Prof. Dr. Felix Koch, and his students or the children’s songwriter Fredrik Vahle. These events allow the children to interact with the concert through singing, rhythm games and movements, thereby discovering their own creative potential and arousing their musical curiosity. The privacy of the rooms is ideally suited to creating closeness and overcoming inhibitions.
We are always on the look out for additional cooperation partners in order to vitalise these rooms with events for children and young people.
Discussion:
Discussion groups and events hosted by the Arts and Crafts Association: Since the reopening of the Historic Villa Metzler, the Arts and Crafts Association has expanded its programme with the format 'The ACA in the Villa'. Discussion groups on many different aspects of applied arts were held, amongst them panel discussions such as 'The garden as an object of applied art' or 'Applied art in sacred buildings' as well as contemporary formats such as the sales exhibition M.13, a small market with its own edition held every year in november.
Linked events:
Dialogue or rather event series that thematically loosely follow the changing exhibitions of the Museum of Applied Arts, while approaching the subject from a slightly different angle or expanding the spectre.
Dialogue events:
Science in dialogue:
The series Wissenschaft im Dialog came about in cooperation with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The aim of the public discussion circle, which has been taking place since 2012, is to heighten the profile of the scientific and therewith associated intellectual richness of the Rhein-Main area within the urban community. The dialogue partners do not give technical lectures, but help the audience to visualise the subject at hand within the framework of a moderated discussion. The privacy of the rooms encourages an intense exchange of ideas and promotes the culture of discussion between science and society. This series of discussions, which takes place four times a year, is supported by the FAZIT-Stiftung Geimeinnützige Verlagsgesellschaft mbH as well as by the Polytechnische Gesellschaft.
Transatlantic Wednesday:
Frankfurt’s cultural office and the Frankfurt Civic Trust, in cooperation with the US Consulate General and the Berlin American Academy, initiated the series of events under the title 'Transatlantic Wednesday' in the Holzhausenschlösschen in 2010. Since then, the lectures and discussions in English have been taking place as an annual series, since 2012 in the Historic Villa Metzler and at Frankfurt University.
