On the death of Bernhard Freiherr von Loeffelholz, #1 - 2024
On the death of Bernhard Freiherr von Loeffelholz, HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts and the Freundeskreis Hellerau e.V. pay tribute to his services to art and culture in Saxony, Dresden and for HELLERAU:
“Bernhard von Loeffelholz worked tirelessly and with dedication to support and promote art and culture, particularly in Saxony and Dresden. His sphere of influence was wide and the projects he initiated and promoted were extremely diverse. HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts was always close to his heart, as I was able to experience at the beginning of my directorship in 2018. Bernhard von Loeffelholz came to the events with curiosity and was enthusiastic about the contemporary arts, especially dance. His commitment to founding the Forsythe Company with a sponsoring alliance between Dresden, Frankfurt, Saxony and Hesse has become known in cultural circles beyond the state borders as a great coup. But Bernhard von Loeffelholz was not interested in the magnificence of his projects, he was concerned with the greatness and significance of art and culture – as a unique artistic practice and as a benefit and necessity for society and coexistence. Patron and sponsor is a term that is rarely heard nowadays, perhaps also a practice that is coming to an end in cultural reality. Bernhard von Loeffelholz was a patron and promoter out of the deepest conviction and he fulfilled this function and activity with his entire personality. With this in mind, HELLERAU bids farewell to Bernhard Freiherr von Loeffelholz with memories and gratitude. Our thoughts are with his family and his wife Monika Loeffelholz von Colberg.”
Carena Schlewitt, Intendantin von HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste
The Freundeskreis Hellerau e.V. is also mourning the loss of its former, long-standing chairman, Bernhard von Loeffelholz, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 89.
“Bernhard von Loeffelholz founded the Freundeskreis Hellerau under the name Förderverein Hellerau e.V. Verein zur Rekultivierung des Festspielgeländes Hellerau (Association for the Recultivation of the Hellerau Festspiel Grounds) in the fall of 2005, after moving from Frankfurt to Radebeul near Dresden in the early 2000s. The name alone shows that our association’s founder was not only interested in promoting culture, but also in shaping the festival grounds in Hellerau. If today we can not only admire the resurrection of the West Wing in Hellerau, but also follow the renovation of the East Wing with eager anticipation, we owe this very much to the commitment of the deceased.
After the city council of Frankfurt am Main decided in 2002 to dissolve the Frankfurt Ballet, which was highly regarded internationally under and because of the choreographer William Forsythe, it was Bernhard von Loeffelholz who made great personal efforts to win William Forsythe for Hellerau: Representatives of the states of Saxony and Hesse as well as the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt and an authorized representative of Forsythe founded a working group, and a cooperation agreement was reached for the joint financing of the new private Forsythe Company, which enabled and secured annual performances in Dresden-Hellerau and in Frankfurt. This contract was also the basis for the expansion of the Festspielhaus Hellerau, which reopened in September 2006 as the European Center for the Arts with its Great Hall in its bright form created by Tessenow in 1911 and with technical equipment to meet today’s demands.
Bernhard von Loeffelholz regularly attended the dance performances in Hellerau, accompanied by his equally interested wife Monika, and always had an enthusiastic but also critical word to say about the performances. He was a promoter of culture and, thanks to his professional experience, also had a business mind. HELLERAU and the Freundeskreis have lost a great friend in him.”
Gisela Staupe and Oswald van de Loo for the Freundeskreis Hellerau e.V.