Initiatives
In the course of the association’s history, the VKF has been actively involved in two initiatives.
Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium – European School Templin (EST)
Founded in 1607, the Joachimsthal Gymnasium was one of the leading schools in the German-speaking world until its closure in 1945. It was at the center of the educational reforms under Wilhelm von Humboldt. Since 1912, this school had been located in a spacious ensemble of buildings designed especially for it in Templin. After various uses in the GDR, the buildings had been mostly empty since the early 2000s and began to deteriorate.
This was the condition in which VKF found the site when we held our first workshop there in 2013. After a few days of hard work in and around the facility and a first concert in the still usable auditorium, it was clear to us: this place must not be left to decay! – and so the VKF, together with committed Templiners, founded an initiative to revive the school, which, thanks to generous supporters, has since become the Stiftung Gebäudeensemble Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium. More information here.
Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Quilow moated castle near Anklam in the glacial valley of the River Peene is one of the few preserved Renaissance castles in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and a cultural monument of national importance. In 2007, the Cultural Heritage Foundation, co-founded by the VKF, purchased Quilow Castle in order to save it from decay and find a new use for it. In 2008 and 2010, major VKF workshops were held at Quilow to secure the building and prepare it for basic restoration: Gutters and downspouts were repaired and missing roof tiles were added; windows were re-glazed and secured; retrofitted fixtures were removed; and much more. In the course of extensive construction work, over 5 million euros have been spent in Quilow over the past few years in a very careful manner, making the castle once again a building that can be used in a variety of ways. Even though the castle is now reopened, there is still work to be done in the surrounding estate and the old moat. More information here.
