Anyone who has attended a concert in the Lower Orangery on a Sunday morning in Weilburg Castle in bright sunshine will almost certainly feel the desire to return soon - possibly even independently of the musical experience.

Because the Baroque Renaissance castle on the rocks on the Lahn loop welcomes its visitors with an irresistible charm, when the flowers in the finely arranged borders of the castle garden shine in all colors, the gravel in the courtyard in front of the castle church gently reflects and the huge copper beeches, which are protected as natural monuments provide shade.

Guido Holze

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Many visitors then throw a cent into the fountain over their shoulder and tell their friends about a wonderful weekend trip to the city on the Lahn, which can be reached from Frankfurt in just over an hour by car.

It is quite clear that the wonderful ambience has contributed to the 50-year success of the Weilburg Palace Concerts.

"Even the musicians who perform here for the first time are often completely floored," says Stephan Schreckenberger, who has been the artistic director of the palace concerts since 2011 and is a trained singer himself.

What is also special for the concertgoers is that they get so close to the performers in Weilburg: "Even in the Castle Church, no listener sits more than ten meters away from the musicians, it's like sitting in the middle of the orchestra," enthuses Schreckenberger.

In this way, the music conveys itself with particularly great energy.

The listener himself contributes to the special atmosphere

The initial impetus for the series, which has now become one of the largest music festivals with an emphasis on classical music in the Rhine-Main area with an average of 50 concerts, was in 1972 with the founding of the Weilburg Palace Concerts Association, which is still the sponsor today.

The driving force at the time was Johannes Meyer, a culture-loving senior teacher who taught at a high school in Weilburg.

He organized five concerts in the first edition the following year with Hans Koppenburg, who was music editor at Hessischer Rundfunk and became artistic director for the first seven years.

The good connection between the palace concerts and the town's schools is based on Meyer's initiative, explains Schreckenberger.

Because as a teacher, he hired students as helpers.

And to this day, around 60 schoolchildren support the summer festival every year for a small fee by accompanying visitors to their seats or selling programmes.

"They learn independence, commitment and how to deal with adults," says Schreckenberger.

In the 50 years of its existence, some former helpers have “tasted blood” and have taken up careers in cultural management.

From the artistic director’s point of view, the audience themselves contribute a lot to the special atmosphere of the palace concerts: “We have a very grateful audience, who often stamp their feet on the wooden platforms in the palace church and give the musicians thunderous applause.” The entire organization is managed from a very small tribe with five permanent employees, whereby the managing directors Miriam Kunz and Schreckenberger work freelance.

Schreckenberger describes the past two years of the pandemic, with all the rescheduling and organizational hurdles, as the most work-intensive time of his life, "even though the 2020 festival was canceled".

At the age of 67, the bass, who studied at the Frankfurt Music Academy, taught there for many years as a lecturer and was known for his solo performances and as a member of the professional vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln, is no longer active as a singer.

For the past four years he has been the director and first chairman of the sponsoring association: in a “helpful personal union”, as he sees it.

He also sees it as his task to find a successor at some point: "I don't want to do it as long as Karl Rarichs," he says with a smile.

His legendary predecessor

Rarichs' good relationships with the two professional Frankfurt orchestras, the Opera and Museum Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, resulted in the numerous connections of the palace concerts in the Main metropolis.

Under his directorship, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn established itself as the Weilburg house and court orchestra.

Rarichs himself suggested Schreckenberger as his successor, and the singer, who had not had any experience as director until then, carefully developed the concept he had taken over.

"Previously, the palace concerts were almost exclusively classical, now we have a good proportion of non-classical music," he states.

Out of 50 events, an average of ten to twelve other genres can be assigned: jazz, world music, folklore, but also cabaret and performances by singer-songwriters.

The annual budget for the palace concerts is relatively slim at around one million euros.

For comparison: This year, the Rheingau Music Festival has a budget of eight million euros for 133 events.

Thanks to state aid, the festival survived the two years of the pandemic financially well.

Thanks to the Hessian "Ins Freie" funding program, the previously open stage in the Renaissance courtyard was even given a roof.

From the director's point of view, only the weather has to play along for the anniversary, but that's generally better up on the Lahn than elsewhere in the region anyway.

Weilburg Palace Concerts until August 6th: www.weilburger-schlosskonzerte.de