Who lived & worked here?Friedrich Kallmorgen, Margarethe Hormuth-Kallmorgen, Gustav Kampmann, Otto Fikentscher, Karl Biese, Franz Hein, Jenny Fikentscher, Franz and Susanne Dewald, Helmut Lingg, Waltraud Kniss, Peter Fischer, Helmut Liebe, Brigitte Nowatzke-Kraft, Richard Rothweiler, Bruno Schüssler, Johanna Sitterle, Josef Sommer, sculptor Oskar Rösch and ceramic artist Stefan Holzmüller all worked in Grötzingen.

All noteworthy progress begins with an individual with a great idea. As does the Grötzingen artist colony: Friedrich Kallmorgen decided to buy his summer house there. Then another artist, animal painter Otto Fikentscher, followed his example and bought the Augustenburg castle. He started living there with his wife, Jenny. Other Karlsruhe painters soon joined them with their families.

The Grötzingen painters kept their artistic ties to nearby Karlsruhe and were among the founding members of the Karlsruher Künstlerbund (Association of Karlsruhe Artists), a secessionist group founded in 1896. The lithographs done by this Künstlerbund, distributed only by the Leipzig publishing houses Teubner and Voigtländer, became famous throughout Germany. Today, there’s still a vibrant art scene going on in the village of Grötzingen. Artists focus their craft on themes of tradition and modernity, individualism and an artistic spectrum that now extends beyond painting. Do visit the group exhibition of current works, which is held every two years under the name “Grötzingen Painters”.