Willingshausen: Artists’ Colony, Art and Walking Routes

Willingshausen is closely associated with its artists’ colony. Art history, a scholarship for emerging artists, exhibitions and KuKuKs routes give the town a range of cultural highlights. When planning your trip, you can decide whether you are particularly interested in the history of the painters’ colony, contemporary art programs or a walk through the village and its surroundings.

Artists’ Colony and Malerstübchen

The Willingshausen artists’ colony was founded in 1824. The Malerstübchen Willingshausen e. V. owns a collection of prints and paintings from every period of the artists’ colony. This means the collection offers more than a glimpse of a single creative period: it spans the various eras associated with the colony. If you are interested in art history, this broad chronological scope offers a distinct way to explore the town’s cultural identity.

Scholarship and Artistic Work

Since 1996, two students or recent graduates of art colleges and academies have come to the artists’ colony each year as part of the Willingshausen art scholarship. Each stay lasts three months, either from February to April or from September to November. During this time, the emerging artists live in the listed Hirtenhaus and work in the studio spaces of the Gerhardt-von-Reutern-Haus. The program concludes with an exhibition at the Willingshausen Kunsthalle and a catalog.

The scholarship combines a stay with artistic work and a final presentation. It is a distinct part of Willingshausen’s cultural history and can be considered separately from the regularly held exhibitions and events. The accommodation and workspaces described here are part of the scholarship program; exhibitions and events make up another focus of the town’s arts and cultural life.

Exhibitions and Cultural Activities

Art exhibitions are held several times a year in the Kunsthalle next to the Gerhardt-von-Reutern-Haus. Since 2019, an International Painters’ Symposium has been held in Willingshausen each July. The Weltkulturhaus, the Gerhardt-von-Reutern-Haus, regularly hosts art and cultural events as well as classes and workshops. The activities therefore vary in format: alongside exhibitions and the symposium, the program includes events, classes and workshops. If you are planning around a specific date, check the current event schedule.

KuKuKs Routes Through the Village and Surroundings

The routes also reflect Willingshausen’s artistic character. The purple KuKuKs route leads through the painters’ village and into the Antreff valley. The KuKuKs route IN THE VILLAGE runs through the painters’ village of Willingshausen. The KuKuKs routes—the Willingshausen art and culture routes—are also easy, relatively short circular walks through the painters’ village and nearby area.

It is helpful to distinguish between the route descriptions when choosing a walk: the purple route is described as continuing into the Antreff valley, while the KuKuKs routes are described as circular walks. Choose the purple KuKuKs route into the Antreff valley, the KuKuKs route IN THE VILLAGE through the painters’ village, or one of the KuKuKs circular walks according to your interests.

Location in the Schwalm-Eder District

The wider travel destination of the Schwalm-Eder district includes the low mountain landscapes around Knüll, Kellerwald and Habichtswald. The Schwalm Cycle Route is also in the Schwalm-Eder district: it is about 100 kilometers long and runs to the point where the Schwalm flows into the Eder, just before Felsberg. The route mostly follows paved or surfaced paths through river landscapes with meadows, fields, villages and half-timbered towns. This information provides context about the wider travel destination; it does not describe the routes in Willingshausen.

Discover more destinations: Merzhausen, Schwalmstadt, Gilserberg, Neukirchen, Guxhagen, Schrecksbach, Ottrau, Frielendorf.

For the wider travel overview: Schwalm-Eder district.