CircusMühle Kelbra

CircusMühle Kelbra is an emerging international creation and production space for the performing arts, with a special focus on outdoor arts and circus. The venue will encompass all aspects of the artistic process and thus become a space for collaborative collaboration. Artists can work and realize their creative ideas during residencies. They can draw on the venue’s professional, spatial, and material infrastructure while simultaneously presenting their work to the region and beyond.

History

Since its founding at the end of the 19th century, the old Kelbra mill has undergone various phases and historical stages.

It was first mentioned as a field mill around 1600. This probably referred to a windmill that stood on the property now adjacent to the mill. At some point after that, a water mill was built, powered by a tributary of the Helme River.

At the end of the 19th century, the Th. Rudloff Mill Works (Mühlenwerke Th. Rudloff) were founded, and the mill more or less took on its current form and expansion, with two residential buildings, the large mill building, and the granary. Starting around the 1920s, the water drive was gradually replaced by steam and electricity, thus becoming a power mill.
With the reunification of Germany, the mill operations ceased, and the mill works were liquidated by the Treuhand Agency (Treuhandanstalt).

Since reunification, there have been various uses, including vacation apartments, a discount supermarket (in the 1990s), and a lasertech labyrinth (2010s). During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was primarily used as a warehouse until we were able to take it over in November 2022.

We hope to learn more about its history over time and fill in the gaps in our knowledge.

Team

Press

“I did it! Lieselotte Käfer is crouching in a cocoon, peering out of a crack. She’s laughing, her eyes shining brightly. Everyone around the mat is clapping. Jana Korb, too, especially. The artist and founder of CircusMühle Kelbra, is proud of her student, who, with her help but above all with her own willpower, managed to wrap herself in the aerial silks cocoon.”
Steffi Rohland, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 19 11 2024 – jpg-Download

“After the last guests of the storytelling café in Kelbra had left, Christiane Wiegand, along with Tobias Stiefel, Jana Korb, and Raik Hildebrandt, looked over the numerous notes on the large sheets of paper that, over the past few hours, had brought a part of the past of Rudloff’s Mill in Kelbra into the present. “I am filled with history,” she bubbled.”
Steffi Rohland, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 18 06 2024 – pdf-Download

“The heart of contemporary art usually beats in urban centers, but the veins of culture sometimes lead to the Goldene Aue. And so it is that for some time now, a Berlin artist trio with big plans has been living in the small town of Kelbra… When Jana Korb and Hoppe Hoppinsky dream, they envision what the old Kelbra mill could one day become: a café on the ground floor, a “bedroom” like an Alpine Club hut above, offices and administration in the side wing, living space in the old attic, rehearsal rooms, workshops for lighting, sound, costumes, and printing, and a small library.”
Angelo Glashagel, nnz-online, 01 05 2024 – externer Link

“Jana Korb, Tobias Stiefel, and Hoppe Hoppinski have been living and working on the property since November 2022. They want to develop the complex into a residential and working space for circus and independent performing arts. The centerpiece is the huge former warehouse building, where a rehearsal stage is already being built and used.”
Steffi Rohland, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 24 04 2023 – pdf-Download

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