The Marzona Stiftung Neue Saalecker Werkstätten was founded to transform the historic Saalecker Werkstätten near Naumburg in Saxony-Anhalt. The acquisition of the historic complex in 2018 was made possible by the commitment of collector and patron Egidio Marzona.
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The building ensemble, located high up on a rock above the Saale River, looks back on an eventful and difficult past that is inevitably linked to the architect and racial ideologist Paul Schultze-Naumburg. From 1902 he built his home in Saaleck and shortly thereafter founded the Saalecker Werkstätten, which soon became a platform for National Socialist doctrines.
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Reclaiming this "uncomfortable monument" as a new space for free thinking, creation and discourse was a conscious choice for the Marzona Foundation. The former Saalecker Werstätten will be completely repurposed by dieDAS – the Design Academy Saaleck (www.die-das.de) and dedicated to an innovative, creative and productive exchange. There will also be a learning and documentation center about the history of the site and its original owner, with a special focus on topics such as anti-Semitism and racism. Located in the center of Germany, the Design Academy Saaleck is a firm and material testament, both in Europe and the world, to the power of change in an open community with unlimited freedom of design.
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The entire complex is currently being restored with generous public funding according to a master plan by Danish architect Dorte Mandrup. In 2022, sponge remediation measures were carried out on the architect s building with a grant from the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Board
Egidio Marzona
Arne Cornelius Wasmuth (Vorsitz)
Andreas Silbersack