A Visit to Worpswede

Following our recent trip to Worpswede in Northern Germany, we are delighted to add Steve Westaway, an ex-Bristolian, to our artists pages.

We were so impressed by the Music Hall during our visit, we thought we’d publish some of our photos to give you a flavour of what we saw and tell you a bit about the place.

Worpswede is situated some 30kms north-east of Bremen in Lower Saxony, northern Germany; this delightful village is not only a thriving artists colony (about which more later) but also is home to the Music Hall. This is a venue to which people travel from as far afield as Hannover and Hamburg (and, of course, Bristol), to see concerts from bands on the European tour circuit as well as more local talent. It is not unusual to see Digitdoc’s new friend Steve Westaway (now living in Worpswede) supporting the likes of Toto’s Steve Lukather and sharing the stage with Clem Clemson (Colosseum) and Chris Farlowe (Thunderbirds).
The Music Hall is run by a Committee who all give their time and effort on a voluntary basis – their aims are to maintain the hall as a financially viable concern, make visiting artists feel as comfortable as possible during their stay and give the audience a good time.

Worpswede’s fame as an artists colony has its roots in the 1880s when quite by chance a young art student was invited to stay with a family there. As its reputation for a particular clarity of light spread, the artist population grew and soon there were painters, sculptors, writers, poets, architects all settling in the village. There are some 130 artists living in modern day Worpswede, producing a diverse range of artistic creations and making for some very interesting walks around the village.