Rolf C. Hemke is leaving the Weimar Art Festival – moving to the Vorpommern Theater!

Rolf C. Hemke is leaving the Weimar Art Festival – moving to the Vorpommern Theater!

The wind of change is blowing through the arts in Weimar, because after an impressive era, Rolf C. Hemke is leaving the Weimar Arts Festival to move to the Theater Vorpommern. From November 1, 2025, he will work there as artistic director daily news reported.

Hemke has led the art festival since 2019 and has recorded numerous successes, even during the challenging pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, when over 27,000 visitors attested to the events. In recent years, the number of visitors has skyrocketed, reaching a respectable 41,000 in 2023 and even 43,000 in 2024. This made the art festival an important cultural event in East Germany, taking place not only in Weimar itself, but also decentrally throughout Thuringia, like that Weimar Art Festival described in detail.

A year full of art and color

This year's art festival will take place from August 20th to September 7th, 2025 and will be Hemke's last appearance. The transition to a new artistic direction is already in sight: from 2026, the duo Katharina Germo and Juliane Hahn will take over the fate of the festival. This festival is not only one of the oldest cultural initiatives in Germany, but has also become the largest festival for contemporary arts in Central Germany, reports Website of the city of Weimar.

Every year, the Weimar Art Festival opens its doors to a cross-disciplinary program that ranges from theater and music to dance, performance and discourse. It offers a platform for premieres and premieres as well as projects developed specifically for Weimar. The city's multifaceted history is impressively discussed in various artistic forms.

• Festivalzeiträume: zweite August- und erste Septemberhälfte
• Besucherzahlen unter Hemkes Leitung: 41.000 (2023), 43.000 (2024)
• Neuer künstlerischer Leiter ab 1. November 2025: Rolf C. Hemke
• Nachfolgerinnen ab 2026: Katharina Germo und Juliane Hahn

The Weimar Art Festival is not only a highlight in the cultural calendar, but also manages to promote exchange between artists and the public as well as between locals and tourists. Despite all the changes, one thing remains certain: Weimar will continue to be a place where art and culture remain alive.