Orff Centre Munich

The Orff Centre Munich at Kaulbachstrasse 16 is an institution of the Free State of Bavaria. It was opened in 1990 "to promote a lively examination of the life and work of the composer Carl Orff and to give new impetus to scholarly research into his work". The director of the institute is the musicologist Dr. Thomas Rösch. Almost the entire estate of Carl Orff is stored here. This is because the Orff Centre Munich works closely with the Carl Orff Foundation, the owner of the estate, a non-profit public foundation under civil law based in Dießen am Ammersee. Here, in nearby St. Georgen, the composer lived from 1955 until his death in 1982. Today, one can still visit his study, see his extensive library and many valuable instruments, including the grand piano on which the Carmina Burana were composed. Orff had stipulated in his will that his widow Liselotte (1930-2012) would administer his estate. In contact with the Free State of Bavaria, the search for a home for Orff's estate in Munich began soon after his death. By chance, they came across the respectable building in Kaulbachstraße, without suspecting that the Günther School had once been located here from 1936 to 1944, the training centre for gymnastics, rhythm, music and dance that Carl Orff had founded together with Dorothee Günther in 1924 and from which the Orff Schulwerk emerged as Elementare Musikübung (1932-35). From 1967, the Munich University of Television and Film was housed here and greats such as Wim Wenders, Alexander Kluge and Bernd Eichinger came and went. In 1990, the building was returned to its original purpose with the Orff Centre Munich. Today, Orff's estate is looked after here by scholars, his work and biography are researched and all material by and about Carl Orff is collected and archived. Events such as concerts, film screenings, lectures, symposia, exhibitions and much more take place in the beautiful hall on the first floor.