

In Feldafing, near Munich, stands the Villa Waldberta, high above Lake Starnberg, situated in an expansive park and built in 1901/02 as part of a colony of villas on the hill Höhenberg. It has been in the possession of Munich state capital since 1966 thanks to a private donation and has been an international domicile for artists since the 1980s. Villa Waldberta also made history, when in the post-war period, for example, it became a temporary home to survivors of concentration camps or when former German chancellor Willy Brandt lodged there during the 1972 Olympic Games and received high-ranking international politicians such as Henry Kissinger, Georges Pompidou or Edward Heath.
In 1982, the city council voted to use the house for holders of international scholarships, who are normally allowed to live and work there for free for up to three months. At first, the invitations were restricted to guests from the worlds of literature and fine art. In December 2004, the city council agreed to open up the house for all categories of art and culture in order to be able to make use of the advantages of interdisciplinary work and thinking. Furthermore, artists are now only invited if they are involved in specific projects run by the city of Munich and its cooperative partners, so that cultural exchange and international cultural work can be given sustained support.