Neighbourhood walk in Gruna

At Dresdner Nachbarschaften your life stories around past and future neighbourhoods become visible.

Music walk from Gruna Foundling Fountain to the Villa Akazienhof

Together with In Gruna leben e.V. we explore the district. What reminds us of the old village centre around the Altgruna centre? The foundling fountain, inaugurated in the summer of 1991, was designed by the sculptor Eberhard Wolf. Natural materials and an asymmetrical form were deliberately intended to create a contrast to the cubic concrete slab buildings in the surrounding area. Suitable erratic blocks were sought in open-cast lignite mines in Lusatia and in gravel pits in the vicinity of Dresden. This was done during rainy weather, as this allowed the artist to recognise the actual colour of the stones in interaction with water in order to make an appropriate selection. In 2004, local businesses and volunteer initiators established the Gruna Fountain Festival as a district festival that takes place annually in June at the foundling fountain.

Villa Akazienhof has often changed ownership and use. In the 19th century it belonged to Baron von Rosenberg. Around 1924, the private Ida Jolas resided here with her coachman and gardener. Afterwards, the villa was used by Mimosa AG, a manufacturer of photographic paper, as the residence of the factory director Friedrich Wilhelm Naewiger. In GDR times, Villa Akazienhof housed a kindergarten. After reunification, the building was returned to a community of heirs and fell into ruin. Since 2020, it has been owned by the city of Dresden. In autumn 2021, the neighbourhood association In Gruna leben e.V. held an open day on the property of the villa and collected ideas for its future use. The Villa Akazienhof, as a free space for all, is intended to enrich the Gruna district through neighbourly projects and establish a new sense of unity: for more cohesion, more tolerance and more acceptance.

Das Projekt Dresdner Nachbarschaften – Damals, Heute, Morgen / Zuhören, Erinnern und Gestalten wird gefördert durch das House of Resources Dresden+. Diese Maßnahme wird mitfinanziert mit Steuermitteln auf Grundlage des vom Sächsischen Landtag beschlossenen Haushaltes im Rahmen des Landesprogrammes Integrative Maßnahmen.