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While walking their dogs, they discovered it quite by chance: the old Catholic forest home for children's camps in the Schmellbach Valley. Jessica and Julian have made the old 70s building their private and professional home.
"It was a time when we were generally wondering what to do next in our lives, and then we were here walking the dogs and wondering about the abandoned building in the beautiful location," says Jessica. Research by the then-elected Hamburg residents revealed that the building had not been abandoned at all, but had recently been put up for sale by the regional Catholic church.
Stuttgart's forest homes were originally intended to serve as city recreation centers for children and senior citizens. The Waldheim associations, which emerged from the labor movement, operated several Waldheims in the area as recreation and event venues with restaurant operations. Jessica and Julian bought the forest home together with the 2.6 hectare outdoor area in a floodplain of the Schmellbach, completely surrounded by forest.
After purchasing it in October 2021, the two began remodeling. Friends and family supported them. They only had the very rough plan of setting up a new restaurant and event venue in the old recreation center in the long term. But the two also wanted to let the building and their spontaneous ideas drive them a bit. In winter, for example, they organized a public Winter Olympics on the terrace with curling or transformed the huge main dining room into a handball court in the meantime. From the most beautiful remaining vintage furniture pieces of the aging Waldheim, the two have even furnished an entire room in the 70s look.
Jessica and Julian have their private living quarters in the former janitor's quarters. The central design principle everywhere is: "We bring the surrounding forest into the rooms. The two have therefore furnished their apartment with natural colors and materials. They have painted many walls green. When they bought the forest home, they also acquired various pianos, one of which has now found its place in their apartment. The fact that even after six months of remodeling, the bathroom is still not finished is something the two take with humor.
Along with Jessica and Julian, their four dogs have also moved into Schmellbachtal: Bella, Lenny, Lasse and Maja, some of whom come from animal shelters and need special home improvements and care due to their age or physical impairments. For them, too, their newfound home with plenty of lounging areas, their own stairways and plenty of room to run around in nature is a pure blessing.
Jessica is originally from Plienigen, but never consciously noticed the Schmellbach Valley. For Julian and her, the acquisition of the old Waldheim is also a new professional start. She previously worked at Formula 1, Julian's professional background is actually in controlling. The career change and move from Hamburg to Schmellbachtal was a jump in the deep end, despite the proximity to Jessica's helping family. "To this day, many of our friends and acquaintances can't really understand why we gave up our old lives so suddenly and bought this thing. Yes, I wear rubber boots now, not high heels, but this huge playground is worth it to me."
And then, of course, there's the Waldheim and the Waldheim camp itself, which countless children visited every year during their school vacations and now enjoy dropping by again to reminisce and share their stories. All of these personal and emotional connections to the site are very important to Jessica and Julian, and so much of the private area will remain open to all walkers, hikers and visitors. However, they appeal for respectful interaction with each other and also with nature.
A film by Oleg Kauz (editing, camera, cut), Enno Endlicher (camera), Mirjam Michutta (sound) and Louisa Markert (assistance). Production: EIKON Media GmbH, on behalf of SWR.
00:00 Living and working in the Waldheim
01:24 Dining room
02:17 Living room
03:15 Kitchen
04:54 Bedroom
05:43 Gastro location/handball court
06:54 Garden
08:17 Craft/work room
09:18 70s cafe