Cultural Academy

About

The Tarabya Cultural Academy is an institution of the German Federal Government. It is run by the German Embassy in Ankara and is one of the cultural activities of the German Embassy in Türkiye. The curatorial responsibility for the Tarabya Cultural Academy lies with the Goethe-Institut.

Idea

The Tarabya Cultural Academy is a residency program for artists from various disciplines. It aims to contribute to German-Turkish cultural exchange. The stay in Tarabya is intended to provide residents with inspiration and the opportunity to develop their work further. The Academy’s seven artist apartments, meeting room and two studios offer the residents optimal living and working conditions.

The Cultural Academy was launched at the initiative of the German Federal Parliament. The house is located on the grounds of the historical summer residence of the German Ambassador in Tarabya, on the European side of Istanbul, approximately 15 km north of the city center. The Cultural Academy is run by the German Embassy in Ankara and is one of the cultural activities of the German Embassy in Türkiye. The curatorial responsibility for the Tarabya Cultural Academy lies with the Goethe-Institut.

Story

The Tarabya Cultural Academy was inaugurated on 13 October 2011 in the presence of the then German and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Guido Westerwelle and Ahmet Davutoğlu. The keynote speakers, Cornelia Pieper (Minister of State in the Foreign Office) and Kemal Fahir Genç (Deputy State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture), expressed their hope that the Cultural Academy would contribute to the positive development of cultural relations between Türkiye and Germany. Other speakers at the ceremony included the President of the Goethe-Institut Klaus-Dieter Lehmann and the Bundestag members Petra Merkel (SPD) and Claudia Roth (Bündnis 90/The Greens). A cultural program organized by the Goethe-Institute and a speech by the writer and President of the German Academy for Language and Poetry, Klaus Reichert, rounded off the festive evening.

The first recipients of residencies at the freshly inaugurated Academy were the documentary filmmaker Martina Priessner and the playwright Marianna Salzmann in September 2012. Since then, over 200 residents (as of October 2025) have resided and worked in Tarabya.

Historic Summer Residence

The historic summer residence of the German Ambassador is located in the former spa town of Tarabya, now part of the metropolis of Istanbul. The property was a gift from the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918). In 1880 he gave it to the German Empire for diplomatic use. The property therefore still has the status of an embassy grounds to this day. The residence covers an area of around 18 hectares. Much of it is an extensive forest and garden. In the front part there are ten buildings, mainly in the style of Turkish summer houses (yali), and the German military cemetery. The Cultural Academy occupies the former embassy chancellery, where there are five artist apartments. Two more artist apartments and studios were built in the former coach house. There is also an event room in the former canteen kitchen.

According to an Argonaut legend, Tarabya was originally called “Pharmacia” or “Phamakeia” (ancient Greek for poison). Nobody wanted to live in a place with such a name: “Phamakeia” was therefore renamed “Therapia” (recovery). Until the 16th century Tarabya was a fishing village. Sultan Selim II (1524-1574) later had a country house (köşk) built there with an impressive garden. Tarabya developed into a resort for upscale Istanbul society and several ambassadors built their summer houses there. In 1885 the Reichstag in Berlin approved the construction project for a summer residence in Tarabya. The sale of the site of the former Prussian Embassy in Istanbul made funds available to begin construction. The first blueprints were made in 1882 by an architect named Cingria and revised by Wilhelm Dörpfeld, who worked in Athens. He paid particular attention to the inclusion of Ottoman building traditions: octagonal shapes in the Ambassador’s house and the wooden columns he introduced are characteristic elements of Turkish summer houses. The building work was carried out by Armin Wegner. Construction began in 1885 and was completed two years later.

The extensive gardens of the residence extend over a large part of the grounds. You can recognize different complementary design phases. Today’s garden includes components of the complex from the Ottoman era as well as elements from the 1980s. The German military cemetery on the grounds is looked after by the German War Graves Commission. Its terrace-like design and the main sculpture are the work of the sculptor Georg Kolbe. The cemetery initially served as a resting place for the German soldiers who died in the Battle of the Dardanelles in 1915. Later those killed in both world wars from all over Türkiye were reburied there. Every year, officials and representatives of German organizations commemorate the dead on the Day of National Mourning.

When the German Embassy moved to Ankara after the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the house and the grounds lost their original purpose. The former embassy was designated the “Historic Summer Residence” and is now used by both the Ankara Embassy and the Consulate General in Istanbul as a place for German-Turkish dialogue: conferences, events and receptions take place in the ambassador’s former house, while the neighboring former embassy chancellery houses the residents of the Cultural Academy.

Organization

Advisory Board

The Academy Advisory Board is the central body of the Tarabya Cultural Academy. It is made up of representatives from the German Federal Parliament, the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Goethe-Institute. The members of the Academy Advisory Board are appointed for four years; the Advisory Board can be newly appointed at the beginning of a legislative period.

The Academy Advisory Board appoints the jury in charge of awarding residencies. In addition, it advises on the conceptual guidelines for the Cultural Academy and the procedure for awarding residencies. It can advise and make decisions on all questions concerning the Cultural Academy.

The inaugural meeting of the Academy Advisory Board will take place in December 2025. Afterwards, the new Advisory Board members will be introduced.

Jury

The jury for selecting residents at the Cultural Academy consists of five experts from the fields of art and culture. It is appointed by the Academy’s Advisory Board for a term of two-years.