About the Society
A standing community, ninety years in the keeping.
The history, mission and people of the Tanz·Kultur·Begegnung Society.
Our History
Founded in 1932, kept by every generation since.
In the autumn of 1932, twelve friends from Bad Homburg and the wider Taunus — among them a violinist of the Kurorchester, a Frankfurt philologist, and a young barrister recently returned from Buenos Aires — drew up a short charter for a society "for the cultivation of dance, learning and good company, rooted in the cultural life of the Kurstadt."
The Society found its lasting home in the Orangerie im Kurpark after the war, and has since become a quiet fixture of Bad Homburg society. Its balls, salons and lectures unfold beneath the same arched windows that once received the guests of the Wilhelmine spa.
We remain, by deliberate choice, a small association. Our membership is renewed gently, year by year, by introduction and application.
Our Mission
“To gather, in one standing company, those who love dance, learning and human kindness — and to keep that company open to each new generation as it arrives.”
❦ From the founding charter, 1932
Our Values
Six quiet commitments.
Respect
For one another, for our traditions, and for those whose paths differ from our own.
Openness
An association is only as alive as the welcome it offers to the newcomer.
Excellence
Quiet, patient, unshowy excellence in everything we choose to do.
Culture
Culture not as decoration, but as the living conversation of a community.
Community
We exist to make and keep friends, across generations and borders.
Heritage
We are the temporary stewards of a long inheritance, and answer to it.
Leadership
The Council of the Society.
The Society is governed by a Council of six, elected from among the membership for three-year terms.
Prof. Margarethe von Lieven
President
Dr Andrew Ferris
Honorary Secretary
Mme Isabelle Roussel
Director of Cultural Programme
James Okonkwo
Master of Dance
Dr Saskia Albrecht
Librarian and Archivist
Hon. Lord Penrose
Patron
Cultural Vision & Partnerships
A few rooms in the world where this kind of evening still happens.
Our cultural vision is modest in scale and steady in purpose: to keep open, in our small corner, a few rooms where dance, music, conversation and friendship can meet on equal terms.