AiRArtist in Residence

Chretzeturm

Each year, the Jakob and Emma Windler Foundation invites (inter)national artists to the Chretzeturm for a guest stay. The artists from different disciplines, especially from the field of visual art, live and work here for several months. The residency provides the artist-in-residence with the time and space to engage with the local social context, to experiment artistically, and to develop new works. Exchanges and stimuli result in networks that can lead to new projects. The artist live free of charge in the four-story, fully equipped residential tower and receive a monthly contribution for living expenses. Curatorial support of the artists is guaranteed.

The residency is awarded by invitation only, applications are not possible. The artists benefit from the network with other cultural institutions of the foundation (Kulturhaus Obere Stube and Museum Lindwurm). In Meet the Artist events, they give a culturally interested public insights into their working practices. Moreover, the creation of new works and their presentation in Stein am Rhein are part of the residency and are funded on a project-specific basis.

The location of the artist residency in Stein am Rhein outside of the urban centers is quite special. The town, where Lake Constance becomes the Rhine, is very quiet during the winter months. During the summer, however, many tourists stroll through the well-preserved old part of ttown with its medieval, half-timbered houses featuring ornate facade paintings and bay windows. With its unique river landscape, the region offers a wide range of opportunities for bicycle excursions and hikes. Larger cities such as Schaffhausen, Winterthur, Zurich, or Basel can be quickly reached by train.

The artist-in-residence format at the Chretzeturm has existed since 1999. No other building in the town has as many names as this tower: Ballen-, Batten-, Winzen-, Hafner- and Chretzeturm. The meaning of Chretzeturm is actually not entirely clear. The Schweizerisches Idiotikon describes the term «Chretze» as a «hoe with prongs to ‹plow› the vineyard.»¹ This could indeed provide an explanation for the name of the tower which faces the vineyard slope. Another possible explanation goes back to «Chretzer,» a freshwater fish, the European perch, also known as Egli in Stein am Rhein. But since the tower is located on the side of the town facing away from the Rhine, this derivation is rather unlikely. A further explanation is that the shape of the building is reminiscent of a «Chrēze» or «Chräze,» a round back basket. Depending on what they are used for, such baskets are «more or less tightly woven, sometimes made merely of rungs inserted in a wooden base and connected by crossbars.»² This is indeed conceivable due to the structural form (half-shell tower). The building consists of a tower with a modern gabled roof from the 12^th century and a residential structure facing the town that was added in the 19^th century.