Sanctuary for children in need: Gut Dietlhofen of the Maffay Foundation is "fully occupied"

Created: 09/30/2022, 10:00 am

The Tabalugahaus at Gut Dietlhofen at its inauguration in 2018. On 500 square meters there is plenty of space for retreat and socializing.

© schubert/ARCHIVE

Four years ago, Gut Dietlhofen became a new feel-good place for adolescents from difficult backgrounds.

The building should house around 400 children a year, it said.

Time to ask how Peter Maffay's latest Tabaluga house is doing.

Weilheim

– The fourth Tabalugahaus was opened in 2018 with a grand opening ceremony and over 1,000 guests.

The other three holiday homes belonging to the Peter Maffay Foundation are located on Lake Starnberg, on the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca and in Romania.

The German rocker has had the former administration building of the Dietlhofen estate converted into his newest recreational home for children and young people.

The result was a 500 square meter building that was to be a contact point for around 400 disadvantaged children and young people who had experienced drugs or violence.

The light-flooded building was designed to be barrier-free.

All rooms can be reached by elevator or stairs.

The natural surroundings of the estate were also expected to have positive effects on children and young people.

The house has been very well received, reported Albert Luppart, Managing Director of the Peter Maffay Foundation.

This year there were even more guests than usual. Whether this is good news in terms of the actual background of the facility, or whether it should be thought-provoking is in the eye of the beholder.

In any case, the Tabalugahaus and Gut Dietlhofen seem to go down very well with those affected.

Understandable: The area with large animal enclosures and within reach of the Dietlhofer See, in the middle of the Pfaffenwinkel is particularly varied.

Luppart reports that living together with the Ukrainians who have been living on the estate since March 4 is also harmonious.

According to Luppart, the children's home and the adjoining guest house are currently home to 28 adolescents with difficult backgrounds.

"The cooperation in the region is going well with both district offices," he said.

The foundation operates another children's home in Jägersbrunn on Lake Starnberg.

The children who are accommodated at Gut Dietlhofen do not only come from the region.

"From all over Germany and also from neighboring European countries" seekers of help would come to the foothills of the Alps.

In some cases, the facility is already suffering from a lack of space, explained Luppart.

The children would then be distributed to the surrounding hostels, such as Villa K in Niederpöcking or Gut Grasleiten.

However, the children with different pasts are not only given lasting memories on the farm, but also on excursions in the region, for example to Munich or to the Zugspitze, one tries to offer the young people formative experiences that give them a break from their often unpleasant should enable private life, so Luppart.

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The adventure playground with its many natural elements and a cable car is particularly popular on the estate grounds.

But the barn, which was converted into a meeting house three years ago and with its teaching kitchen is intended to teach young and old a conscious and healthy diet, or the bee project are very popular with the children.

"It always depends on the season," said Luppart.

There are definitely differences as to what the children on the estate would like best.

When asked whether the groups would be adapted to the individual fates of the children, he noted that special care was taken to form homogeneous groups.

"It just has to fit," said Luppart.

The age range at Gut Dietlhofen is mainly from elementary school to adolescence.

In the future, too, we want to offer those looking for a break a wide range of options.

With the current need for places, it is sometimes necessary to think about expanding the facility.

A second children's home on the estate is currently not planned, "but of course nothing can be ruled out," said the managing director of the foundation.

But he still has to talk to Peter Maffay personally about the future.