Kulturmühle: The founders are now alumni, and their project continues to evolve

The founders graduated from high school—but their project lives on. The Kulturmühle—a platform for creative endeavors—will continue to be supported in the future. “We have concrete plans,” reveal Chiara Scheffczyk (11th grade) and Evelyn Damer (9b).

It was Chiara’s brother Francesco and Riko Uphoff who, drawing on their own ideas, turned the platform into what it is today. Thanks to the creative support of art teacher Ines Vielhaben and the backing of school association executive director Dirk Konnertz, the website kulturmühle.de became a platform where every student can express themselves through their creative projects—whether it involves theater, film, art, amazing snow sculptures, or culinary skills. It doesn’t matter where the project originated—it could have been created at school or during free time.

To keep the Kulturmühle’s activities going and expand them even further, Chiara and Evelyn have brought in some reinforcements—from students of all grades. Lasse Zimmer, a 11th grader, is also part of the team, as is Sascha Trofimov. As a fifth grader, he’s still one of the youngest students at Steinmühle. But he doesn’t seem any less committed.

“Our goal is to spread the idea of the Kulturmühle even more widely throughout the entire school,” Chiara explains. The formation of groups focused on specific themes is intended to help achieve this: a culture group, an information group, and a studio group are to be established. A social media group will manage the school’s Instagram presence, which is set to be expanded. However, there is already an account there featuring a white millwheel on a black background—inspired by the stone mill logo.

A meeting with the new artistic director of the Hessisches Landestheater is planned for April. He is a partner of the Steinmühle. His goal is to introduce young people to the theater—and the best way to do that is through young people themselves.

The committee therefore believes it makes sense to appoint one or two cultural representatives per class. Evelyn Damer: “Whoever holds this position serves as a link to our activities.”