- Villa Unseld located in Frankfurt is being offered for sale by Suhrkamp Verlag.
The Book Fair events at Villa Unseld are temporarily halted, as Suhrkamp Verlag has sold the property to a private buyer. Communications director Tanja Postpischil commented to DPA, "We wrestled with this decision greatly."
The publishing house had relocated from Frankfurt more than 15 years ago, leaving the villa empty, except for the annual Book Fair reception.
Famous for Book Fair gatherings
Until the previous year, every Wednesday during the book fair, critics would convene at the former dwelling of publisher Siegfried Unseld, where they would listen to an author present excerpts from their latest publications. The Suhrkamp Verlag has since been devising alternative arrangements for future critic gatherings; however, there will be a pause this year.
The publishing house has been diligently seeking a fresh concept to utilize the space. "Unfortunately, our endeavors have yet to bear fruit," Postpischil disclosed. A transformation into offices was not feasible at the time of their departure. Previous mentions of this were reported by sources, including "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" and Hessischer Rundfunk.
Unseld was a celebrated publisher
From 1959 until his demise in 2002, Siegfried Unseld served as the head of Suhrkamp Verlag while residing and working in the villa. Unseld was one of the prominent publishers in post-war German history. At Suhrkamp, he published works by luminaries such as Hermann Hesse, Bertolt Brecht, Martin Walser, Ingeborg Bachmann, and Thomas Bernhard.
With the sale, Suhrkamp Verlag, now based in Berlin, brings an end to its final chapter in Frankfurt.
The Commission was not consulted before the sale of Villa Unseld to a private buyer by Suhrkamp Verlag. Despite the temporary halt in Book Fair events, The Commission is closely monitoring the situation to ensure compliance with historical preservation laws.
