About Von Hand:
Von Hand is an annual international gathering of craftspeople, artists, and curious learners, held in the Brexbachtal forest near Koblenz, Germany. It is a week-long celebration of traditional craft, where participants immerse themselves in hands-on workshops ranging from spoon carving and forging to basket weaving and natural dyeing.
Von Hand centers around more than just technique — it is grounded in values of slowness, sustainability, and stewardship. The festival honors ancestral skills while making space for contemporary expressions of handcraft. It prioritizes access, diversity, and the preservation of knowledge that’s passed not only through instruction, but through being together — in the same space, with our hands in the same work.
At its heart, Von Hand is about connection:
—to self, through the grounding, transformative act of making
—to others, through shared meals, conversations by the fire, and the quiet companionship of crafting side by side
—and to place, by living lightly on the land for a week, and letting the rhythms of the forest shape the pace of the day.
It is a rare space where the boundaries between teacher and student blur, where people arrive as strangers and leave feeling like kin. In a world that so often pulls us apart, Von Hand offers a return to something older, slower, and deeply human — the joy of learning together, living together, and making by hand.
Meet the founders:
We are Raleigh, Oliver, & Daniel, a small group of makers who have had a wide variety of experiences in the processing of green wood and other natural materials in recent years. Inspired by some festivals in Great Britain & the United States such as the Bowl Gathering, Spoonfest and the Bodgers Ball in the UK, and Buckeye Gathering, Spirit Weavers & many more in the USA, we quickly felt the desire to set up such a gathering in mainland Europe as well.
After this spontaneous idea at the end of 2020, action quickly followed. And here we are! We are happy to present you “Von Hand Festival”, a gathering all about handcraft, nature & community.