Astorhaus, Astoria-Halle and the Astor Legacy in Walldorf

In Walldorf you will see the name Astor — or Astoria — on a museum, a hall, a football club and a sports club. All of them go back to one man: Johann Jakob Astor (1763–1848), born here as a butcher's son, who became John Jacob Astor, one of the richest men in America. This page explains what each "Astor" place in Walldorf actually is, and what there is to see. (One common misunderstanding first: there is no "Astoria Hotel" in Walldorf. The Waldorf-Astoria hotel is in New York; it took the "Waldorf" part of its name from this town.)

Who was John Jacob Astor?

Astor was born in Walldorf on 17 July 1763. In 1779 he left for London, where his brother George built musical instruments, and in 1784 he arrived in the United States. He made his first fortune in the fur trade — his American Fur Company dominated the trade around the Great Lakes, and his Pacific Fur Company founded the trading post of Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1811 — and his second in New York real estate. When he died in 1848 he was considered the wealthiest person in the United States. The full story, in the context of Walldorf's history, is on the history page.

The Astorhaus and the Museum im Astorhaus

Astor left $50,000 in his will to his home town to help its poor. The money paid for the Astorhaus, designed by the Karlsruhe architect Ludwig Lendorff, a pupil of Friedrich Weinbrenner, and opened on 9 July 1854. Until 1936 it served as a poorhouse and orphanage. The house and its park, re-landscaped in 1983, are one of the most attractive spots in town.

Today the building houses the Museum im Astorhaus, a local history museum run by the volunteer society Vereinigung Walldorfer Heimatfreunde. Its rooms include:

• the former administrator's office, with Biedermeier furniture and pictures, objects and documents about Astor;
• a recreated late-19th-century rural home — kitchen, parlour ("gute Stube") and bedroom;
• a large section on farming and forestry, with tools, a chaff cutter and beekeeping equipment;
• display cases of Roman finds from excavations in Walldorf — pottery, roof tiles and water pipes.

The museum is open on a limited schedule — traditionally on the first Sunday afternoon of each month, with group tours by arrangement. Opening times and admission can change, so check the society's website, museum-im-astorhaus.de, before you go.

The Astoria-Halle

The Astoria-Halle at Schwetzinger Straße 91 is Walldorf's large multi-purpose hall. It is used as a sports hall by the town's biggest sports club, SG Walldorf Astoria, and for civic and cultural events such as the town's New Year reception, concerts and shows; events moved indoors from open-air venues are often staged here too. It is not a hotel or a restaurant. For what is on, see the town's official events calendar.

Getting there by bus: local and regional buses in Walldorf are part of the VRN network and are run jointly with Wiesloch. Timetables, stops near the Astoria-Halle and connections towards Hockenheim or Wiesloch-Walldorf station can be checked in the VRN journey planner (vrn.de or the myVRN app). Suggestions for new or additional bus connections are a matter for the town administration and the transport authority — the right contacts are the Stadt Walldorf (Rathaus, Nußlocher Straße 45) and the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar, not this website.

Astoria in sport

• FC-Astoria Walldorf — the town's football club, formed in 1995 through a merger, plays in the Regionalliga Südwest (fourth tier) and has done so since the 2014/15 season.
• SG Walldorf Astoria 1902 — the large multi-sport club (handball, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, badminton and more) that uses the Astoria-Halle.

See sports and recreation for more clubs and facilities.

Astoria, Oregon and other Astor links abroad

Walldorf has been twinned with Astoria, Oregon — the town that grew from Astor's 1811 trading post — since 1963. Its other partners include Waldorf in Maryland (since 2001) and Freeport, New York (since 2003), as well as Kırklareli in Turkey, Saint-Max in France and Walldorf in Thuringia. In New York, the Waldorf-Astoria name combines the Waldorf hotel (1893), named by William Waldorf Astor after Walldorf, with the Astoria hotel (1897) next door.

Last reviewed on 5 October 2026. Sources: de.wikipedia (Walldorf), museum-im-astorhaus.de, walldorf.de.