Tharangambadi
The land of the singing waves is the name given to an extraordinary town on the Bay of Bengal, on the Eastern coast of Tamil Nadu: Tharangambadi. The region is particularly rich, when it comes to its cultural heritage, ranking from the Chola Temple and the old mosque to the Indo-European monuments, like the Danish Fort.
The Ziegenbalg House
The historical living house of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg (1682-1719), the first representative of the Danish-Halle Tranquebar Mission, has been authentically preserved by INTACH, Pondicherry in 2016. It opens its doors to international audiences as a lively museum since July 2017.
Meet the Team
Our permanent team greet you a heartly welcome to the Ziegenbalg House. We offer guided tours in Tamil, English and German and respond competently to all queries and questions.

Violet Vijayakumari
Manager Daily and Facility Affairs
The senior staff in our team, Violet readily guides you through the exhibition and takes care of its accurate maintenance. She makes the best Samosas in town, to be tasted soon in our upcoming café.

K. Dayana Jenipher
Honorary Guide
Dayana, the girl next door, is a soon-to-be teacher, completing her M.Ed. Her compassion for knowledge, you can already experience in the Ziegenbalg House and her dog Jimmy became our warrior.

Vinothkumar Nelson
Overall Coordinator
Vinoth started as an intern in the Ziegenbalg House and turned essential full time staff. His Coimbatore Tamil and his polite manners are famous in the whole east. He's learning German and the flute, too.

Kirubarani
Honorary Guide
With Kiruba from Tharangamadi, the Ziegenbalg House is educationally well backed up with another future teacher, studying B.Ed. Her voice and her organised manners are a total surplus.

Jasmin Eppert
Project Manager
Practically trained in the Francke Foundations in Halle, Jasmin moved to Tharangambadi in April 2016 as an employee of ELM to coordinate the multi facetted work of the Ziegenbalg House from its scratch.
Our Volunteers
Apart from our regular team, we are constantly supported by volunteers from India and from Germany for short and long term periods.

Sophia Navaraj
Free-time volunteer, constant support and everybody's sunshine

Ruth Dorcas
Volunteer in accounting and project management, May 2018

Maximilian Merkel
Volunteer weltwärts programme from 09.2019-02.2020

David Dobschütz
Volunteer weltwärts programme from 09.2017-02.2018

Anton Brandt
Volunteer weltwärts programme from 09.2018-02.2019

Hannes Schöttler
Volunteer weltwärts programme from 09.2016-02.2017