The „Escheberger Musenhof“, also known as the “Free State of Artists” or “Hessian Tusculum”, came into being as a result of the artistic interests and personal contacts of the owners of Escheberg, the brothers Ernst Friedrich (1786 – 1824) and Karl Otto von der Malsburg (1790 – 1855). The latter attended school in Kassel and later university in Marburg with the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. According to Jacob Grimm “the heftiest scholarships were distributed to my schoolmates by von der Malsburg, who was a member of the distinguished Hessian nobility and was at one point to become the richest estate owner in the land.”

Ernst Friedrich von der Malsburg gained a certain significance as a Romantic poet, but was more prominent as a translator of Calederon and other Spanish literature. The Grimm brothers retained links with him until his early death. Their younger brother, the well known painter and graphic artist Ludwig Emil Grimm (1790 – 1863), also visited Escheberg on one occasion.

Numerous artists came to the estate for long or short stays, generously invited by Karl Otto von der Malsburg. Many names can be found in the “Fremdenbuch” where visitors signed their names. They include those of poets and writers Friedrich Bodenstedt, Emanuel Geibel and Franz Kugler, historians Christoph von Rommel and Heinrich von Sybel, musicians Louis Spohr and Heinrich Marschner, painters Moritz von Schwind and August von der Embde, and Ludwig Gabillon, who was later employed as an actor at the Burgtheater for many years.