Our Story
The people and stories behind Terracotta
Terracotta is not a hotel and not a company. It is a family apartment with a story that stretches from Cologne to Telavi — told here briefly, and honestly.
We share only what the family is happy to make public — personal details are kept simple by choice.
Two countries, one family
Terracotta is looked after by Tilla and Lelle, a German-Georgian couple whose life connects Cologne and Georgia. Lelle grew up in Georgia, with deep family roots and a large extended family here. Tilla — Tilmann Kulke — is a German historian who moved to Georgia with his family and now teaches at Ilia State University in Tbilisi.
Between them: two languages, two cultures, and a shared love for an old stone house in the middle of Telavi.
A home, not a hotel
When the family renovated the apartment, the aim was never luxury. It was to preserve the traditional character of the building — the old stone, the unusual layout, the feeling of a real Telavi home — and to offer clean, stylish, comfortable accommodation at a fair price.
That is still the promise today: a genuine place to stay, looked after by people who actually live here.
From Cologne to Georgia
Moving a family between countries means more than changing addresses. It means new schools and new friendships, Georgian supras and German Christmas traditions, and deciding which parts of both cultures everyday life should be made of.
For this family, Georgia is not an assignment or a project. It is home.
A story we are still writing down
The organ that made the journey
Somewhere in this family's story there is an organ — a large, improbable instrument that travelled from Germany to Georgia. How and why it made that journey is a tale we want to tell properly: we are gathering the details and photographs together with the family before publishing.
Coming soon — with the family's helpWhy Telavi matters
The family could have settled anywhere in Georgia. They chose the Kakhetian heartland: a working town with a royal fortress, a famous ancient plane tree, wine cellars in courtyards and the Alazani Valley at its feet.
And then there is the king across the street — a connection so curious it earned its own page.
The historian and the king05
A personal welcome
However you found us — through a friend, a listing, or a late-night search for somewhere with character — welcome. We hope you sleep well under these old stones, and that Telavi gives you stories of your own to take home.
Say hello