Manfred Louven Passed Away

Dressage

Germany

Manfred Louven, a Frankfurt based businessman with a heart for horses, has passed away on 26 June 2026. He was 78 years old.

Born on 30 July 1947, Louven was an architect by education but best known for being the owner of he historic dressage stable Waldfried, as well as the president of the Frankfurt horse racing club.

Dressage Stable Waldfried

Louven rode dressage as a hobby and bought his own horse at age 20. He competed up to S-level and his main horses were Ordensbrder, Senat and Tutor. He boarded his horses with Josef Neckermann at stable Kirchborn at the time.

In 1985 Manfred and his brother Wolfgang Louven bought the equestrian yard Dressage Stable Waldfriedin Frankfurt-Niederrad from the father of dressage rider Andreas Platzdasch.

Waldfried was the former race horse brood farm founded in 1896 by Arthur and Carl von Weinberg. The yard became a base for several dressage riders, including Josef Neckermann and Liselott Linsenhoff, who rented stalls there post war between 1950 and 1960, before building their own barns in the area.

"I fulfilled a life long dream by buying that riding stable," Louven said in an interview more than a decade ago. "The stable is my hobby. There is no financial reason behind it.

Louven put dressage trainers Tanja Traupa as well as Ingo Menze in charge of the daily management, scouting and training of the horses.

Ragant

Louven particularly supported the career of Tanja Traupe, who was his life partner for a period in his life. Traupe first made her name aboard the Hanoverian Willi Wat (by Waterloo x Absender), which he bought from the late Herbert Krug, followed by Danish warmblood Dianna (by May Sherif x Glockenlklang).

Traupe's break through was aboard Louven's Ragant, a 1981 born Danish warmblood gelding by Raimondo which first spotted under Norwegian Marit Delebekk at the 1995 European Championships in Mondorf-Les-Bains. Manfred bought the horse for Tanja and it took her into the German B-squad in 1996. They showed at CDI's in Wiesbaden, Balva, Saumur, Bremen, Frankfurt, Hickstead, Ksiaz, and many more. Their last competition was the Bavarian Dressage Gala in Leverkusen in 2000 when Ragant was 19.

In 2003 Traupa returned with a new big hope, the Hanoverian gelding Ralph Lauren (by Royal Angelo x Falkland) which she showed for three years until 2006. Traupe's last competition was in 2013 on Danish warmblood Honduro (by Hohenstein x A-Dur).

Sales Barn

Waldfried ended up becoming a well known training and sales barn.

In 1998 a part of the Australian team used it as a European base before the World Equestrian Games in Rome. Riders from Europe, Asia and America boarded there while on Euro tours. Greek Gerda Lehmann prepared herself at Waldfried for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Louven invested in horses, many of them Danish warmbloods, and sold several of them, amongst them Victoria Eulner's 2000 German Junior Champion's ride Rendezvous (by Schwadroneur).

Riders such as Alexandra Freimuth and Rena Fraikin worked out of Waldfried. Two years ago Louven sold Waldfried to Dr Frank Herrmann, whose daughter Aurelia is a pony rider. Frank Hermann is now chair of the Frankfurt Riding Club Waldfried.

CDI Frankfurt

Gerhard Pietsch with trophy sponsor Manfred Louven

Louven was the show organiser and financial backer of the Frankfurter Festhallen show between 1995 and 2005. He brought the Young Riders World Cup to Frankfurt.

Alongside dressage sport, Louven had a keen interest in horse racing and was the president of the Frankfurt Racing club. In 2019, after several years of conflict over the future of the racecourse, Louven resigned as president of the club explaining that he favoured negotiation and compromise while others sought a more confrontational approach.

Health

Louven was highly respected as a gentleman, a clever businessman, keen and cultivated and living as a bon vivant.

In 2025 Louven suffered a stroke which made his health very fragile, keeping him hospitalized in Heidelberg. He passed on 26 June 2026 at age 78.

Louven leaves behind wife Katarina (née Potthoff) and a daughter from a previous relationship. His funeral will take place in an intimate way with friends and family.