In 1992, with the idea of turning the Villa Silberblick, the legendary former Nietzsche Archive, into a venue for free spirits in Nietzsche's sense, Schmidt-Grépály came to Weimar. After working for the Stiftung Weimarer Klassik from 1993 to 1999 first as a freelance collaborator, in October 1999 Schmidt-Grépály was appointed Director of the Kolleg Friedrich Nietzsche. For his initiative in founding and building up the Kolleg he was awarded the "Premio Internazionale Federico Nietzsche" by the "Associazione Internazionale di Studi e Ricerche Federico Nietzsche" (Palermo, Italy) in 2002. Shortly after celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Kolleg was nominated Weimar's first "Ort der Vielfalt" (Place of Diversity) in January 2012.