Confessions of a Castleholic

With more than 30,000 castles in Germany, it's no wonder that current usage is very varied. Case in point: Schloss Hamborn , which serves as a centre for anthroposophy and is home to a school and rehabilitation clinic named for the 19th century esotericist Rudolf Steiner, who was the founder of both anthroposophy and the ideas of Waldorf education. It was also during the 19th century that Schloss Hamborn came to be even though its Weser Renaissance-style architecture might suggest it is a century or two older. During the mid-1800's, the noble von Hartmann family from nearby Borchen purchased two feudal estates in the area and united them into one. Construction on the Eastern wing of today's  Schloss  started in 1868. The coat of arms of the family featuring a heart and three roses can still found above the main entrance of that wing. Already three years later, in 1871, Schloss Hamborn passed from Bernhardine von Hartmann to her nephew Hermann von Mallinckro...