This year's Annual Retreat will be held at the beautiful Castle Rauischholzhausen. The castle is located approximately 30 minutes by car from Giessen in the immediate proximity of the picturesque town of Ebsdorfergrund. 

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History:

The property was first mentioned in a charter book of the monastery of Fulda (between 750 and 779) and had initially been a fief of the Lords of Eppstein. In 1369 it was acquired by the Archbishop of Mainz. From then on, the castle served as a seat of Lords Rau of Holzhausen. It was later acquired by Ferdinand Stumm, the imperial ambassador in Madrid. The Stumm family owned the Holzhausen property until 1937, when it was sold to the the Kerkhoff Foundation in Bad Nauheim and leased to the University of Giessen as a site for agriculturel experiments. In 1945 it was confiscated as Nazi property by the Allied forces. The castle and the park became property of the state of Hesse and were put at the disposal of Justus Liebig University Giessen as a conference centre.

 

Architecture:

The Rauischholzhausen castle was designed by Carl Schaefer in the style of Klein-Potsdam. The construction started in 1871 and the castle was lavishly decorated. In 1873 the building collapsed as a result of badly laid foundations, but was redesigned according to Schaefer’s original concept. Construction of the roof and the south-east wing was completed in 1875. The main building, reminiscent of an English manor house, was finished a year later. Finally, the half-timbered wing of the building was completed in 1878.

 

Gardens:

The extensive park is designed in English style and contains almost three hundred different types of trees. Two creeks run through the park and form several ponds connected by artificial cascading waterfalls. Gardens feature several marble sculptures, often depicting figures from Roman mythology. Originally a part of the art collection of Ferdinand Eduard von Stumm, today the statues belong to the Giessen University Collections.