Dahmshöhe Castle (Fürstenberg)

In 1929, the Berlin banker and art collector Siegfried Bieber acquired the Dahmshöhe estate near Altthymen from Privy Councillor Richard Weber. A large part of the 235-hectare property consisted of forest, supplemented by arable land and meadows. Bieber commissioned the architect Paul Schultze-Naumburg to build a new country residence, which was constructed apart from the existing farm buildings. Although Schultze-Naumburg was known for his designs for the Jewish bourgeoisie, he had increasingly adopted racist and antisemitic views after World War I, as evidenced by his publications and his membership in the NSDAP. Despite these political differences, the then 57-year-old Bieber moved into the new castle in 1930. He and his wife Josephine were art collectors, especially of 17th-century Dutch painting, whose works were likely displayed at Dahmshöhe. Bieber also had an extensive park with a botanical garden and a tropical house laid out.