Hamborn Castle (Borchen)

The first mention of Hamborn appears in a document from Corvey Abbey in the 9th century. Between 1137 and 1140, the property was gifted to the Paderborn Cathedral Chapter, establishing the Hamborn Obedience. The current castle structures originated from two manor farms, which were acquired by the von Hartmann family in the mid-19th century and merged into one estate. This family built the present east wing. Through the Mallinckrodt and von Droste zu Hülshoff families, the property came into the possession of Baron Otto von Rüxleben in 1913, who added the north wing with a hall and a second tower. After a fire in 1929, when Johannes Leidl was the owner, the castle was rebuilt. In 1931, Siegfried Pickert acquired the estate and established an anthroposophical institution for the care of children in need. This institution was dissolved by the National Socialists in 1941 and used as a mother-and-child convalescent home. After World War II, it briefly served as accommodation for bombed-out seniors from Paderborn before being returned to the original sponsoring association in 1947.