Kinderburg supports more than 700 children after family crises

More than 370 families and over 700 children have received support at Kinderburg Rappottenstein Castle in Lower Austria since 2011, ORF reports. The refuge offers families a place to recover after a serious illness or a death.

The Muthsam family was among the first to use the programme. Fifteen years ago, the father of Julia and Stefanie Muthsam died in an excavator accident, changing the family’s life in an instant.

The family found support at Rappottenstein Castle in the Waldviertel. “I believe it is a real place of strength. You gain some distance and are away from home. You do not have to worry about small things, such as what you will eat that day. You can fully immerse yourself in your grief and then return home feeling relieved,” their mother, Barbara Wohlmuth, recalled.

Julia was 10 and Stefanie was eight at the time. They stayed at the castle with another family that had experienced a similar loss. Knowing that the other family understood what they were going through was important to both sisters.

“It is incredibly beautiful to realise how this place supported us in a situation where, as children, we did not really understand what it meant that our father was not coming home,” Julia Muthsam said. “The place understood us. We did not have to explain ourselves. We cried, and nobody asked why we were sad because everyone simply understood.”

Space for rest and grieving

Conversations, games, activities with animals and time in nature are intended to give families space to switch off, grieve and spend time together. The programme is tailored to each family, following the principle of providing as much support as necessary and as much freedom as possible.

Returning to the castle 15 years later was emotional for Stefanie Muthsam. “Everything came back a little, and we were able to feel it all again,” she said.

Bettina Hohl, who led Kinderburg at the time, also remembers the family’s stay. “It is moving to see that the little girls have become young women who are successful and firmly established in life,” she said.

Cornelia Seper, the head of Kinderburg, said the facility was needed because difficult issues often get lost in everyday life and families do not find the time to address them properly. The setting also allows them to gain an outside perspective.

The Red Cross runs the programme in cooperation with the Abensperg and Traun family, which owns the castle. Most stays are financed through donations collected at an annual benefit concert and other events. A benefit outing called Ride for Kids will take place on September 5 in support of Kinderburg.