The magic of Schloss Neubeuern also calls for pupils’ education to produce special results.

For many years now, Schloss Neubeuern has been giving careful consideration on how to make the school a place that educates the real elite. The definition of the aspired to elite goes beyond just school grades and social background but concerns the person as a whole. Our ideal pupils should be diverse and interesting young people who are not only capable of achieving a lot, but who also absolutely want it. In addition to academic strengths, they should have both talent and an interest in sport, music and art. They should also have a strong and empathic interest in their fellows and stand up for them. An increasing number of pupils of this calibre will certainly lead us to think carefully about introducing international qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate in the future.  

The example of British and American elite establishments clearly shows that selecting pupils according to these standards is only possible with considerable financial effort. Accepting suitable pupils should be carried out on a “need blind” basis, i.e. regardless of what proportion of the school and boarding fees their parents can afford. The 20–50% scholarships that are usually awarded by Schloss Neubeuern are by no means sufficient because this still leaves costs of 15,000–20,000 euros per year for the parents.

We have thus set up an independent foundation, independent of the school and its friends and patrons, which will create a long-term and reliable foundation fund to enable us to award scholarships for excellence. For this, we must of course primarily call on alumni and parents to make contributions, but should not neglect various foundations and companies. Every additional scholarship holder will help us to strengthen the positive image of a willingness to achieve and perform, and to generate an attraction that will also captivate the other pupils. This will also make it easier for us to gain highly-qualified teachers, which is becoming more and more important in these times of teacher shortages.

Raising the funds that are needed to guarantee a sufficient number of scholarships will be a lengthy and demanding task. We should view this task as a big challenge that we all face together and which will not only enable us to secure the financial future of Schloss Neubeuern but will perhaps also mean that our school will one day be mentioned in the same breath as Rugby, Eton, Winchester, Andover and Exeter.