Boarding School Germany – Steinmühle Marburg

Germany has a very varied boarding school landscape with many different characteristics. Our Steinmühle grammar school and boarding school is located in the middle of Germany (Europe), in an idyllic natural setting on the edge of the university town of Marburg in Hesse. Our excellent location enables us to offer a holistic educational concept in an ideal combination of life and learning. Steinmühle is attended by both German and foreign students, and, working in cooperation with the University of Marburg, we offer them early career orientation.

Boarding school with many advantages

An ideal location for many leisure activities

The idyllic setting of Steinmühle includes direct access to the river Lahn – you can go swimming in summer or use one of our numerous water sports facilities. We have – as one of the few boarding schools or private schools in Germany – our own landing stage as well as a boathouse with jetty. Rowing is available at Steinmühle all year round. A spacious paddock and our own riding stable for our students interested in riding are also part of our educational experience. We maintain contact with many clubs where children and young people can pursue their individual interests.

Not all boarding schools are the same – the special school concept

Boarding schools in Germany differ not only in their geographical location, but also in the quality of the teaching staff, their basic values, the type of school, the costs or the underlying concept. We represent a special school concept in which the individual support of each student is paramount. Since the foundation of the boarding school we have constantly expanded our school concept, passed on what is tried and tested and incorporated new findings into the philosophy of our educational institution. The lower and middle school is taught in both the mornings and afternoons. From the 7th grade onwards bilingual lessons are offered and in elective lessons from the 8th grade onwards we create a connection between practical and theoretical learning. We are proud to state that classes are never cancelled at Steinmühle Boarding School.

Teachers and student meet as equals

The educational team and their families live in the boarding school grounds and have very close contact with the students. This enables them to give individual advice and support to the children and young people at any time. Community and cohesion are strengthened during numerous projects and excursions; class teams meet early each day in a morning circle, and a class council as well as regular teacher-educator discussions ensure the right level of communication and exchange.

The “learning office” promotes independence

In addition to the fixed learning times in the classroom, we have set up the “learning office” at Steinmühle. Every child and teenager organizes his or her own private study time in this learning office. During this time they can do homework, prepare for upcoming exams or repeat topics they have not understood. There are always teachers present in the learning office who accompany the private study and give feedback to the head of the boarding school if necessary.

A boarding school in Germany with many focal points

In order to promote the individual interests and talents of the children and young people, we have created an extensive range of services for the boarding school. One focus is riding. On the premises we have our own riding school with 35 horses and ponies. Our riding instructors offer daily riding lessons for beginners and advanced riders. We regularly organize sporting events, riding badge tests, foal and breeding shows and riding tournaments. The extracurricular focus is on rowing.

Contact person Steinmühle – Schule & Internat

Anke Muszynski

Anke Muszynski

Head of Boarding School


Speisesaal Internat Steinmühle

Overcoming borders – Steinmühle as a model for boarding schools in Germany and Europe

Our boarding school is open to all children and young people regardless of their faith or origin. Since 1988  Steinmühle Boarding School and Gymnasium Steinmühle has participated in the GAPP program, the German American Partnership Program. In the state of Indiana we have found a partner school which is located not far from Lake Michigan. Starting in 2012/13 and every second year afterwards we have organized a student exchange with this school in which senior high school students in the E or Q phase participate. 

International Exchange program with a school in Lille

Germany and France have a long tradition of fostering international partnerships between schools and coordinating exchanges. Due to the success we have achieved with our American partner schools, Steinmühle has recently been maintaining close contact with the Lycée and the Collège St. Pierre in Lille. The exchange is to be further intensified in the coming years. Written exchanges between students begin from the 6th grade onwards, and regular exchange trips take place from the 9th grade onwards. Interested upper school (Oberstufe) students can also stay up to 6 months with host families and attend the partner school.

We regard international student exchange as an indispensable supplement to language teaching as well as a pillar for international understanding and the development of communicative and intercultural skills in a global context.

A well-established boarding school in Germany with a broad and reliable network

In order to be able to offer pupils a wide range of subjects and topics from all aspects of life, we maintain intensive contacts with partners in our home region in addition to school partnerships abroad. These local contacts include the Philipps University in Marburg and numerous sports clubs.

Steinmühle: a sense of community, team spirit and personal responsibility

Steinmühle is a place with a sense of community and growth. Here, children and young people find security and closeness, develop personal responsibility and dealing with rules in the residential groups. They experience self-efficacy and team orientation in the working groups, enjoy calm and stimulation in their free time, and strengthen themselves through exchange, exercise and “excellent” food (certificate of the ‘German society for nutrition’).

A community that supports

The boarding school is also a place of living and learning for the children and young people for some years. Here the aim is that they should feel comfortable, accepted in their personality, belonging, seen and heard. Steinmühle opens a space for them to discover their own path through life and be part of a happy and benevolent community.

During the year there are numerous activities that strengthen the sense of community

  • Right at the beginning, the getting-to-know-each-other trip of the individual residential groups on the first weekend of the boarding school year ensures that the pupils get to know each other.
  • At the weekly “menu evening” when the kitchen staff spoil the children and teenagers with delicious food and carefully set tables, when candlelight creates a relaxed and homely atmosphere and the living groups grow closer together. The subsequent house meetings further encourage a sense of togetherness and enable the students to actively participate in shaping their lives and living at Steinmühle. The boarding school weekends as well as special events such as Halloween parties or city tours also strengthen the feeling of community.
  • The pupils are also actively involved every year in the traditional autumn festival, the Christmas party, leisure time on the Edersee at the end of the school year and the farewell party for high school graduates.

The boarders also build up a sense of solidarity and belonging within their school classes. Morning circle, class teams, class council and mediation programs ensure that community is truly lived and practiced. Class trips strengthen the cohesion. For example, pupils in the 5th and 6th grade spend a week at the Baltic Sea in Schuby; in the 7th grade 3 days are spent in the Marburg City Forest at the beginning of the school year and 3 days at the Edersee at the end of the school year. In the 8th grade there are 6 days of ski training and study trips in the upper school.

The most important facts in brief:

  1. Spacious campus complex with six residential buildings
  2. Small living groups with a house team
  3. Common rooms and kitchen
  4. Washing machines and dryers
  5. Single or double rooms, some of which can be individually designed
  6. Catering by the boarding school kitchen (awarded the premium certificate of the German Society for Nutrition)
  7. Various leisure activities with our own riding stable, rowing center, tennis courts and other sports facilities
  8. Holistic person-centered education with the focus on:
    • Independence of the pupils
    • Structured daily routines
    • “Learning office” with specialist staff, vocational and study orientation
    • Targeted preparation for the final examinations (secondary school leaving certificate, school leaving examination / mittlere Reife, Abitur)
    • Weekend activities in the areas of learning, exercise, bonding (return home: 14 days, individual arrangement possible)
    • Sustainability (projects, own hydropower plant)
Eingerichtetes Zimmer im Internat Steinmühle in Marburg, Hessen

The School

Idyllically situated on the river Lahn, Steinmühle offers young people a living and educational space in which they can develop into independent, happy and responsible people.Gymnasium Steinmühle is a reliable school with obligatory afternoon classes on three days for the lower and middle school. In the Upper School the lessons take place every day from 8.10 am to 1.10 pm and in the afternoons from 2.00 pm to 5.45 pm.. Currently 700 students attend Steinmühle, of which 85 are boarders (15 of them from outside Germany) and the remainder are day pupils.

Zwei Schülerinnen aus dem Realschulinternat Steinmühle auf dem Schulhof in Marburg, Hessen

Each year has 3 classes of about 20 pupils each.Steinmühle has a long tradition of the reformed approach to education. Important components of this are teaching in double lessons, methodical as well as project-oriented learning and working, cooperative forms of learning, small study groups, individualized teaching, half-yearly feedback discussions between teachers and students, extracurricular internships and much more. Morning circles, class teams, class councils and mediation programs ensure that a sense of community is lived and practiced.

For a successful start in life

Steinmühle is located in Marburg, in the heart of the German federal state of Hesse. As an economically strong German state, Hesse is known for its excellent school system which offers a suitable concept for every adolescent, from Realschulen to boarding schools as well as private schools. This also applies to Steinmühle, where children and young people benefit from this school system in general and an individual support philosophy in particular.

This is how the pupils learn and live at Steinmühle

With its boarding school and day school, Steinmühle combines two institutions with separate governing bodies under one roof. In the day school, a state-approved grammar school, the focus is on the individual support of each pupil after the assessment of his or her level of performance. The lessons are job-oriented. Internships are integrated into the school life so that while still at school all pupils to find the profession they want to follow in later life.

Our school profile

Multi-faceted facilities and opportunities

We have created extensive learning opportunities to promote the individual talents and skills of the young people for whom we are responsible. The school offers language courses, a focus on natural sciences, sports and cultural activities.

Projects as a way of learning

Steinmühle in the German state of Hesse looks back on a long tradition of project work and there are probably only a few boarding schools or day schools in Germany that can boast such a variety of facilities. The projects are either integrated into the lessons or organized separately, for example on intercultural topics or ecological content. Health and sports projects are also always very welcome among the children and young people at Steinmühle.

Hands-on Elective Lessons

The focus of our school is methodical and competence-oriented learning. Within the framework of this concept we offer various internships. In order to take personal inclinations and interests into account, we have created elective courses. Every student can choose from the linguistic-artistic areas (e.g. theatre, music or calligraphy), from the scientific-technical area (e.g. electronics, computer science or bicycle workshop) or from the social-scientific area (e.g. foreign countries).

Experience Learning

We have the vision that young people perceive learning not as a constraint but as an experience. The basis for this is small learning groups which allow for individualized teaching. Organized boarding school weekends, house trips and a very extensive library ensure the greatest possible variety in the learning process. In the working group area of our boarding school in Hesse we offer a well-balanced leisure program for the young people.

Ruder AG Steinmühle

Life and leisure at Steinmühle – Schule & Internat

In the affiliated boarding school the residents experience a stable social life as well as numerous leisure activities for the successful development of their personality and skills.

We attach great importance to a structured daily routine which is organized according to fixed times and predominantly takes place within the community. Of course, each student always has individual opportunities for personal time on his or her own. It is important to us to balance between periods of tension and relaxation and to orientate our life in the boarding school towards a family daily routine. At Steinmühle – Schule & Internat in Hesse we take responsibility for a holistic, person-centered education and a wide range of leisure activities. Depending on their interests, the students can choose between the following sports facilities and opportunities:

  • Rowing (as a school and competitive sport)
  • Tennis
  • Riding
  • Climbing
  • Swimming
  • Athletics
  • Field hockey
  • Rugby
  • Wakeboarding
  • Bouldering
  • Fencing

The riding facilities at Steinmühle are also very popular. In addition, our boarding school offers a variety of group courses. The young people get the opportunity to test themselves at our boarding school. In order to promote and develop the sense of community, the lighter side of our activities is always a welcome occasion for us. The children and young people take responsibility for the organization of these events, rehearse stage programs and try their hand at taking charge of a barbecue or acting as sound engineers.

Living in nature …

The boarders live in a total of six houses on the boarding school grounds. Each house follows its own concept and is shaped by the people who live there. The landmark of the site is the historic mill. There is also the main house, an old half-timbered building, the Biohaus for the younger boarding school children, the Westfalenhaus and the Hessenhaus as well as the Bremer Haus.

… and at the same time close to the city and university

We maintain a close cooperation with the University of Marburg and are able to organize numerous cultural and leisure activities due to our idyllic location. Our boarding school is also characterized by its very convenient location. It is only 15 minutes from Steinmühle to the historic old town of Marburg with its imposing castle (Marburger Landgrafen-Schloss) which can be easily reached by bus. For those who prefer sports, there is a very good network of cycle paths which lead quickly and safely to every destination in the city center. But also the surrounding area of the university town has a lot to offer with its picturesque landscapes and quirky corners and streets.

The proximity to the large cities of Frankfurt am Main and Kassel (each about an hour away and easily accessible via motorway and train) makes excursions and weekend trips immensely easier. This proximity is also ideal for learning about the differences in the world around us and tolerance. Marburg can therefore be described as an extremely attractive location which offers enormous potential for personal and professional development, especially for young people.

What else might interest parents?

The involvement of parents is particularly important to us. We have therefore established a school parents’ advisory board which actively supports the needs of the pupils and is in close contact with the teaching staff. But we also do not want to overlook the parent of boarders and are keen to promote mutual support. Discover our family concept which will give you an important insight into the philosophy of our work.

Would you like to learn more about Steinmühle?

Then we are at your disposal by mail or telephone for further information. We also offer non-binding offers to get to know us and trial stays with us for interested parties.

Fees for quality schooling and quality leisure activities

The decision whether parents can allow their own child to attend a boarding school always depends on the costs the boarding school charges for admission and schooling. While state schools are usually free of charge, boarding schools or schools run by independent bodies charge fees. From this point of view, attending Steinmühle involves costs for the parents, but this money also flows directly into the quality of the pupils’ education, healthy food and a varied leisure program.

 Applications to join Steinmühle

If you are interested in the Steinmühle boarding schools, please give us a call. We are also available for you in the evenings. Before we accept a new student, we like to get to know him or her and their parents During the 45-minute interview (via skype e.g.). This is the best way for us to find out whether the ideas of the parents, the school and potential pupil coincide. We would also like to take a look at the last three school reports.

What are the costs at Steinmühle?

Attendance at Steinmühle involves costs which are borne by the parents or guardians of the children and young people. We distinguish between the non-recurring costs associated with admission to our boarding school and the ongoing boarding school fees.

1. Boarding fees for international students Annual fee

Boarding fee

37,200.00 €
Non-recurring admission fee 2,000.00 €
Bond 6,200.00 €
Interest is not paid on the bond. The bond is repaid when the student leaves the boarding school. Any claims by the Steinmühle boarding school will be offset against the bond.
Incidential costs At actuals
German as a foreign language (DaF), pocket money
Remarks:
– The boarding school fees are due for payment before commencement of the school year.
– The incidental costs will be invoiced every quarter at actuals
– No boarding school staff are in attendance during the summer and Christmas holidays
– The relevant tuition fees must be added to the boarding school fees specified above (se

Point 2)

2. Tuition fees for international students Form Annual fee

Grammar/high school (Gymnasium G8 system)

5–9

3,240.00 €
Grammar/high school (Gymnasium G9 system) 5–10 4,740.00 €
Senior school (Oberstufe) 10–13 4,260.00 €
Non-recurring admission fee 5–9 (10/G9) 395.00 €
Non-recurring admission fee to the senior school 10–13 355.00 €
Note:
The tuition fee is due for payment before the commencement of the school year.
Annual fees
(excluding admission fee, bond and incidental costs)
Form
5–9 (and 10 in the G9 system) 41,940.00 €
10–13 (Senior school) 41,460.00 €

Fees are valid from August 1st, 2022. The costs for visiting the boarding school can be paid monthly in advance. For further information please note our contribution sheet for the boarding school.

Steinmühle: costs, discounts & special expenses

  • How high are the additional costs at Steinmühle?

In addition to the non-recurring and running costs, your calculations should also include incidental expenses which can be spent as pocket money or used for school trips and special teaching materials. These additional costs are about 100 Euros per month.

  • 20 % discount for siblings

Many families with several children  want all their children to attend Steinmühle. Therefore we offer a discount on the costs for the day school and boarding school to parents of siblings. If a sibling attends our boarding school at the same time as his her brother or sister, we charge 20 percent less for the second child.

  • Discount for advance payment and full payment of the annual fee

In general, the costs for the boarding school and day school are paid monthly. Payment of the annual fee in full and in advance is recognized by a 3 percent discount on the total costs; similarly payment made 6 months in advance receive a 1 percent discount on the total costs for the boarding school and day school.

The parent account for extraordinary expenses and special costs

In addition to the fixed school fees, we maintain a parent’s account for each child which is used to settle any incidental costs incurred and the students’ pocket money. This account is used for example to pay for train journeys, special teaching materials and pocket money for the pupils. Fees for any private tuition or school trips are settled via the parent account. If a pupil needs cash, then an application must be submitted for this and is subject to approval by a teacher.

Free trial stay at Steinmühle

Far away from home, boarding school life is often a big change for children and young people. Parents and grandparents are far away and life in the community requires a certain understanding of rules as well as a lot of fun. In order to get to know life at Steinmühle, we offer the pupils a trial stay for several days on request, so that they can get to know the Steinmühle community. During this time the children and teenagers gain a comprehensive insight into boarding school life and decide together with their families whether they want to move into our school community. We offer the possibility of a trial stay free of charge.

Steinmühle: Cost Calculation for Good Living & Learning

We have calculated the costs in such a way that the students at Steinmühle boarding school enjoy a quality education with a wide range of offers and individual support. In addition, we attach great importance to the numerous leisure activities which are also an important part of personal development.

Anke Muszynski

Contact person Steinmühle

Would like to get to know our offers in detail or do you need more information? Then you are welcome to call us, contact us by e-mail or simply use our practical contact form. We look forward to hearing from you!