The count and his family stand behind the hotel. Carl Graf von Hardenberg is a member of the ninth generation to head the company, and is doing so with new visions for the future. Top-class events are held at the estate throughout the year. The international show-jumping elite has gathered every May for more than half a century for the Hardenberg Burgturnier, where they compete for the Golden Whip – presented to the winner by the count himself. At the International Hardenberg Silver Tour, riders compete for the Silver Whip. At the festival known as the Hardenberg Klassika, select providers present stylish garden art and lifestyle culture. And Majas Pflanzentage (Maja’s Plant Days) have been drawing flower lovers to the Hardenberg country estate since 2016.

The history of Burg Hardenberg (the Hardenberg castle) goes back to the tenth century. The Hardenberg family was among the knights ministeriales charged with running castles and estates, such as this one commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz. When the diocese of Mainz ran into financial trouble around 1400, ownership of the castle and its grounds was transferred to the counts of Hardenberg. When part of the castle collapsed in 1698, the family began to build a stately new castle and to extend the complex to its present form. Carl Graf von Hardenberg and his family continue to live in and manage the castle, as well as its grounds and facilities. Over the centuries they have developed the Hardenberg country estate into a vibrant place that combines pleasure and tradition.