50 Years IBZ Gimborn

steered the IBZ back into calmer waters and succeeded in filling its
sails with more wind. The turning point in attendance, also in the
volume of third-party events, already came in 2015. In 2016 the IBZ
counted well over 1,000 seminar participants for the first time. What is
more, for the 2017 business year an annual surplus could be generated
for the first time in decades: thus the preceding restructuring reached
a successful conclusion.
June 30, 2015 witnessed the inauguration of the sauna and exercise area
inside the former calf stable, on the long side of the open space behind the
old steward‘s estate house. A construction project that had engaged the
IBZ virtually for decades was thus brought to a positive ending. Geological
oddities, structural problems, hidden “legacies” of earlier usage, and
restrictions concerning listed buildings had all repeatedly led to
interruptions and modifications.
“ „
Accepting challenges
Effective January 1st 2018, Franz-Egon von Fürstenberg ended his
operation of the Schlosshotel Restaurant. The IBZ was forced within a
short time to make sure its guests could be fed – during this phase the IBZ
organised the breakfast and supper buffets by itself, with paid service
personnel, and the warm noonday buffet was delivered by a caterer.
Since the end of 2018 the meals for IBZ guests have been provided by Mr
Rolf Graf. Mr Graf manages a hotel restaurant in nearby Engelskirchen
and is the new tenant of Schlosshotel Restaurant Gimborn, property of
the von Fürstenberg family.
2010s
The recreational opportunities that are offered in the well-designed
building are in frequent use by guests of the IBZ and have noticeably
improved the attractiveness of the overall facilities of the institute.
Personnel change remained a constant at the IBZ – how could it be
otherwise, with the finiteness of human life. Hans Jansen, one of the
founding fathers, if not the initiator of the IBZ, passed away in 2014; a few
years after Theo Leenders, the great Dutch founder and long-standing
ally of the IBZ. Ms Monika Schellberg, an indefatigable member of the
IBZ staff for over 30 years, went into well-deserved retirement at the
end of 2015. Mr Rainer Furth, Police Chief of Krefeld, was elected during
the Board of Trustees‘ meeting in June of 2015 to succeed Mr Rüdiger
von Schönfeldt, who had resigned for age reasons from his position as
Chairman of the Board.
The Schlosshotel Restaurant