"I participated in the intermediate year last year and am now in the 10th class. This last year was by far the most terrific year in my life. I had experiences and encountered challenges that I would otherwise never have had the courage to. I can only recommend going through the intermediate year to everybody."

"Spending time in a boarding school does not just mean getting the option of undergoing an individualised and all-round education and to try oneself out in sporting, creative or socially useful areas. Over and above that, I link my time at the Castle Bieberstein boarding school with a feeling of community and with a place at which I learnt a lot about myself. Living and learning in small groups, whether it was the dormitory family or the class, helps one to develop as an individual. During my boarding school years, I was able to develop social skills that strengthened me for my later life. It is for these reasons that I look back fondly on this time and these experiences."

"I learned a huge amount during the intermediate year – especially on the social level and about myself. I learned to overcome fears and have had many precious experiences. It's not that everything was always good, but the good was predominant, and I forgot the bad quickly. I think that I would have been a different person without the intermediate year, and not necessarily a better one. I would recommend this experience to everybody."

"For me, Bieberstein is a second home. Not only because I spent most of my time there at that time, but also because as a foreign student, I understood the word "Family" afresh. My two years in Bieberstein are definitely the best memory I have had in my life, which I will never forget. My family and I thank all of you!"

"Our two children took decisive steps in the development of their self-confidence and their social skills during the intermediate year. We believe that it was correct to provide an impetus in that age which would impart essential values outside of the standard academic track. Our children were able to develop reliability, a readiness to exert themselves, and to assume responsibility for themselves and for the group. We are thankful that we were able to give them this opportunity."

"I have to thank my time in Bieberstein for a lot of things: It opened up my adolescent horizon by a factor of several times. There were excellent lectures and concerts, excursions, travel and lots more. Above all, there were interesting meetings with special people, which have inspired me till today. My creative talents were nurtured and I was given space to develop my personality. A beautiful, precious time!"

"For our three grandchildren, who, up to their final secondary school examinations, together had a great time "high up there in the mountains", Bieberstein means a very formative and important experience in their lives. After the death of their mother, they were guided warm-heartedly and carefully through the difficult - and pubertal - years in Bieberstein – and therefore today, they are grown-up, independent persons who can purposefully follow their onward paths. The close contact with their classes and the dormitory family is binding. Only in their old age will they realise how inestimably important it will be for their lives. We, the grandparents, are thankful to have entrusted our grandchildren to Bieberstein and its educators."

"To participate in the intermediate year was one of the best decisions of my life. That year opened up a new perspective for me, and I learned to take decisions independently. I would do it again any day, and think back happily to that time, which was full of adventure and many terrific - albeit sometimes strenuous - experiences."