from a board 12 09 2005: You mentioned "Die Schaumburg" castle that overlooks the Weser river. There is also a Schloss Schaumburg an der Lahn. Does anyone know of any other castles named Schaumburg? This is of interest to me since one of the stories that has come down in fragmentary form is that my Schaumburg ancestors (who were at Grossenenglis near Fritzlar in the 1700's and 1800's) did either live in a castle or have relatives who lived in a castle. followed by: Additional research I've done since posting the message above seems to continue to link "Schaumburg" as an old German version of the current word "Schauenburg" meaning roughly "castle with a good view", or as I've started to think of it a very loosely equivalent word to the english "watchtower" (only more like "watchcastle" if that word existed). I've found these four references to castles called at one point "Schauenburg" or "Schaumburg". With no apparent connection other than the name. - Die Schaumburg in Rinteln - home castle to the early Grafschaft Schaumburg - Burgruine Schaumburg near Oberkirch, not sure if related to the Grafschaft, but doesn't appear to be - Schaumburg-an-der-Lahn, not sure if related to the Grafschaft but again, doesn't appear to be - Burgruine Schauenburg (I'm told was once "Schaumburg") near Hoof, which incidently is very near Kerstenhausen and Grossenenglis So, while I thought the origin of the surname had to be related to to the ~1100 to 1640 A.D. Grafschaft Schaumburg territory or the resulting Schaumburg-Lippe territory, it seems now that maybe this is such a common designator of castles with a good view - that there are other possible origins. Given the proximity, ours may be related to the Hoof Schauenburg. Take a look at: http://www.gemeinde-schauenburg.de/freizeit_erholung/1_ausflug_tipps/burgruine_schauenburg<http://www.gemeinde-schauenburg.de/freizeit_erholung/1_ausflug_tipps/burgruine_schauenburg>