Klenderhof, Historic mansion in Kampen, Sylt, Germany

Klenderhof is a thatched estate in Kampen on Sylt, built from 1932 to designs by Berlin architect Otto Firle. A tower holds the main entrance, reached over a wooden bridge, with a round music room above it; two large wings enclose a sheltered inner courtyard. Its castle-like form earned it the name Baldner-Burg.

Otto Firle planned the Klenderhof in 1932 for Charlotte Baldner, who gave it to her husband, the cellist Max "Bimbo" Baldner; the shell was finished on 30 January 1933 and the family moved in that autumn. Hermann Göring inspected the house on 31 July 1933. In 1936 Max Baldner was expelled from the Reichskulturkammer and the house stood empty; during the Reichskristallnacht Sylt citizens and guests prevented SA men from burning it. After the war Charlotte Baldner let it to the publisher of Die Zeit, then took paying guests; Axel Springer bought it in the late 1950s and used it for publishing conferences.

Locals nicknamed the castle-like house "Baldner-Burg" after cellist Max Baldner, who received it from his wife Charlotte. The guestbook, opened by architect Otto Firle in 1933, later held entries by conductor Erich Kleiber and banker Hermann Josef Abs. In 1977 Axel Springer heard a radio report in the kitchen here and launched the "Ein Herz für Kinder" charity, which has raised nearly 150 million euros.

The Klenderhof stands in Kampen on Sylt, at the coordinates 54.96359, 8.35024, near the Wadden Sea. The thatched roof and the wooden bridge to the main entrance are best seen from outside; the house itself is a private estate and not open as a museum. Visitors reach Kampen by island road or the Sylt railway.

On 5 August 1973 arsonists placed incendiary devices in the thatched roof and interior; the perpetrators, suspected in the anti-Springer campaign, were never found. No one was hurt and valuable furniture and books were saved. Axel Springer rebuilt the house in its old form.