Well-known personalities or deserving citizens like to have a monument or a street named after them.

Irmgard and Dieter Castelhun from Bräuningshof have dedicated their life’s work to helping Indian children for decades. Their memorial lives on in the hearts of several thousand social orphans, for whom they provided a sheltered home, education and training thanks to a large circle of supporters in Franconia. Dieter Castelhun has now passed away.

He succeeded his wife Irmgard, who passed away in 2019 and was the face and voice of the Hemalata orphanage project in South India. Dieter, who was responsible for the Siemens Group in India as a sales representative and auditor, took care of the organization, fundraising and financing of the numerous aid projects for the two houses in Chennai and Surutupalli in the countryside in the background. Both were awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for their work.

Nine months after his 90th birthday, Dieter Castelhun passed away gently in his home in Bräuningshof, surrounded by his family. With a lifelong connection to the culture and people of India, he was proud to be the founding father of the Hemalata family and to accompany the projects and see their progress on many trips. Most recently, he moderated the opening of the technology center.

His motivation was: “Seeing India means learning poverty”. It therefore goes without saying that Dieter Castelhun was the first to be awarded honorary membership of the newly founded Hemalata Support Association, which continues the work under the leadership of his son Ulrich Castelhun.