Wartburg College’s 1948 Fall Term Creative Writing class, taught by Esther Haefner, decided to create the college’s first literary magazine. Robert Gronlund (’49) became the first editor-in-chief, supervising the publication of the 32-page magazine. The first issue of The Castle Tales was released in February of 1949, and it sold five-hundred copies within hours. A second issue was produced in May of that same year, but publication was eventually reduced to one issue per year. In 1957, the magazine’s title became The Castle.
As of 1997, however, the magazine is once again a biannual publication.