[6] While there, she possessed a well-stocked apothecary, a distilling house, and full garden of herbs and plants for her various recipes.
[2] With a humanist upbringing by her father, she learned to create relationships with noble people of both Catholic and Protestant background, she was also supportive to the Jewish community that tried to make a home in the Mansfeld area.
[3] However, Dorothea extensively researched medical practices, and developed a knowledge that surpassed these narrow expectations.
The garden at the Mansfeld castle grew many of the common ingredients that Dorothea used for her recipes such as herbs, flowers, fruits, and other plants.
[3] Dorothea's recipe books and any other copied works of hers were treasured not only because of her medical knowledge, but also because she had uniquely beautiful penmanship.
The act of making books during this time period is described as a painstakingly long process that was done with patience, money, and practice.
The two elite women are commonly known for their extensive experimentation with medical remedies [3] Letters reveal this close relationship, and highlight that the two women in addition to creating medical recipes together, practiced other skills and visited often [3] Anna of Saxony was the wife of a politician, and this relationship helped Dorothea financial situation immensely.
Both noblewomen possessed their own personal distillation houses and gardens in which they grew the necessary herbs to create their medical remedies.
[2] Additionally, Anna of Saxony notes that Dorothea passed her medical knowledge on to a small group of female medical healers that included Dorothea of Schönberg, Anna of Hohenlohe, Agnes of Solms, and Magdlena of Mansfeld [3] This group of women commonly visited Mansfeld Castle and referred to Dorothea as the "mother of Mansfeld"[3] Medicine was often viewed as a feminine practice, therefore creating medical recipes was an acceptable activity for these noblewomen.