Hünenburg, Meschede

The Hünenburg is a rampart complex east of the city center of Meschede on a hilltop north of the Ruhr River. The castle dates from the period between the 9th and 10th centuries. Small finds are dated to the 9th century. It is not mentioned in the Meschede documents. The Antiquities Commission for Westphalia carried out several excavations at the Hünenburg between 1909 and 1914. The castle had two rampart ditches, which can still be recognized today and are accessible by a circular hiking trail. The outer ring is 2.8 hectares and the inner ring 0.8 hectares. The inner castle has a length of about 120 meters in the north-south direction and a width of about 65 meters in the west-east direction. The castle had five gates, a cistern and a tower. Remains of buildings on the inner side of the core wall date back to a later construction phase. They indicate that it was not only a refuge castle, but a permanently occupied castle of a nobleman. The castle may have been the ancestral seat of the noble family that later called itself the Counts of Werl. Today, there is a barbecue area on the site of the former outer castle.