Haus auf der Bech

The origins of the estate date back to 1150, when it was first documented as an archiepiscopal fief. The present half-timbered house was built in 1588 for the bailiff Dietrich zu den Hülsen, who died before its completion. Through the remarriage of his widow Gretchen, the house came into the possession of the Hoff family in 1590. Heinrich Hoff, Gretchen's second husband, opened an inn there. During the Thirty Years' War, the house served as a meeting place for the Reformed, which led to an official closure in 1641, but this was forcibly reversed by the faithful. Later, other members of the Hoff family inherited the property, including Adolf Hoff, who served as bailiff of Hilden and Haan from 1647 to 1675. The half-timbered house that still stands today was built around 1680 by Heinrich Hoff and his wife Johanna Margaretha von Diepenbruch.