Füchten Castle

Haus Füchten is a manor house in Ense in the Sauerland region. The two-story house with its outbuildings is located east of the Ruhr near the district of Hünningen.

The castle then located at this site, possibly on the banks of the Ruhr (Füchten = damp), was first mentioned in 1298 as curtis de Vuchtene, when the fief was granted to the knight Goswin von Soest. Caspar Diedrich von Droste zu Erwitte had the castle demolished around 1700 and a new castle built on the hillside. In 1726, the building was extended with a chapel wing.

In 1834, the landowner and hereditary salt producer of Werl, Josef Caspar von Mellin (* December 10, 1765 in Werl, † February 5, 1837 in Soest) acquired Füchten. Mellin was the founder of the Mellin'sche Stiftung (Mellin Foundation). This was established in 1860, after his death and that of his wife, Baroness Sophie von Fürstenberg. Mellin bequeathed his entire fortune to the private foundation for charitable purposes, which set up an agricultural school in the premises of Haus Füchten. Poor boys and orphans could be trained as farmers and foresters. After some years, the school had to be closed again in 1903 due to poor transport links. In the mid-1980s, the foundation sold the estate to a private individual.

The construction of the A 445 motorway between Wickede (Ruhr) and Neheim-Arnsberg in 1987 cut through areas of the estate, including old trees and moats.

A Baroque bridge from 1698 leads to the coat-of-arms-crowned entrance of the main house with its two-flight open staircase. In the large hall on the first floor, richly decorated with figural and ornamental stucco, concerts and other cultural events take place. The castle chapel can be used for services and weddings. For about 150 years, the annual Füchten procession has led from Bremen to the castle on the Sunday after Corpus Christi.