Deuna Castle

The origins of Deuna Castle date back to the 13th century, when the Lords of Deuna built the moated castle to protect a salt road in the Leine and Wippe valleys. It was first mentioned in a document in 1262, with Henricus de Dunde and his son Theodoricus named as owners. In 1294, the castle came into the possession of the Archbishop of Mainz, who enfeoffed it to the Lords of Hagen. During military conflicts in 1315, both Deuna castles were destroyed, after which the Lords of Hagen presumably rebuilt only the southern complex. Martin Luther's stay in 1515 as a guest of the von Hagen family. During the Peasants' War of 1525, the castle was captured and destroyed by rebellious peasants. The von Hagen family, who remained Protestant, built the Vorderhof estate in 1686 and later renovated the castle, adding a half-timbered structure to the stone substructure and filling in the moat on the south side to create a garden. In the 19th century, the property was divided, and in 1945, it was expropriated as part of the land reform.