Füchten House

The Haus Füchten estate is situated on a hill on the eastern slope of the Ruhrtal. Geographically, Füchten is part of the Sauerland region, as it lies at the southwestern foot of the Haarstrang, the mountain range that forms the natural boundary between the lowlands of the Soester Börde and the low mountain range of the Sauerland.

Haus Füchten was first mentioned in 1298. The original castle was demolished around 1700, and a manor house was built on the mountainside. In 1726, a chapel wing was added to the building. In 1834, Josef Caspar von Mellin, the landowner and hereditary salt master of Werl, acquired Füchten. Mellin was the founder of the Mellin Foundation. The foundation was established in 1860 following his death and that of his wife, Baroness Sophie von Fürstenberg. Mellin bequeathed his entire fortune to the private foundation for charitable purposes, which established an agricultural school on the premises of Haus Füchten. This enabled poor boys and orphans to receive training as farmers and foresters. After a few years, the school had to close again in 1903 due to poor transportation links. However, Füchten remained in the possession of the von Mellin Foundation, was leased out, and was most recently used as a rehabilitation center for drug-dependent youths. In the mid-1980s, the foundation sold the estate to a private individual. In 1987, the construction of the A445 highway between Wickede (Ruhr) and Neheim-Arnsberg cut through parts of the estate, including areas with old trees and ditches.

For about 150 years, on the Sunday after Corpus Christi, the annual Füchtener Procession has made its way from Ense-Bremen to the castle.