Dungeon at Wewelsburg Castle The dungeon is a sub-basement underneath the basement section in the West tower of Wewelsburg Castle near Paderborn, Germany. The steep stairs to the dungeon are shown in the photo above.   The photos above show "the interrogation room" for German women who were accused of being witches. They were tortured in this room until they confessed. According to the Wewelsburg Museum, this room was used in 1631 for witch trials. The bay window on the right was once the location of the judge's loge. Now it is a place where visitors can see the torture room without climbing down the steep stairs.  On the left in the photo above is the present day door into the dungeon where women, accused of being witches, were formerly chained to the wall. The door is made of glass and has no latch, so it can't be accidentally locked. Just push to open it from the inside. The town of Geseke, which is only a few miles from Wewelsburg, is famous for the persecution of witches in the 17th century. The German word for witches is Hexen and Geseke was known as Hexen-Geseke. The photo below shows what is left of the Hexenturm, or witches tower, on the former city wall of Geseke. This is where witches were imprisoned before they were sent to Wewelsburg.  More about the DungeonNiederhagen Concentration CampDistrict MuseumCastleNorth TowerSS Generals HallSS Vault (Crypt)Back to Wewelsburg indexHomeThis page was created on July 16, 2008 |