Have you ever wondered about the history of a place simply by looking at a stone? This unassuming stone before you is more than meets the eye. The Gedenkstein Hundsburg Historie on the edge of the Volksgarten tells a story of lost villages, ancient power, and the destructive power of war. This stone marks the site of Hundsburg, a hamlet near Dusseldorf that first appeared in historical records in 1268. It was a small, quaint place, with a few farms and a hunting lodge. The name Hundsburg, thought to be a corruption of “Honnschaft,” refers to a historical unit of administration used for taxation purposes in the late Middle Ages in the Rhineland, grouping several farms together.
Around the 17th century, the Hundsburg was expanded, and the local Hundertschaftsrichter – a kind of community administrator – made his home here. The hamlet had a gallows and the home of the executioner, marking the importance of the site. For over 150 years, the place remained a peaceful hamlet called the “Weiler am Hundsberg.”
The hamlet’s peaceful existence, however, was disrupted during the industrial boom of the 19th century, when the surrounding areas were annexed and transformed into the district of Oberbilk. The Hundsburg itself was acquired by the city in 1896, and the site housed a poorhouse for many years until World War II. The final blow, however, was struck on June 13, 1943, when Hundsburg, along with all its buildings, was destroyed by bombs during the war. Today, there’s not even a single building left to be seen, but the Gedenkstein Hundsburg Historie stands as a reminder of its existence, and we, standing here, are the only ones who can picture the village that once stood before us.