Winsen

Winsen lies on the Luhe, south of the Elbe, beside a moated castle first recorded in 1299. The castle served the princes of Lüneburg as a temporary residence and became an administrative seat during the War of the Lüneburg Succession after 1371. A fire devastated much of the town in 1585. In 1593 Duchess Dorothea, widow of William the Younger and daughter of King Christian III of Denmark, took up residence at the castle and had it rebuilt. Witch trials took place here around 1610; after her death in 1617 the castle again housed local administration.