Daun

History[edit]
The first settlement in the area came as early as the 7th century BC by which time the Celts had
settled the fortified basalt mountain in Daun. The Romans, too, used this prominent hill in the
Lieser valley as a watch post, as witnessed by Roman finds. The placename may have come
from the Celtic-Roman word Dunum, meaning either “fence” or “fortified heights”, that is to say, a
fort.
In the late 10th century, a castle complex belonging to the free Lords of Daun arose here. In
1075, Daun had its first documentary mention in a townsman named Adalbero de Duna.
In 1163, the free lords’ family died out. One of the family’s ministeriales, Richardus de Duna, took
over his former Lord’s name and even the coat of arms with the Daun fretting. In 1337, Daun is
mentioned for the first time as being a town. In 1346 came a grant of town rights along with
market rights, and Daun became at the same time the location of a high court.
In 1712, the Electoral-Trier Amtshaus was built by the Elector of Trier and Archbishop Karl-Josef
on the Burgberg ("Castle Mountain"). After a transitory occupation by the Frenchbeginning in
1794, the village passed in 1815 to the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1817, Daun became seat of the
district and an Amt mayoralty, and also at the same time a district administrator’s seat. Since
1947, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Beginning in
1951, Daun could once more call itself a town.

Daun in winter

Daun in summer

On 15 May 1895, Daun was linked to the German railway network with the Eifelquerbahn (Cross
Eifel Railway). On 1 December 1909, a further railway line, the Maare-Mosel-
Bahn to Wittlich came into service. All public rail transport, however, ended in Daun more than a
decade ago, although a two-hourly daytime service for tourists has been running in the
summertime since 2005 on part of the Eifelquerbahn. The Maare-Mosel-Bahn, on the other hand,
was torn up about a decade ago and has since become the Maare-Mosel-Radweg, a cycle path.
In 1965, Daun became a garrison town, housing at the Heinrich Hertz Barracks, among others,
two signal corps units and one signals intelligence unit.