The House of Westernhagen is an old German noble family from Thuringia which originated in Lower Saxony.

The family acquired a fiefdom in 1283 and built Westernhagen Castle in Berlingerode, from which their name derives.

[2] The family is first mentioned in 1258 with Conradus and Hermannus Indagine (Latin for Hagen meaning hague, an area fortified and fenced with a hedge).

In the twentieth century, most of the family properties were seized by the Communist government of East Germany.

After the German reunification, the Oberhof manor and estate in Teistungen was re-purchased by Burghard von Westernhagen, the father of Princess Heinrich of Hanover.