Gleichen is the name of two groups of castles in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, thus named from their resemblance to each other (german: gleich like, or resembling).

Castles in Thuringia between Gotha and Erfurt

The first is a group of three (hence called “die drei hreeGleichen”), each situated on a hill in

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

between

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

. The German Wikipedia article reports that the three castles do not look alike. The legend of the resemblance of the three is said to stem from an onslaught of

ball lightning Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last ...

on May 31, 1231, when the three shone like identical torches. One of these called Gleichen, the Wanderslebener Gleiche (1221 ft. above the sea), was besieged unsuccessfully by the emperor Henry IV in 1088. It was the seat of a line of counts, one of whom, Ernest III, a crusader, is the subject of a romantic legend. Having been captured, he was released from his imprisonment by a Turkish woman, who returned with him to Germany and became his wife, a papal dispensation allowing him to live with two wives at the same time (see Reineck, ''Die Sage von der Doppelehe eines Grafen von Gleichen'', 1891). After belonging to the elector of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

the castle became the property of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

in 1803. The second castle is called Mühlburg (1309 ft. above the sea). This existed as early as 704 and was besieged by Henry IV in 1087. It came into the hands of Prussia in 1803. The third castle, Wachsenburg (1358 ft.), was still inhabited in 1911 and contained a collection of weapons and pictures belonging to its owner, the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whose family obtained possession of it in 1368. It was built about 935 (see Beyer, ''Die drei Gleichen'', Erfurt, 1898). Image:Burg Gleichen.jpg, Gleichen Image:Mühlburg1.JPG, Mühlburg Image:Wachsenburg von Norden.JPG, Wachsenburg

Castles near Göttingen

The other group consists of two castles, Neuen-Gleichen and Alten-Gleichen. The former is in ruins, while the latter is barely discernible under the forest cover. They crown two hills south-east of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, over Bremke.

The name of Gleichen

The name of Gleichen is taken by the family descended from Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg through his marriage with Laura Wilhelmina Seymour, sister of the 5th Marquess of Hertford and daughter of Admiral Sir

George Francis Seymour Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Francis Seymour, (17 September 1787 – 20 January 1870) was a Royal Navy officer. After serving as a junior officer during the French Revolutionary Wars, Seymour commanded the third-rate under Admiral Sir John ...

, a branch of the Hohenlohe family having at one time owned part of the county of Gleichen.

References

Notes

{{Authority control Castles in Thuringia Castles in Lower Saxony