Gleichen () is the name of two groups of castles in

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, thus named from their resemblance to each other ().

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 (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

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 district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

. 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 Luminosity, luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is repor ...

on May 31, 1231, when the three shone like identical torches. One of these called Gleichen, the

Wandersleben Wandersleben is a village and a former municipality in the district of Gotha, in Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to t ...

er 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 Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

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 (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

the castle became the property of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

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 (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, over Bremke.

The family name of Gleichen

The name of Gleichen is taken by the family descended from

Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Admiral Prince Victor Ferdinand Franz Eugen Gustaf Adolf Constantin Friedrich of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, (11 December 1833 – 31 December 1891), also known as Count von Gleichen, was an officer in the Royal Navy, and a sculptor. Biography He wa ...

through his marriage with Laura Wilhelmina Seymour, sister of the 5th Marquess of Hertford and daughter of Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour. A branch of the Hohenlohe family at one time owned part of the county of Gleichen.

References

Notes

{{Authority control Castles in Thuringia Castles in Lower Saxony