Wollershausen Castle

The history of the estate began in 1398 when Duke Friedrich of Grubenhagen granted the Wollershausen fief to Knight Hans von Minnigerode. The von Minnigerode family initially managed the village from Allerburg Castle. It was not until Johann von Minnigerode (1556–1611), who became sole owner in 1601, that a new manor house was built in Wollershausen in 1603. This was surrounded by a moat and had a drawbridge. The upper part of the building was half-timbered and featured bay windows with onion domes. Johann's wife, Dorothea von Hanstein, brought wealth into the marriage and supported the renovation of St. Marien Church and the construction of the rectory in 1605. After Johann's death in 1611, Dorothea and her children fled to Osterode in 1627 due to the Thirty Years' War, as Wollershausen suffered greatly.