Schiefer Castle

In the High Middle Ages, the Nessetal had greater significance as a military road and march route for the royal administration. In addition to the three castle complexes and fortifications in the neighboring village of Haina and the moated castles of Laucha (Weiherschloss), Wangenheim, Eberstädt, and Friedrichswerth (Wasserburg Erffa), Sonneborn also received a castle around the year 1100. In 1137, a knight Boppo Julius von Sonneborn served the Fulda monastery. The castle was a lowland castle situated in a depression within the village and was protected by a moat or pond. In 1370, the Lords of Wangenheim acquired the castle and its associated possessions. Over the centuries, the castle was rebuilt and reduced in size several times. A beautiful, slate-roofed moated castle with four wings and a round tower remained. In 1945, the von Wangenheim family was dispossessed and imprisoned by the communists, and the slate castle was demolished starting in 1947 due to Order 209 of the Russian military dictatorship in Germany. Only foundation remnants of the corner tower and the moat remained.