Burg Gleichenstein, castle in Wachstedt, Germany

Burg Gleichenstein is a stone castle perched on Schlossberg hill at approximately 459 meters elevation, positioned between Martinfeld and Wachstedt. The complex features a triangular courtyard surrounded by residential and defensive structures that form the main settlement area.

A castle called Velsecke stood here by 1180, when a knight Edelger the Younger of Velshecke appears as a witness in a Mainz charter. In 1234 Landgrave Heinrich Raspe of Thuringia destroyed it during his feud with the Archbishop of Mainz, killing or beheading its 23-man garrison. Between 1241 and 1246 Heinrich I of Gleichen rebuilt it as Gleichenstein and took that name; from 1294 to 1802 it belonged to the Archbishops of Mainz.

The castle served as an administrative hub for the surrounding region and shaped how people in the area organized their daily affairs. Its presence on the hilltop made it a landmark that residents and travelers would naturally look toward as they moved through the valley.

Access is by a side road branching off the L 1006 between Wachstedt and Flinsberg, or on foot from the Klüschen Hagis pilgrimage church on the L 2022; the steep Eselsweg climbs from north of that road. The terrace viewpoint called Blaues Wunder is currently open only on special days or by arrangement with the owner.

The castle's water came not from a well on the hill but from the Eselsborn spring in the valley near Klüschen Hagis, carried up the steep Eselsweg path. A well in the inner courtyard was filled in once a modern supply was installed, and the terrace viewpoint called Blaues Wunder is currently closed.