Wasserschloss Günthersleben

The former moated castle at Günthersleben stands beside the church of St Petri as the village’s most interesting sight. Set on a rectangular island 140 by 75 metres, the water-filled moat measures up to 50 metres across and once protected a busy farm estate. The castle was built in 1143 by the Vogts Hartmann and Ortwin of Günthersleben and rebuilt in 1691 by Heinrich Bonhorst into a large bastioned complex. After passing through many noble hands—von Stotternheim, von Wangenheim, von Born, von Mecken, von Bünau, Ruge and von Weiß—the estate was expropriated in 1945 and its intact buildings demolished between 1947 and 1954. The site still shows the restored foundations, the full moat and two bridges, including the 1692 castle bridge that was repaired. A modern pavilion now stands on the island and displays paintings and time charts of the castle’s history. The exhibition also explains the regional geology, flora and fauna of the Drei Gleichen region within the GeoPark Inselsberg – Drei Gleichen. A small local museum run by the GeoPark keeps objects that recall the estate’s past. Visitors walk across the old bridge to the island and find the clear outlines of the front and rear farmyards. The front yard was once the only building on the island; later stables, a granary and workshops were added. The rear yard held cattle, pig and horse stalls arranged in long rows with feed stores above. A connecting passage and eight doorways gave access to the cattle boxes. The three-storey granaries at the south-west edge of the front yard once stored harvests and housed young horses. In the north-east corner stood the manor house, while the inspector’s house stood nearby to supervise the entire estate.