Unsleben Castle

Around 1160, Helwicus de Usleybe is mentioned, who, as a ministerialis of the Bishop of Würzburg, had to secure the northern border of the duchy against the Counts of Henneberg. With the extinction of the Knights of Unsleben, the property passed to Christoph Truchsess von Wetzhausen through their daughter Margarete. The Truchsess enlarged the castle with a Gothic palas - today's west wing - and built the chapel as well as the Zwinger with its four corner towers.

On Easter Monday 1525, the peasants of the Bildhäuser Haufen plundered and burned the castle, which, however, was renovated again two years later. In 1560, Wilhelm von Truchsess built the east wing in half-timbered style; his daughter Ursula married Wilhelm von Spesshardt, bailiff of Meiningen and Massfeld. They built the spiral staircase, renewed the chapel, and covered the entire castle with a ashlar plaster, as it is still preserved in the inner courtyard. Heavily indebted due to generous donations to the church, the Barons von Spesshardt had to sell the property in 1727 to Baron von Gebsattel. He sold it in 1741 to the Würzburg court chancellor, imperial councilor, and count palatine Cornelius Baron von Habermann. The newly ennobled jurist baroque-styled the west wing and replaced the drawbridge with a stone bridge.

His great-grandson Gustav, a member of the Reichstag, built most of the courtyard buildings in 1848; his son Hugo (1849-1929), professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts and co-founder of the Secession, restored the half-timbering and the interiors of the east wing around 1900; his studio, which is still preserved today, was located there.

Henriette, one of the two daughters of the painter Hugo Baron von Habermann d. J. (1899-1981), married Maximilian Count zu Waldburg Wolfegg in 1960. Her son Christoph is the current owner.

In 1996, the Monument Prize of the Hypo-Kulturstiftung was awarded, which served to preserve the castle and the estate. Furthermore, the castle is on the list of the >Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict<, which seeks to protect special cultural property. In 2008, some urgent measures could again be initiated through the promotional prize of the District of Lower Franconia.

Source text: www.schlossgut-unsleben.de