GeoRoute 3 - "Castle Route" - UNESCO Global Geopark Thuringia Inselsberg - Drei Gleichen

Although they were built in different centuries and do not look alike, they most likely owe their name to one of the countless legends and myths about the castles. According to this, in May 1231 a severe storm swept over this gentle hilly landscape. Suddenly, three terrible lightning bolts struck all three castles (according to other accounts, it was only a single (ball) lightning). The castles went up in flames, so it seemed as if three huge torches were blazing on the three hills. And ever since, so the legend says, the people called the castles and the surrounding land only the “Three Gleichen.”

Legends about devastating fires, cruel robber knights, kidnapped king’s daughters or medieval bigamy surround the three castles. At the same time, they "watch" over an exciting piece of earth history from over 200 million years ago. Back then, the first large dinosaurs, such as the six-meter-long “Franconian Lindwurm” Plateosaurus engelhardti, roamed the area of today’s Drei Gleichen. This is evidenced by fossil finds (bones, teeth) in the so-called Hasenwinkel at Kallenberg, near Burg Gleichen. A replica of this herbivore can be seen along the Dinosaur Adventure Path (GeoRoute 6). Although the Thuringian castle land is known for its gentle and romantic landscape, it also has its rough sides. These are the badlands, large nearly vegetation-free red and green-gray slopes made of clay and marl stones on the south side of all three castle hills. They are very nutrient-poor, so only grass and steppe landscapes can form here, which in turn provide the natural basis for special animal and plant life. Badlands are a very rare landscape type in Germany.