Editing Gleichen (section)

== Castles in Thuringia between Gotha and Erfurt ==
The first is a group of three (hence called "die drei [three] Gleichen"), each situated on a hill in [[Thuringia]] between [[Gotha (town)|Gotha]] and [[Erfurt]].<ref>
The [[:de:Drei Gleichen|German Wikipedia article]] reports that the three castles do not look alike.  The legend of the resemblance of the three is said to stem from an onslaught of [[ball lightning]] on May 31, 1231, when the three shone like identical torches.
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One of these called Gleichen, the [[Wandersleben]]er Gleiche (1221&nbsp;ft. above the sea), was besieged unsuccessfully by the emperor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] in 1088. It was the seat of a line of counts, one of whom, Ernest III, a crusader, is the subject of a romantic legend. Having been captured, he was released from his imprisonment by a [[Turkey|Turkish]] woman, who returned with him to Germany and became his wife, a papal dispensation allowing him to live with two wives at the same time (see Reineck, ''Die Sage von der Doppelehe eines Grafen von Gleichen'', 1891). After belonging to the elector of [[Mainz]] the castle became the property of [[Prussia]] in 1803. The second castle is called Mühlburg (1309&nbsp;ft. above the sea). This existed as early as 704 and was besieged by Henry IV in 1087. It came into the hands of Prussia in 1803. The third castle, [[Wachsenburg Castle|Wachsenburg]] (1358&nbsp;ft.), was still inhabited in 1911 and contained a collection of weapons and pictures belonging to its owner, the duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whose family obtained possession of it in 1368. It was built about 935 (see Beyer, ''Die drei Gleichen'', Erfurt, 1898).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
<gallery>
Image:Burg Gleichen.jpg|Gleichen
Image:Mühlburg1.JPG|Mühlburg
Image:Wachsenburg von Norden.JPG|Wachsenburg
</gallery>