"Hansenberg Castle was built in 1824 by the educator and Pestalozzi student Johannis de Laspeé from Johannisberg.
Johannes de Laspée, a mason's son from Johannisberg, was trained as a teacher by the Swiss Pestalozzi and founded a model school in Wiesbaden in 1809. This school was visited and criticized by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1814, among others.
Having achieved modest prosperity, Johannes de Laspée, in 1823, fulfilled a heart's desire. He bought the winery on the Hansenberg in Johannisberg, north-west, above the village. A natural school and educational institution for orphans was to be built here. This became the structural core of today's castle. But before he could open his orphanage, he died in 1825 at the age of forty-two. At that time, the stately, beautifully structured complex consisting of a three-storey central wing with 5 axes and two five-axis pavilions was still under construction. Significant financial resources were still required for completion.
After de Laspeé's death, the building changed hands several times. On August 26, 1835, the Stettin Friedrich Ludwig Karl Baron von Medem bought the building together with the grounds and vineyards for 1,600 guilders. Then he sold it on October 23, 1836 to Karl August Graf von Reisach, head of the Koblenz Provincial Archive for 7,875 guilders. He in turn pledged it on May 11, 1837 to the wife of government secretary Hofman in Wiesbaden. In 1839 it was taken over by Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg-Stammberg from Bonn.
In 1848, Johannes de Laspée's son, Heinrich de Laspée, tried to establish the orphanage there that his father had planned. He was assisted by a committee. However, he was just as unsuccessful with his idea as the brothers Anton and Josef Petri, together with Anton Reiff zu Sossenheim, who bought the house in 1854 to set up a sparkling wine factory. ...