assault by Hermann II of Treffurt, began the violent disputes over Wanfried’s ownership. Hermann managed to take the place in a surprise attack; however, he could not keep it in the long run. In 1336, Hermann’s castle, Normannstein was taken by a coalition of Hessian, Electoral Mainz and Saxonian troops. After the booty had been shared out among the victors, the Hessian Landgrave Otto I sought to link the new, isolated properties to his territory by a territorial corridor. To this end, he acquired in 1365 from the Lords at Völkershausen their court rights over the villages of Altenburschla, Döringsdorf, Heldra, Helderbach, Rambach and Weißenborn. Before Wanfried passed for good to the Hessian Landgraves, there were once again conflicts with neighbouring Thuringia in the course of the Sternerkrieg (war), in the late 14th century. Wanfried was raised to town on 30 August 1608 through Hessian Landgrave Moritz’s privilege, and was granted market rights, too. In 1616, the town of Wanfried was named in the Verzeichnis der fürnembsten Städte Europas (“Directory of Europe’s Finest Cities”) as an important trading centre. As a starting point for shipping on the Werra, whose river system had been secured by locks at Eschwege and Allendorf, the town grew into a trading centre in which wares of all kinds were traded. After the goods had cleared the Auf der Schlagd customs office, they were consigned to the town's warehouses, shortly thereafter to be shipped out again overland. The shippers brought mostly goods from the coastal cities bound especially for Thuringia and Bavaria, important destinations there being the trading centres of Leipzig and Nuremberg. In the Thirty Years' War, the town was sacked by Tilly's troops on 25 June 1626. In 1627, Wanfried belonged to the domain of the Rotenburger Quart and as of 1667 was residence of the Catholic sideline of Hesse-Wanfried. In 1667, Landgrave Karl moved into the palace here as founder of the line. Karl's sons, Wilhelm and Christian, ruled here until their line died out in 1755. In accordance with the house agreement, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Wanfried then passed back to Hesse-Rotenburg. In 1834, Hesse-Rotenburg itself passed back to the main line of Hesse-Kassel. Wanfried's former importance as an entrepôt is confirmed by a trader's balance sheet from the time about the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th. At this time, goods shipped out amounted to 80,000 hundredweight yearly,