Once upon a time the region between Nieste and Staufenberg, Germany was the borderland between the Electorate of Hesse and the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (that is also the reason why today you can find here the border between Lower Saxony and Hesse). In 1372 Hermann II, landgrave of Hesse errected a castle here – the Sensenstein as a response to the older castle Sichelnstein on Brunswick territory.
Sensenstein, Nieste 
Sensenstein, Nieste
The castle was used to secure the area and the name was a message: while the name ‘Sichelnstein‘ contains the word ‘Sichel‘ meaning sickle, the name ‘Sensenstein‘ refers to a larger tool, the scythe (‘Sense‘). In 1438 the castle became owned by the family von Berlepsch whose coat of arms can still be found here. But that is pretty much all – the ownership changed different times, the castle became less important and deteriorated. Today all buildings are gone and you can only find limited traces of the castle on the ground. The area now contains facilities for school classes, youth groups and adult education.
Sensenstein
Sensenstein 1
34329 Nieste
Germany
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Any idea who built it originally?
I’m a descendent of Sensenstein
Thx
It has been built by landgrave Hermann von Hessen (Hermann II.): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_II,_Landgrave_of_Hesse
I am also a descendant of Sensenstein