More than 50 years ago, there was an impressive view from the bottom of the Werra valley of the collapsed mountain, which shone brightly in the sunlight. On the mighty pile of rubble in front of it, which was caused by landslides, stood two magnificent villas, known as the Green Villa - Villa Iltenburg and the Red Villa - also known as Villa Bennewitz or Waldschlösschen (now a residential building) because of their colorful roof tiles.

They were commissioned by Ernst Schwarz and built in 1902/03 by the Themar master builder Hermann Räder. Ernst Schwarz was born in Themar in 1858 and spent his youth in Ernstthal near Lauscha. He learned the bookbinding trade in Coburg and after his apprenticeship he moved to Berlin. With tireless diligence, he managed to become a leather goods manufacturer. As the inventor of a horseshoe-shaped purse that became famous worldwide, he made a considerable fortune. Many of Berlin's high-ranking personalities and artists came and went to him and in 1906 he was able to celebrate his 25th company anniversary. His failing health and longing for his homeland led him to decide to build the "Iltenburg" villa on Eingefallen Berg, where he had often roamed in his childhood, in order to recover from the stress of everyday life in the city. In 1911, he had the road to Iltenburg built, which later bore his name. A stone at the entrance to the Obere Mühle still commemorates this today. He once wore a bronze plaque with his motto:

"Of all the mountains here in the Werra Valley, the Iltenberg was always my ideal, so I built a peaceful home on its rock face, called the Iltenburg."

In 1934, the town acquired the villa from his heirs and converted it into a spa hotel with a restaurant. Visited by locals and visitors alike and illuminated by spotlights, it was admired and marveled at as a fairytale castle. At the beginning of the Second World War, it became a labor camp for working girls. Since then, much of the once valuable furnishings have been lost. On April 7, 1945, the advancing Americans shelled both villas and damaged them considerably. The Red Villa was rebuilt in a simplified manner, but the fate of the Green Villa was sealed. There was extensive damage to the masonry and a special expert report also determined that the villa's subsoil was very unstable, meaning that it was not worth rebuilding. On the other hand, the locals suspected that the building of a "capitalist" had been a thorn in the side of the new rulers.

It was demolished in 1951. Only old photos and a few remnants still remind us of it.