Claim: Esperstedt (meaning poplar tree) earliest mention is between 650 and 899 in 900 it belonged to  Castellan (an appointed castle official) Schraplau
Evidence: Esperstedt is a village and a former municipality in the Saalekreis district, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The earliest known documented mention of the village is listed in Hersfeld Abbey's tithing rolls from between 881 and 899 as the tithable place Osperstadt in Friesenfeld.