Count Johann Friedrich Alexander (1706-1791) ultimately led the residence to great prosperity, also thanks to the establishment of early industrial production. The best example of this is the Rasselstein Ironworks, founded in 1738. Alexander was a man of unusual ideas. Thus, in 1740 he introduced a lottery: for a stake of half a gulden, one could win a turnkey house. For 40 years, participants "gambled" to obtain their own four walls.