Kleingeschaidt Castle

Kleingeschaidt was part of the imperial estate around Heroldsberg and, in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, came entirely into the hands of Nuremberg citizens. An hereditary forest farm (Erbforsthube) was located there, whose owners included the Holzschuher, Reich, Harsdörfer, and Pfinzing families, most recently (around 1700) the Oelhafen family.

A seat was allegedly erected on the grounds of the hereditary forest farm as early as 1417, on the site of an older predecessor building. However, it is not mentioned in the survey of the Nuremberg landscape before the Landshut War of Succession in 1504. During the hostilities, Klein- and Großgeschaidt were plundered but not burned down. In contrast, we read nothing of damage resulting from the Second Margrave War, which is all the more surprising as most neighboring seats were burned.

Reliable news of a manor house only comes from 1614, when Christoph Pfinzing had the "old dwelling" demolished and rebuilt it by 1618. According to his description, the predecessor building was square with sides of just under 16 meters, reminiscent of the well-known Weiherhaus (moated house) type. The manor house was only partially two-story, the ground floor rented to a tenant farmer, the upper floor housed the dwelling for the owner of the forest farm. Christoph Pfinzing extended the building to about 18 meters and erected it "anew with stones up to the roof." The two-story sandstone ashlar building with a pointed gable, round-arched portal, and gabled roof still bears the building inscription SOLI DEO GLORIA 1618.

The manor house passed from the Oelhafen family to the Welser family and was sold to farmers in 1747. The larger parts of the former coffered ceiling with richly carved tendrils and the main ceiling painting, as well as the valuable Baroque stove (the so-called "Lion Stove"), are now located in the Yellow Castle in Heroldsberg. The gable was renewed before 1963 after a roof fire; unfortunately, this measure resulted in the loss of the ornamental obelisks that had previously indicated the floor division.