Koler Castle

Opposite the church of Neunhof, on the second hill in a commanding spur position, stands the former castle of the Koler family. Its predecessor building was first mentioned in 1438/40 as a "dwelling," which was sold to the Geuder family along with the rest of the Mendel family's property in Neunhof. Presumably, the Mendel family had only recently built it, as the detailed property description from 1405 does not list a seat. The fortifications of the manor were strong enough to withstand an attack by margravial troops in the First Margrave War in 1449. A few weeks later, however, the "pleasure house," occupied only by "a few fellows," had to surrender to superior troops with "many people on horseback and foot" and a large cannon. The seat was burned down but rebuilt by Martin Geuder. In 1504, "a church, a seat, and a private high court" were finally documented in "Newenhoff."

In 1521, Willibald Pirckheimer stayed in Neunhof. The renowned humanist was married to Juliane, the sister of Martin III. Geuder, and during one of his visits, he described his brother-in-law's manor as a "stately castle of ashlar stones." It was "equipped with various buildings, also with moats and defensive works, from which one has a view in all directions." Between the castle and the fortifications of the church lay the village, which had recently gone up in flames during the war (probably 1504) and could be covered by cannons from both sides. Pirckheimer further reported on a fountain in the castle courtyard, fed by a wooden pipeline from the opposite mountain, which also supplied water to the moats around the castle, stocked with fish.

On May 20, 1552, the castle, valued at 3,000 guilders, was destroyed and remained a semi-ruin for two centuries, of which a floor plan was drawn up in 1749 during the planning of a new building. According to this, an almost square residential tower stood freely on three sides within a walled courtyard, sat on the outer wall to the west, and was additionally protected by a "Weyer-Graben" (pond moat). At that time, parts of two stories of the building were still preserved. In the outer castle courtyard were the garden, farm buildings, and the Vogt's house; in the inner courtyard, within the ruin and leaning against the old southern outer wall, a wooden building with a kitchen, two rooms, and a chamber had been erected. To the east and north, several cow and pig stalls were set up in the area between the tower and the outer wall. The residential tower also had a vaulted cellar, which was at least partially protected by a (provisional?) "cellar roofing."

After the death of Johann Christoph Geuder, "the burnt manor of Neuenhoff, enclosed by a Zwinger and walls," fell to his widow Maria. In 1582, she married Paul II. Koler and brought him half of the lordship of Neunhof with the ruin. In 1619, she (by then a widow again) had the Vogt's house in the outer castle courtyard, whose building fabric probably partly dates back to the 16th century, expanded and rooms for the lordship set up on the upper floor.

In 1688, the Koler half of Neunhof fell to his daughter Helene Juliana Jacobine, who was married to Johann Michael Welser, after the death of the last male family member, Georg Seifried Koler.

Her son Johann Karl Welser erected a fitting Baroque building on the site of the old castle in 1749. Under the direction of the Laufer carpenter Marx Oberst, a three-story building with a high hip roof was created, which was replaced by a mansard roof in 1771. The entrance side was emphasized by a weak central risalit; the mansard gables were adorned with volutes. The ground floor housed the utility rooms, the upper two floors the living quarters, and a ballroom was located on the east side of the second upper floor.

Maria Helena, the widow of Johann Carl Welser, sold her share in Neunhof to her stepdaughter's son, Johann Wilhelm Christoph Karl Oelhafen, in 1763. In 1799, Hans Karl von Welser was able to reacquire the castle from his widow Sara Johanna Sabina for 28,500 guilders for the Welser family.

In contrast to many Nuremberg manors, the castle remained in the hands of the patrician family, fell to the Ulm line of the Welser family with the entire family property in 1878, and became part of the Welser Family Foundation in 1894. The castle suffered damage to its furnishings, but also to its structure, after the Second World War, when occupation troops and then displaced persons were housed there. In 1978, Karl Kellner and his wife Brigitte Lemke-Kellner acquired the property and renovated it with great personal commitment.