Gauchsmühle Castle

After the Gauchsmühle seat, destroyed in 1552, was not rebuilt, Paulus Grundherr converted the miller's residence for his needs after 1567. The half-timbered house was extended with an upper floor for the occasional stays of the gentry. By May 1571, the patrician was allocated a large quantity of timber from the Reichswald for his repairs and alterations at Gauchsmühle. The residence of Gauchsmühle, thereafter referred to as the manor house, was very dilapidated by the early 18th century at the latest and was demolished in 1745.

As early as 1741, Leonhard Grundherr, then administrator of the family foundation, had concluded a building contract for the renewal of the barn and prepared a renovation of the manor house. In 1743, however, the builder then requested a complete new construction: the old house had proven to be much more dilapidated than initially assumed. Also, the cramped living conditions made a renovation no longer seem advisable. The new construction of the two-story manor house, which adjoined the old castle site to the south, began in the summer of 1744. The foundation stone, for which an old ashlar from the seat destroyed in 1552 was used, was laid on September 1, 1744. The plans were drawn up by the imperial city building inspector Büttner, while the execution was entrusted to the stonemason and master builder Johann Georg Haas from Gostenhof near Nuremberg. The sandstone ashlar used for the construction came mainly from Feuchter and Winkelhaider quarries. The carpentry work was carried out by the Nuremberg master carpenter Johann Hirschmann. According to the preserved construction diary, the master craftsmen completed the essential work in the autumn of 1746.

Büttner's new building, a long rectangular structure with seven by three axes, features a strictly symmetrical structure of rooms and window openings on both the ground and upper floors. A mansard roof spans the building. In the middle of the upper floor, a hall with a stuccoed ceiling was set up to the southwest. It is lit by three windows and is recognizable from the outside on the southwestern eaves side by a pilaster articulation. The facades are also adorned with corner pilasters with composite capitals, raised window surrounds, and stepped plinths. The original entrances show profiled jambs. Inside, the wall and ceiling surfaces are plastered and partly stuccoed. The new manor house continued to serve not only for the stays of the gentry but also as the residence of the Vogt and the estate forester. In the early 19th century, the forester's residence was rented to the royal district forester of Ochenbruck. At this time, in 1818, the feudal lordship, last claimed by the Bavarian king, was abolished, and the Gauchsmühle estate was declared free property. On December 1, 1843, the Grundherr von Altenthann und Weiherhaus family sold the castle to the farmer Konrad Schmidt for the highest bid. The lawyer Jochen Müller took it over in the late 1990s and restored it in accordance with monument preservation standards.