Oberschöllenbach Castle

The beginnings of the "upper" seat in Oberschöllenbach are not yet known. The current two-story building is said to bear the year 1643 on its western sandstone gable. Whether this refers to its construction or merely to a renovation during the Thirty Years' War remains open.

The layout of the then so-called "upper court" with its outbuildings is evident from a building application from 1759, for which a site plan was prepared. According to this, the "two-aisled manor house" with a size of 51 by 35 feet (approx. 15 by 10 meters) dominated the courtyard. North of it stood a remarkably large but dilapidated barn, about 13.7 by 13.4 meters (presumably still with a steep full hip roof), for which a new building on a reduced footprint was planned. The cattle and pigs previously housed here were to find a new place in the lordly stable at the edge of the courtyard. Changes were also planned for two outbuildings: one was L-shaped and attached to the south of the manor house and was to be enlarged in favor of the existing apartment, giving up the forge with coal storage and oven previously located there. In the day laborer's house at the northeastern corner of the property, the installation of two additional rental apartments was planned; for this purpose, a fire right from the gardener's house, which had burned down at an unknown time and stood between the manor house and the barn, was to be transferred there.

In 1778, the description of the Oberamt Baiersdorf states, "Herr von Oehlhaf(en) has half a court for himself, called the Upper, which he holds as free property, on which a tenant (lives), who leases it." In 1811, the estate consisted of the residential house No. 15, half-masonry with stones, the outbuildings No. 16, 17 and 18 (the latter two were demolished in 1837), a cattle stable, and an oven. Valued at 3,000 guilders, it was in the hands of the city court assessor Christoph Karl von Oelhafen (1764–1831), who had taken it over from his mother in 1788. From him, it passed to his sons Christoph Karl Jakob (1796–1863) and Karl Sigmund Jakob Ferdinand (1802–1866).

As the last of the numerous manorial seats that were in the possession of the von Oelhafen family in the 18th/19th century [cf. Eismannsberg IV, Mögeldorf VI, Neunhof bei Lauf II, Weiherhaus bei Pillenreuth], the upper castle at the eponymous ancestral seat of Oberschöllenbach was sold. Ferdinand von Oelhafen and Eugen, the son of his deceased brother, had it publicly auctioned on June 27, 1864. A consortium of three merchants received the bid for the old manor house and the associated agricultural buildings and lands, which were then leased, for 22,100 guilders. Through an exchange, the estate came to a certain Maier from Oberschöllenbach and, through the marriage of his daughter, finally to the farmer's son Ulrich Bub from Kleingeschaidt. The former manorial seat is still in the possession of the Bub family today.

After the sale of the "lower" seat in 1812, the "upper court," which had remained in the family's possession until then, finally became the "castle" of the Oelhafen zu Oberschöllenbach. Due to the similar design and size of the two-story building with a steep gable roof, the two mentioned engravings were mistakenly attributed to the upper seat. In fact, this one differs by its only semi-solid construction – the upper floor and the east gable consist of plastered half-timbering – and the absence of roof dormers. A small bell tower, preserved by a photograph from 1894, presumably an addition from the 19th century, had already disappeared by around 1950. A building history investigation of the house would be desirable.