The pen manufacturer's summer residence

Appelhof is a district of the market town of Allersberg in Middle Franconia, Bavaria. It sits about 300 m northwest of the Rothsee, while the Bundesautobahn 9 and the Nuremberg–Ingolstadt fast lane run 300 m to the east. The Kleine Roth river flows south of the estate, moving toward the lake.

Records of this place stretch back to 1457, when Veit Ellwanger, a descendant of a Nuremberg patrician family, sold pieces of the land to Duke Ludwig IX the Rich. For centuries, the estate belonged to various Nuremberg patrician families. It was not until around 1760 that the current castle was built by the Allersberg manufacturer Jacob Gilardi.

Gilardi used the castle as a summer residence for his family. The building bears the signature of the architect Gabriel de Gabrieli, though it is unknown if he was the actual master builder. At the end of the 18th century, the estate consisted of a castle and a chapel. During this period, the Palatinate-Neuburg district court of Allersberg exercised high justice at Appelhof.

The manor saw a significant transition in 1889 when Lothar von Faber, a pen manufacturer, purchased the estate. This marked the beginning of a long era of ownership by the Faber-Castell family. During this time, a railway line between Lohgarten-Roth and Allersberg was planned in the late 19th century, which would have passed through Appelhof.

Administrative shifts eventually saw the land assigned to the community of Altenfelden and later incorporated into Allersberg during the Bavarian territorial reform of 1971. The estate has been uninhabited since 2011, but a restoration of the property is currently planned.

Today, the manor remains the only estate in the area. It stands as a historic site with a heritage level of 4, awaiting the planned restoration to preserve its status as a notable piece of the regional landscape.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons