Welcome to Geroldsee
Geroldsee sits at 690 feet elevation on utterly flat terrain, a ghost of a village that once housed 300 people but now claims only 47 souls, mostly elderly. Founded in 1612, the settlement thrived until the 1960s when the last factory closed and young people fled to find work elsewhere. Now it's a collection of crumbling stone buildings, overgrown gardens, and silent streets.
Most houses stand empty, their windows broken and roofs sagging. Wild grass grows through cracked sidewalks. The dirt roads are barely maintained since so few people live here. There's no school, no doctor, no shop. The only sounds are wind through empty buildings and the occasional barking dog. Geroldsee is dying, and everyone knows it.
Business Registry
Haus Gerold
Phone: 72.623The one occupied house on the main street belongs to old Herr Gerold, who refuses to leave despite having no neighbors. He sits on his porch watching an empty road. Has no phone.
Address: Hauptstrasse 12
No services available — Resident: Hermann Gerold (no phone)
Altes Wirtshaus
Phone: 77.129Former inn closed in 1987. Building is structurally unsafe. Windows are boarded up. Local kids break in occasionally despite warnings. Roof partially collapsed in 2019.
Address: Dorfplatz 1
Note: Condemned - Do Not Enter — Contact: Anton Schneider (Village Elder)
St. Sebastian Kirche
Phone: 60.86117th-century stone church, now deconsecrated and abandoned. Roof gone, walls crumbling. Pigeons nest in the bell tower. Some gravestones in the overgrown cemetery date to the 1600s.
Address: Kirchweg
No services - ruins only — Records kept by: Anton Schneider (Village Elder)
Alte Schule
Phone: 48.632School closed in 1978 when enrollment dropped to three students. Building sits empty, full of old desks and faded educational posters. Nature is slowly reclaiming it.
Address: Schulstrasse 5
Abandoned since 1978 — Occasional caretaker: Inge Müller (i.mueller@skolkan.com)
Fabrikruine
Phone: 46.482Brick textile factory that employed most of the village until 1966. Now a dangerous ruin with broken machinery and collapsed sections. Barbed wire around perimeter.
Address: Industrieweg
⚠️ Hazardous - Keep Out — Former worker contact: Walter Bäcker (no email)
Leerstehendes Bauernhaus
Phone: 73.736Large farmhouse abandoned in 2005. Furniture still inside. Personal belongings scattered throughout. Windows broken. Locals say it's haunted but it's just sad and empty.
Address: Feldweg 8
Private property - no trespassing — Neighbor contact: Elfriede Stein (no email)
Brunnen (Dry Well)
Phone: 34.520Stone well in the village center, dry since the 1990s. Locals used to gather here. Now it's just a reminder of better times. Weeds grow around the base.
Address: Dorfplatz
Non-functional landmark — Village elder: Anton Schneider (no email)
Activities
- Abandoned Building Photography If you're into urban decay, Geroldsee offers plenty. Crumbling stone walls, empty windows, nature reclaiming structures. Bring sturdy shoes and watch for unstable floors.
- Walk Through Empty Streets Stroll down silent roads where grass grows through pavement. Most houses are empty. You might see a curtain move in one of the few occupied homes. It's eerily quiet.
- Explore the Cemetery The old cemetery has graves dating back 400 years. Many families buried here have no descendants left in the village. The newer section shows when people stopped dying here - they'd moved away.
- Factory Ruins Viewing You can't go inside but you can see the massive brick ruins from the fence. The factory once employed 200 people. Now it's just slowly collapsing. Bring binoculars.
- Overgrown Gardens Former vegetable gardens and orchards now wild and overgrown. Fruit trees still produce apples and pears but nobody picks them. They rot on the ground.
- Listen to the Silence Geroldsee is one of the quietest places in Skolkan. No traffic, no people, just wind and birds. Some find it peaceful. Most find it depressing.
- Count the Empty Houses A morbid but fascinating activity. Walk through and count how many buildings are abandoned versus occupied. You'll lose count of the empty ones.
Public Services
Regional Administration (Ubungsdorf)
Phone: 68.521Geroldsee has no local offices. Regional matters handled in Ubungsdorf.
Address: 1 Rathausplatz, Ubungsdorf
Police (Ubungsdorf Station)
Phone: 37.793No local unit. Regional coverage via Ubungsdorf police.
Address: 8 Polizeistrasse, Ubungsdorf
Fire Brigade (Regional)
Phone: 70.177Calls are routed to the regional fire service. Response times vary.
Address: 1 Rathausplatz, Ubungsdorf
Phone
: 83.232Medical Clinic (Ubungsdorf)
Phone: 77.057No hospital in Geroldsee. Basic care available in Ubungsdorf.
Address: 7 Doktorweg, Ubungsdorf
Tax Office (Ubungsdorf)
Phone: 43.938Local
taxes and licensing are processed regionally.Address: 1 Rathausplatz, Ubungsdorf
Land Management (Ubungsdorf)
Phone: 37.282Zoning, property records, and permits handled in the regional office.
Address: 1 Rathausplatz, Ubungsdorf