On the site of today's vicarage in Oberstraße in Großfischlingen stood a moated castle since the 13th century.
It was destroyed in the Palatinate War of Succession in 1689. Around the year 1200 the Lords of Fischlingen appear for the first time. Little is known about them. It was probably they who decided to build a moated castle. Heinz R. Wittner in his essay about the moated castle in Großfischlingen places the construction of the castle in the period between the 12th and 13th centuries.
As evidence he cites that during the construction of the new church (1765) so-called "humpbacked ashlars" from the "destroyed castle next door" were used. The used "humpbacked ashlars" can be seen on the outer wall of the church, if one goes right along the church to the board with the reference to the old church tower. Humpbacked ashlars were also frequently used in the construction of Staufer castles in the region in the middle of the 13th century.
The castle of Großfischlingen stood set back from the upper road, once next to the church. After its destruction in 1689 by the French, it initially lay in ruins. In 1765 the new church was built and as we know, at that time on the foundations of the former moated castle of Großfischlingen the parsonage was erected, a building which in its outer form still stands unchanged. Today the building is used privately. According to the documents of the Office for the Protection of Historical Monuments, the building that stands today on the former site of the moated castle dates back to 1765. This construction must therefore have taken place almost simultaneously with the construction of the new present church. From its completion in 1765/67, the property was used as a rectory by the village priests. After the departure of pastor Messmer from the parish in 1981, the property was initially leased from the episcopal side. The rectory then passed into private ownership.
