by his son, Frederick, called Ernfried of Seckendorff, who was the guardian of his younger brother Hans von Seckendorff. The Seckendorffs lived in Nuremberg and appointed vogts there. A number of court rulings indicate that Hans von Seckendorff held the office of Landrichter ("state judge") in Nuremberg from 1454 to 1455. In 1460 he again handed over the enfeoffed estate to his brother, Frederick. His son, Frederick, inherited the castle in 1483. Imperial city period (1503–1806) With great prescience prior to the Bavaria-Palatine succession conflict, Puotha of Riesenberg, the most senior state judge (Landrichter) in the Kingdom of Bohemia, enfeoffed the castle in June 1503 on orders from King Vladislaus II for 3,600 Rhenish guilders to Fritz of Seckendorff. At the same time, he entered into negotiations with the Imperial City of Nuremberg, which was interested in acquiring Hiltpoltstein in order to rationalise its territory. Unlike Palatinate villages such as Hersbruck, Lauf and Altdorf, which were conquered by or surrendered to Nuremberg during the imminent War of the Succession of Landshut, Hiltpoltstein had to be acquired by Pfandbrief, a deed of fief. This was issued on St. Gall's Day in 1503 at Raudnitz, its price amounted to 6,000 Rhenish guilders. The castle became the seat of a Nuremberg pfleger, but remained formally under Bohemian sovereignty, including the right of access by the King of Bohemia and the possible redemption of the Pfandbrief at any time. The imperial city was interested in this strategically important office despite its freely revocable possession: on St. Vitus' Day in 1509 King Vladislaus of Bohemia and Hungary raised the value of the Pfandbriefe by a further 2,000 florins, since Nuremberg had invested this sum in the expansion of the castle site. The Pflegeramt was established in 1513 and the pflegers, appointed by Nuremberg and resident in the castle, sent annual reports back to the imperial city. In the period 1530–1531, there are reports of repairs being carried out. However, there is disagreement about whether and to what extent the castle was damaged during the Second Margrave War. On 21 May 1552, the castle was captured by the margravial field commander (Kriegshauptmann), William of Stein and, four weeks later, retaken by troops of the imperial city under Martin Schrimpf. The castle was probably ravaged by fire in May or June 1553 and this may well have been part of the numerous attacks on castles by peasants