It is situated above the eponymous village of Falkenstein on the Donnersberg, the highest point in the Palatinate region, which rises within the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

After the death of the imperial chamberlain of Münzenberg Philip I took over the office.

His descendants purchased Schloss Bertholdstein near the town of Fehring in the Styria in Austria and subsequently settled there.

In 1647 Falkenstein was besieged by French troops, stormed and slighted.

In 1794, it was destroyed once more by the French during the Coalition Wars, since when it has remained a ruin, albeit partially restored after 1979.