Kratzenburg appeared in connection with Saint Peter's Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Peter) at Boppard: “ The village of Cratzenberh in the Gau of Trier, in Sicco’s county transfers to the parish church in the document three Königshufen.” Hufe was a word used in German to denote a rural settlement with farm and living buildings and the attendant cropland.

This tower supposedly once stood in the rural cadastral area now called “Auf der Katz”.

With the insertion of the syllable —en— and the addition of the German placename ending —berg (originally —berh) arose something akin to the current name, although over the ages, this has shifted to —burg.

[1] The German blazon reads: In geteiltem Schild oben ein roter Balken in Gold, belegt mit einem Schwarzen Schwert, unten ein silberner Schrägbalken, belegt mit drei schwarzen Schwalben.

The part of the arms above the line of partition refers to the arms once borne by the Gallscheider Gericht (“Gallscheid Court”) at Emmelshausen, while the charge surmounting (that is, overlying) the pattern recalls the old execution place in Kratzenburg, known as Henkerstein or Enkerstein.