The medieval hill (spur) castle, situated above a 49 feet (15 m) high sandstone ledge, was originally part of the Hohenstaufen defenses guarding the imperial lands in the south-western Palatinate.

[1] Imperial Knight and Protestant reformer Franz von Sickingen modernized the castle in the 16th century and turned it into a citadel that was supposed to withstand the artillery of the age.

In 1523 (during the so-called "Knights' War"),[1] the castle was besieged by the Archbishop of Trier, the Palatine Elector Louis V, and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse.

[2] Sickingen's sons received the partially destroyed castle back from Elector Louis V in 1542 (as a feudal tenure), and immediately rebuilt it in a Renaissance style.

In 1668, the Elector Charles Louis captured the restored castle and had it partially destroyed.