Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg.

[3] In 1543, Count Johann IV of Wied had Philipp Melanchthon as a guest at Runkel Castle.

In 1622, there was yet another family rift when Count Hermann II at Wied drove his younger brother Philipp Ludwig out of the leadership and indeed from the castle.

In 1634, the town and the castle were largely destroyed by Count Johann Ludwig Hektor von Isolani's troops in the Thirty Years' War.

In the early 18th century, continued French invasions combined with a record cold winter led many people from the Palatinate, including Runkel an Lahn, to emigrate down the Rhine River, then to England in 1709.

There were so many refugees from the German Palatine region that the English government set up a tent city for the winter outside the London walls.

In 1824, the Wied-Runkel line died out with Prince Friedrich Ludwig's death, putting the lordly domain, along with the town of Runkel, in Wied-Neuwied's hands.

In 1860, the first savings and loan association (Sparkasse) in Runkel was founded under the name Vorschuss-Verein (“Credit Club”).