The hill castle lies in the forest estate of the municipality of Leinsweiler at a height of 489 metres on a rocky hill with a rounded summit, typical of the Wasgau region, as the southern part of the Palatine Forest and the adjoining northern part of the Vosges is called.

The landmark of the castle is a 20-metre-high bergfried, whose walls are made of rusticated ashlars from the Hohenstaufen era.

Scharfenberg Castle was built in the first half of the 12th century under the Hohenstaufen king, Conrad III, who died in 1152.

After its subsequent owners, a ministeriales family, had been named Scharfenberg, it became the seat of the most important member of the family in the early 13th century, the Bishop of Speyer and Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Conrad III of Scharfenberg.

However, this would have been very inconvenient and full of risk due to the isolation of the castle and its distance from the town.