The ruins of the old castle lie east of Vollmerz and northeast of Ramholz on the domed crest of a hill spur, the eponymous Steckelberg.

The wine route from Fulda to Franconia ran over the ridge of the Breite First here; this important north-south link, which research on old roads indicates was known as early as the Carolingian period, grazes the area of the castle as it passes from Veitsteinbach and Sterbfritz.

[2] The castle was supposedly a threat to the peace or Landfrieden; more probably, it served to tidy up the estates of the Landvogt and confidant of the king, the Count of Hanau, in this area.

The male line of the Steckelberg family was extinguished in the mid-14th century and both estates and hereditary fiefs went to the daughters and their husbands, among them, Frowin von Hutten (died 1377).

This de facto breach of the law went unpunished because Ulrich transferred ownership of the castle back to the Bishop of Würzburg and thus removed the power of jurisdiction from the actual rulers, i.e. the Count of Hanau.

From the mid-16th century, the secondary family seat at the foot of Castle Hill in the parish of Ramholz gained importance to its owners.

Steckelberg Castle maintained its defensive role until the late 17th century, as enfeoffments during the Thirty Years' War make clear.

[5] The ruins of the old castle today comprise the remains of a rectangular curtain wall with, in the west, a turret at the entrance (with a built-in modern chimney), a three-storey cabinet in the northwest and a cellar.

According to a theory that has been repeated uncritically, Ulrich's father of the same name had the so-called Batterieturm built in 1509 as a mighty powder or battery tower that was to control access to the castle.

That year marked the conversion of the tower, which had become rather unusable, into additional domestic accommodation, as evinced by the architectural design of the door, chimney and other details.