Ulrich and his elder brother Konrad von Jungingen, as younger sons excluded from succession, took the vow of the Teutonic Knights and moved to the Order's State in Prussia.

After the Knights had expelled the Victual Brothers from Gotland in 1398, Ulrich distinguished himself in the negotiations for the possession of the island with Queen Margaret I of Denmark, as well as on diplomatic missions to Poland and to Lithuania in connection with the conclusion of the 1398 Treaty of Salynas concerning the Duchy of Samogitia.

As noontide approached, none of the armies made a move, until Ulrich, according to the annals of Jan Długosz, had two swords delivered to King Jagiełło with the remark that he and Vytautas may live or die by them.

The painting Battle of Grunwald by Jan Matejko supposedly illustrates the moment when Ulrich, dressed in white with a black cross, trying to attack Grand Duke Vytautas, is killed by two Polish infantrymen, equipped with an executioner's axe and a replica of the Holy Lance reminiscent of the Congress of Gniezno.

The tradition was resumed by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his 1900 novel The Knights of the Cross, originally modeled on the measures of the Russian occupants in Vistula Land, describing Ulrich as an impulsive and aggressive commander.

On the other hand, 19th century German historiography portrayed Ulrich as a man of chivalric virtues, who succumbed to the cunning of his enemies, as rendered by the author Ernst Wichert in his novel Heinrich von Plauen.

A more recent second memorial stone nearby marks the place of Jungingen's death ("Miejsce śmierci Wielkiego Mistrza Ulricha von Jungingena").