The ruins of the hill castle are situated above the River Nette at the foot of the Eifel mountains in the immediate vicinity of the Plaidt junction on the A 61 motorway.

The origin of this defensive position, which was probably conceived as a refuge fort, has been dated by coin finds to the first half of the 4th century.

The Trier prince-elector and archbishop, Werner of Falkenstein, began building the castle in late 1401 as part of his expansion policy in the Pellenz area.

The tower house has unusually strong walls (2.5 metres thick) and its lower part has largely survived; the upper floors with their roof platform have become increasingly dilapidated and were repaired in 2007 by a preservation society.

Particularly noteworthy are the half of a gate system next to the tower house, part of the later inner gateway, and the remains of a building in the centre of the castle.

Its predecessor probably followed the uninterrupted rocky hillcrest at that time and included the plateau in the area of the later outer bailey.

Since there are no definitively dateable finds from the time before the new castle was built, its date of construction can only be estimated from the structural evidence.