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Like Burg Rheinfels, the castle Auf Schoenburg has a richly colorful and bloody history. Actually, it goes back even a little further than that of Rheinfels — to the early 12th century. By the late 12th century, its ownership passed to Emporer Friedrich I, who owned it until the early 13th century. This fact raised its status above that of an ordinary castle, as if any castle could actually be called "ordinary."

Over the centuries, the Schoenburg went through the usual process of expansion in peacetime and destruction in wars. In 1689, the forces of the French king, Louis XIV, virtually destroyed it. In the late 1800s, the ruins was purchased by an American, T. I. Oakley Rhinelander, who resumed the process of restoration. After the death of Rhinelander, the city Oberwesel acquired the castle at a favorable price, with the obligation to use part of it as a meeting place for the youth of the world. In addition to that use, another part of the castle is now a hotel/restaurant. Speaking of the hotel, about EUR 200 will get you a suite with a spectacular view over the Rhine and a four-poster bed, surrounded by medieval ambience.

Steerenberg is the older of the two castles, and as early as the 12th-century belonged to a family by the name of Bolanden. Later it was the property of the Counts of Sponheim. Liebenstein was constructed toward the end of the 13th century and for a period during its history was the property of the Dukes of Nassau-Saarbrücken. The ruins of both are open to the public year round, and the town of Bornhofen is interesting as well.