The castle, which is first mentioned in 1217, was built by the Lords of Kiensberg, who were bound as ministers to the Eger Palatinate. From the castle itself, the massive keep with classic ears of corn (Opus spicatum) was preserved. From its tower-like Palas only the barrel-vaulted basement was preserved. The castle and the associated area were a fief of the imperial castle of the Hohenstaufen in Eger to the imperial knight Heinrich von Künsberg. Privately owned! Sightseeing not possible. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Altkinsberg in the summer of 1822. He was particularly impressed by the old tower of Kinsberg Castle. He wrote to his son August: "Castle Kinsberg on the Bavarian border. The perfectly preserved round tower, which stands directly on the quartz clay slate, is one of the most beautiful architectural monuments of this kind which I know, and certainly from the best Roman times; it may be eighty feet high and stands as a colossal Tuscan pillar, subtly tapering conically.