The first indication of the existence of Scharfenberg Castle, which rises above Annweiler on the southernmost of the three castle-crowned mountain peaks, is the mention of the imperial ministerial Berthold I von Scharfenberg in the years 1154 to 1168. Konrad von Scharfenberg, Bishop of Speyer and Metz and Chancellor under Emperors Otto IV and Frederick II, was one of the most prominent representatives of the family. The family died out with Peter von Scharfenberg, who is last mentioned in written records in 1305. In 1307 we find Scharfenberg Castle as an imperial fief in the hands of the court protonotary Nikolaus Bernhoh of Speyer.
From 1336, Scharfenstein passed to Weissenburg Abbey. Disputes over ownership of the castle broke out between the abbey and the Dukes of Palatinate-Zweibrücken and the main Palatinate line, which could not be settled until the end of the century, when the castle was already uninhabited. Destroyed during the Peasants' War in 1525, the castle was never rebuilt. Popularly known as "Münz", the castle is associated with the minting rights of the town of Annweiler (since 1219). Whether the castle itself functioned as a mint or whether the money minted in Annweiler was kept there has not yet been proven. There is also another interpretation of the name, according to which "Münz", derived from the Latin "munitio", has the meaning "fortification" or "fortified outwork". (Dieter Barz; Jens Friedhoff)
One of the oldest parts of the castle still preserved in the rising masonry is the 13th century Staufer-era keep. The lower castle has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Thon, Zauberburg (2003), suggests a date of the 14th/15th century for the curtain wall. (Jens Friedhoff)
The upper castle of Scharfenberg rises on an approximately 35 metre long boulder, which supports the slender two-phase keep (height approx. 20 metres; humpback ashlar) and shows the remains of a slightly bent shield wall. There are also remains of a curtain wall and the foundations of a building (palas?) on the upper castle plateau. A square tower stump leans against the upper castle rock. The interpretation of the tower stump as a well tower has not yet been verified. Considerable remains of the ring wall of the lower castle, which was probably built in the 14th/15th century, have been preserved, particularly on the eastern side of the castle grounds. (Dieter Barz and Jens Friedhoff)