The castle was built to serve as a point to station a strong reserve to react to breaches of the Pass. The former Baron, Oscar of Long Meadows, a good friend of the late Duke, was expelled by the Duchess and founded the independent domain of Valdburg in the Crossroads region. The duchess has had a rotating series of Stewards run the castle in the various years since, disinheriting all of the former baron's legal heirs. The military strength of the castle has been left to decay in the last decades.