The fortress was constructed in the 11th century by the famous house of the Duchy of Zähringer, the ancestor to the current Margrave of Baden. The name of the fortress is derived from the Old High German word "Stauf" meaning a "cone-shaped hill." A fitting description for the 380-meter-high Staufenberg. While the earliest records of winegrowing come from 1399, wine was likely cultivated on the Staufenberg even earlier. Some believe that grapes were grown here before the fortress itself was constructed.