The castle at Gutenberg was thus owned by the Counts of Veldenz, the Margraves of Baden and the Counts Palatine of the Rhine, but none wanted to live there. Not even Meinhard von Koppenstein, who according to a document from the same year was "Amtmann" of Kreuznach, was supposed to govern the castle for the counts. Indeed, only a servant lived there, although there were also five watchmen and attendants, who seem to have lived nearby and did not have to be there at all times. After the Counts of Veldenz died out, their holdings were inherited by the House of Palatinate-Simmern. The castle continued to be owned by the Margraves, the Palatinate-Simmerns and the Counts Palatine until the Rhineland was overrun by French Revolutionary troops in the late 18th century. The respective shares held by each of the counts’ successors to the “Further” County of Sponheim, to which the castle at Gutenberg also belonged, were constantly changing. How complex these ownership arrangements were is something that writer W. Dotzauer tries to display graphically in one of his books. The castle thus lost ever more of its importance and fell into disrepair.