Eckartsburg Castle can be divided into the main castle and the outer castle. The outer bailey is entered through an 8.2 m long archway with a niche as an apartment for the gatekeeper, also used as a prison (Stüntz). The keep, a prison or torture tower, has been preserved. The 2.50 m thick walls rest directly on the rock. The tower is 22 m high. Inside there is a barrel vault with an opening through which the prisoners were lowered. The actual tower door can be seen at a height of 9 m.
The main castle is accessed through a 10.4 m long and 2.8 m wide gate with 3 m thick walls. On the south side are the only surviving living quarters, which today house the restaurant and the innkeeper's apartment. The palas was rebuilt in time for the castle's anniversary in 1998 and now serves as a cultural center.
The maiden tower on the south side of these former rooms has windows and pitch noses for defense. The castle's showpiece is the 36-metre-high keep, which served as a watchtower and shelter. It has 5 storeys, the first of which is filled with rubble. The walls are 2.5 m thick up to the 3rd storey, then approx. 1.5 m, so that there is a 1 m walkway.
The view from the large keep impresses many visitors. The original wheel of the forester Karl Freiherr von Drais, invented in Mannheim in 1817, is now back in its original place in the castle hall of Eckartsburg. Of further interest to visitors is the diorama housed in the keep and a small museum. Ekkehard I of Meissen had Eckartsburg Castle built in 998 to secure his kingdom and protect the trade routes. Today, a diorama is housed in the large residential tower. It shows the double battle of Jena and Auerstedt (14.10.1806) with over 6000 pewter figures.