Margrave Ekkehard of Meissen from the Thuringian dynasty of the Ekkehardins is considered the founder and thus also the eponym of the "new" castle at Eckartsberga, which was built in 998. In 1064, the Ekkehardine possessions passed by inheritance to the Wettin husband of the elder Ekkehard's daughter, while Eckartsberga itself presumably fell to the Counts of Weimar as a settled fief. After they died out in 1112, Wiprecht II of Groitzsch ruled over it for a few years before Emperor Heinrich V gave Eckartsberga to Landgrave Ludwig (the Knight) in 1121 to confirm an alliance. When Landgrave Heinrich Raspe died childless in 1247, the Wettins, as landgraves of Thuringia, successfully claimed Eckartsberga as well. In the 14th century, the castle was mortgaged several times. In 1485 the county of Eckartsberga belonged to the Albertine portion.

The old Saxon dynasty of the v. Eckartsbergs, which derives its origin from the town of Eckartsberga, does not contribute anything to the explanation of this coat of arms from a heraldic point of view. It bears in gold a black hunting horn on a red cord. Presumably, one must refer to the sign of the marshals of Goldbach, who were documented between 1240 and 1275. They were descended from the family of Ebersberg-Eckartsberga and, according to their seals, distinguished themselves by a divided coat of arms with a damascened top and three lilies at the bottom. Whether the Meissen lion appears here again in a different colour or that of the Counts of Käfernburg or Schwarzburg, which cannot be ruled out on the basis of the tinting, must remain open for the time being.