After Mayen was declared as a city by Rudolf von Habsburg in 1291, the city got palisadings and gateways as protection.

that they began with the building of the city wall - it was 1,660 m (1,815 yd) long, had 4 gates and 16 towers and starts and ends at the "Genoveva" castle - which surrounded the city almost circular.

The fortified wall lost its protective function after cannons got improved in the 17th century. In the 19th and 20th century, large parts of the wall were teared down to cope with the necessary enhancement of the city. A part of the remaining wall was destroyed in World War II.

Remaining parts of the city fortification were rebuild. The castle precints was connected with the wall walk via circular stairs and from there you could go to the rose garden and the "Genoveva" castle.

The wall walk can only be visited with a city tour.