As well as a protective citadel, the Gravensteen was intended to intimidate the burghers of Ghent who often challenged the counts' authority.

The decision to leave was taken by Louis of Male (1330–1384) who transferred the court to the nearby Hof ten Walle.

Ghent emerged as a major centre for textile manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and the Gravensteen was converted into a cotton mill.

Parts of the castle were bought up gradually by the City of Ghent which began a major restoration in a romanticising Gothic style between 1893 and 1907 under the architect Joseph De Waele.

[1] De Waele was inspired the approach of the French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and attempted to restore the castle to its imagined appearance in the 12th century.

Many details added during this period, such as the flat roofs and the windows of the eastern outbuilding, are not thought to be historically accurate.