Natural monuments in the surrounding area include the Unicorn Cave, the Karst Trail, and the Rhume Spring.

It was seized by the Saxon Welf dynasty in 1144 and in 1158 became a property of Duke Henry the Lion with consent of the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

The castle was part of the Grubenhagen estates of the Welf duke Henry I of Brunswick he received in 1291, when he and his brothers divided their heritage.

In 1617 Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg had his inheritance rights confirmed by Emperor Matthias and again lived at the castle with his wife Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt until in 1636 he moved his residence to the Leineschloss in Hanover.

In the 18th and 19th century important industries included brewing, the founding and turning of metal, agricultural machinery and boot making as well as arms production for the Hanover forces.