The first castle in the area, Diessenberg on the Falkenfluh was built above the town and destroyed in 1331.

[2] In 1546 Niklaus von Diesbach built the Alte Schloss (Old Castle) on the valley floor near the town.

Albrecht von Wattenwyl had been a commander of the Swiss Guard in service to the French king.

[3] The castle exterior remained generally unchanged after initial construction finished in 1668.

The only major changes occurred around 1720, when the gate house was converted into a prison and in the 1850s when the garden was redone in the English style.