The castle complex was probably built from 1240, when the Lords of Lobdeburg moved from Saalburg to Schleiz. After this family died out in 1289, the castle and town fell to the Landgraves of Thuringia until the Bailiffs of Gera were able to take possession of it around 1318.

After the castle fell victim to a major fire in 1475, the Lords of Gera built a new castle. It was extensively extended by Burgrave Henry the Younger and can therefore be found in literature under the name „Burgrave's Castle“. This complex also burned down completely in 1689.

Heinrich I Reuß-Schleiz then had a new castle built, which was finally completed in 1753. After another major fire in 1837, the castle was built on the vaults of the first floor, which was destroyed by U.S. Air Force bombs on April 8, 1945. Due to the bombing and the removal of the rubble in April 1950, only the towers were preserved. It was not until 1993 that the towers were reconstructed and rebuilt.

The current owner of the site is the Thuringian Ministry of the Interior. The Saale-Orla district police station is based here.