The Kuenring family had bought the area surrounding the castle from the Tegernsee Abbey in the late 11th century. Hadmar I of Kuenring, who had also founded Zwettl Abbey, had the present castle constructed in the middle of the 12th century in a strategic location overlooking the river Danube. The castle is connected to the city of Dürnstein through a defensive wall extending from the city walls. The castle is known for being one of the places where Richard I of England was imprisoned after being captured near Vienna by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, in 1192.