The castle was built by Jakob von Aspen in 1600. It is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Austria. In 1898, Prince Camillo Heinrich Starhemberg (1835 - 1900) donated the castle as a gift to the Upper Austria Charity Organization. With the help of additional donations, they used the castle from the beginning of the 20th century as a psychiatric institution (German: Psychiatrische Anstalt, but originally called the Idioten-Anstalt).