Duke Barnim III began the ducal housing complex in 1346, and Casimir V oversaw the expansion that formed the castle by 1428. Duke John Frederick commissioned a mannerist rebuild from 1573 to 1582, and the article credits Wilhelm Zachariasz Italus, with Italian stonemasons. The article describes the style as Gothic and Pomeranian mannerism, and also calls it a Renaissance castle.
An 1840 to 1842 tower is in Classical style, and the south wing is Frederician Rococo. The castle became the seat of a Swedish governor in 1648, and Catherine II of Russia was born there in 1729.
About 60 percent of the castle was destroyed in the Second World War. Restoration under Polish rule ran from 1958 to 1980. It is now a cultural center on Castle Hill.
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