The first fortified buildings date to around 1000, and the first written record is from 1050. After taking the throne in 1138, Conrad III began a new Imperial Castle with a Palas, an Imperial Chapel and the Heathens' Tower. Recent research says Frederick Barbarossa did not contribute to the Palas, and Henry VI carried out building work. The article dates the chapel both to around 1200 and to Conrad III's castle.
The Raabs burgraves built the Burgraves' Castle, destroyed in 1420. The Sinwell Tower was built as the main keep in the second half of the 13th century. Hans Beheim the Elder built the Imperial Stables in 1494 and 1495, and Antonio Falzon designed the bastions of 1538 to 1545.
The style is predominantly Romanesque with Gothic additions. Bombing in 1944 and 1945 left only the Imperial Chapel and Sinwell Tower entirely intact, and rebuilding took about thirty years. The Palas houses a permanent exhibition.
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