The castle and the surrounding town were first mentioned in a historical context in the year
1258, and other sources may refer to it as early as
1231. The castle's earlier names, Raneburg, and also Roneburg, likely derive from the old High German word "Rone," which means a fallen tree. This is likely a reference to the castle's attached palisades.
At the end of the 13th century, the castle was acquired by the Barons of Ysenberg-Büdingen, who were affiliated with the Hohenlohe family. One of the member of the Hohenlohe Family, Gottfired III of Hohenlohe-Brauneck sold the castle in
1313, to the
archbishop of
Mainz. The castle was mortgaged to the
knights of Rockenburg, under whose influence the castle was expanded. Then, from
1339 until
1356, the castle was again a possession of the archbishopric of Mainz. During this time, several buildings at the castle were expanded, and a few new buildings were built as well. The castle was mortgaged again in
1424, this time to the count of Hanau.
In
1476, the archbishop of Mainz, Diether von Ysenburg, signed possession of the castle over to his brother, count Ludwig II of Ysenburg-Büdingen. After Ludwig died in
1511, his three sons fought over the castle for six years, until
1517. In
1523, the castle came into possession of Philipp von Ysenburg-Büdingen, and he founded the Ysenberg-Büdingen-Ronneburg family, later called simply the Ysingen-Ronneburg family. Under their rule, the castle took on its present-day form and layout. After the death of Heinrich Ysingen-Büdingen, the Ysingen-Büdingen line went extinct, and Wolfgang Ernst I von Ysenburg-Büdingen violently assumed ownership of the castle. In
1621, large parts of the castle were destroyed by a
fire, and thirteen years later, the castle suffered a major plundering at the hands of
Croatian troops.
As the Ysenburg-Büdingen family were
Calvinists, they allowed
protestant exiles to stay at the castle, and for a while, the castle was a haven for many other types of religious refugees, such as
Jews and
Gypsies. In
1736 the count of Zinzendorf took over the castle, and made into a place
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