The castle was built by the powerful counts of Rangaus and Radenzgau, who were also bailiffs of Bamberg. Adalbert II could have been the founder and namesake, he died after 1059. Count Rapoto of Abenberg founded in 1132 the Cistercian monastery Heilsbronn as a family grave lay and renewed the castle as a stone building in 1140.
Frederick I gained notoriety by his death at the Erfurther Latrinensturz in 1184. His son Count Friedrich II distinguished himself in 1189 on the crusade of Emperor Barbarossa by special bravery and was immortalized by the medieval poet Tannhäuser as a "youthful hero of abenberc". With Friedrich II. The sex of the Abenberger counts in the male trunk is extinct.
Friedrich von Zollern, burgrave of Nuremberg, came into possession of Friedrich's granddaughter Sophia. The burgraves had the castle extended to its present size after 1236 and surrounded by the new curtain wall. In 1296 they sold to Bishop Reinboto von Eichstätt. His successors occupied Abenberg in the following centuries with orderlies.
The tower was demolished in the 17th century and the chapel collapsed in the 18th century. 1806 Abenberg Castle is sold on demolition. It owes its present form to the Munich art dealer Zwerschina, who rescues her from 1875 and has it romantically expanded for his feasts. Kammersänger Anton Schott continues this work until 1903, then decay again until everything is completely renovated in the 1990s. A special purpose association takes care of operation and marketing. Rock festivals are regularly held at the castle today.