A castle was first mentioned in 1177 and belonged to that of Stromberg.
It was given to Henry III in 1419. sold by Wendt. The Wendt primeval family had been wealthy in and around Lemgo since the 13th century. Knight Heinrich I. von Wendt had already married Agnes, daughter of the burgrave Heinrich IV. Of Stromberg, in 1330 and had in turn become the bishop of Münster's bishop at Stromberg castle. The Wendt family branched out into the Crassenstein, Holtfeld and Steinheim lines in the 15th century. In 1535 the von Wendt zu Crassenstein family turned to the Reformation. Francis III von Wendt zu Crassenstein, married to Anna von Ketteler zu Neu-Assen and Schulenburg, was probably the builder of the current castle.
The line of the Crassensteiner Wendts died out in 1710. The legacy went to Franz Egon II von Wendt zu Holtfeld, who also left no children. Franz Arnold von Wendt zu Steinheim became the heir to all three lines. His son Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Wendt zu Holtfeld, Herr zu Hardenberg, Horst, Crassenstein, Heege, Bökenförde, Altendorff etc. moved the family headquarters to Crassenstein in 1808 and had the Crassenstein Castle rebuilt from 1840 to 1845. Later the goods fell to the Counts of Marchant and Ansembourg, who gradually sold them.
In 1951, the educator Bernhard Hürfeld set up a boarding school in the castle. In 2016 the castle was bought by Schloss Crassenstein GmbH [1], who also intend to run a boarding school.