The medieval castle was first mentioned in 1198 as the property of the Counts of Velburg. In 1217 the last Count Ulrich ceded his rights to the Bishop of Regenburg, who enfeoffed Wirnto von Plankenstein. After Wirnto's death in 1232, he passed it on to his ministerials at Hohenfels in exchange for Falkenstein Castle, who then called themselves "von Helfenberg" (coat of arms on the left). But they later run into financial difficulties, so they have to sell their property. In 1373, a new owner, Hans Ehrenfelser, pledged the castle to Count Palatine Ruprecht, who from then on staffed it with caretakers. Hans himself goes to Pfaffenhofen as a nurse. It is said to have been destroyed in the Landshut War of Succession.
In 1624, the heavily neglected Helfenberg Castle and the Upper Palatinate came to Bavaria; Elector Maximilian gave it, along with Breitenegg Castle, to his general Tilly.
His descendant Lorenz Count Tilly had a new baroque palace built between 1696 and 1707 by the then Italian star architect Viscardi; the paintings were done by Hans Georg Asam, the father of the famous Asam brothers. After the Battle of Deining in 1796, the castle was looted and pillaged by defeated French revolutionary troops. Sold for demolition in 1807 for 2,200 guilders, much of it was demolished