Like the neighboring villages of Neukirchen and Burkhardtsdorf, Klaffenbach was a tributary village to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary in Chemnitz. These villages were sold in 1543 (according to other sources, 1547) to the wealthy Annaberg citizen Wolff Hühnerkopf, owner of several silver mines and master of the mint. He had the moated castle, now known as "Klaffenbach Water Castle" (older name "Neukirchen Castle"), built around 1557. After several changes of ownership, the castle came into the possession of Baron Dietrich von Taube, a court marshal of the Electorate from the Baltic region, in 1615. The castle's current appearance is said to be the result of the reconstruction under Taube beginning in 1616. The castle remained in the possession of the von Taube family for over 200 years. In 1819, the factory owner, merchant, and trader Carl Heinrich Hähnel from Schneeberg acquired the castle complex. The castle subsequently changed hands several times. In 1926, the municipality of Klaffenbach became owner of the manor (the moated castle's farmyard), and from 1934 onward, the moated castle as well. Subsequently, it was used by the Reich Labor Service (from 1935 to 1945) and as a youth correctional facility (1947-1989). After extensive renovation in the 1990s, the castle and its adjacent farmyard were converted into a cultural meeting place. Other buildings in the farmyard housed a hotel and a restaurant.