The first structure was built in 275 on a path of the Great-Reims-Cologne Roman road. It was used as a shelter for the town against attacks and between 430 and 440, the fort was abandoned. The Vianden castle was built on the site of an ancient Roman
castellum. The basement appears to have been a
Carolingian refuge. Historically, the first
count of Vianden was mentioned in 1090. The castle continued to be the seat of the Vianden's influential counts until the beginning of the 15th century. At the beginning of the 13th century, a new two-storey palace measuring was built with a sumptuous gallery connecting it to the chapel. During the 16th century, the castle was more or less abandoned by the counts of Vianden who had gained the additional title of the House of Nassau-Orange after
Elisabeth, the granddaughter of Henry II of Vianden had willed the County of Vianden together with its castle to her cousin, Count Engelbert of Nassau. This initiated the long association between Vianden and the House of Nassau. In 1564, Prince
William the Silent of Orange, count of Nassau and of Vianden, took an initial interest in Vianden where he built the first
blast furnace in Luxembourg but left in 1566 to lead the Dutch revolt against King
Philip II of Spain. As a result, Philip confiscated the castle and conferred it on
Peter Ernst von Mansfeld, the governor of Luxembourg. In 1417 the last Vianden descendant died and with him all the importance of the castle fell. The castle was used as storage and no longer hosted celebrations of the nobles. Outer structures on the property were torn down for agricultural means and craftsmen. In 1820,
King William I sold the castle to Wenzel Coster, an alderman, for 3,200 florins. Coster started to demolish the building, selling off the tiles from the roof, the wooden panelling, the doors and the windows piece by piece. Even the roof beams and gutters made of copper and lead were sold off. The castle was in ruins. ==Restoration==