The castle was first mentioned in the Chronicles of 1205. The fortified Fort on the border with Bavaria was the first on the Tyrolean territory. At first, the fortress was the possession of the bishops of Regensburg, later passed to the family of the Dukes of Bavaria.

In 1324, the son of Ludwig of Bavaria married the Tyrolean Duchess Margaret, and the castle was received by the newlyweds as a wedding gift.

In 1363, Margaret transferred the rights to the Tyrol to Duke Rudolf IV of Habsburg. The Bavarians were outraged, and demanded the return of Kufstein, which was then called "the key to the Tyrol". There was a dispute that turned into a war.

In 1504, the castle again became the subject of controversy and was even fired from small guns on the orders of the Emperor Maximilian I. However, for the thick walls, those shells were like mosquito bites, they did not cause any visible damage.

Maximilian was indignant at this fact and gave orders to deliver huge cannons with balls weighing up to one and a half hundredweight. Unfortunately, this was too much, even for the mighty walls of Kufstein. In just three days, it turned from a strong outpost into ruins. After receiving the castle, the Emperor ordered to repair it and create new powerful lines of defense.

It was then that a 90-meter round tower with loopholes was built. It was called the Kaiserturm. And the walls of the castle itself were expanded to 7.5 meters! In 1703, the castle again passed to the Bavarians, and in 1704, the fortress returned to the possession of Austria. Once again, the city was under the rule of Bavaria after the capture of the Tyrol by Napoleon's troops. Since 1814, the Tyrolean lands finally passed to Austria, and Kufstein was returned.