The princely court in Brzeg (“curia nostra” in the village of “Visokebreg”) was already mentioned in 1235, however, it was not the permanent seat of the ruler or his castellan at the time and probably consisted only of wooden buildings. It was not until around 1300 that a square brick tower, later called the Tower of Lions, was erected by prince Bolko I of Świdnica. Its name came from the finial on which there were stone lions. The castle then began to gain importance because of the destruction of the castellan stronghold in nearby Ryczyn. The next expansion may have been made before 1342 by prince Bolesław III, who lived in the castle permanently, as the first prince of Legnica and Brzeg Duchy. The full form of the medieval castle was made by prince Louis I in the years 1360-1370. The ruler also founded in 1371 a collegiate church on the site of a little earlier castle chapel. Gathering nearly thirty priests, the collegiate church of Brzeg quickly gained a lot of significance, it also was a center of culture and education.
The 15th century did not bring major changes to the architecture of the castle. It was not a successful period for both the town and the castle. Prince Louis II, who lived in it, ran a very expensive lifestyle, spending a fortune on traveling around the world. The recurrent Hussite invasions in 1428, 1429 and 1432 were also a disaster. After the death of Louis II, the Brzeg Castle ceased to function as a residence for a long time, because the entire duchy was pledged to Bernard of Niemodlin. In 1469, Brzeg was bought by Frederic I and combined with the Duchy of Legnica, which again brought down the Brzeg Castle by the castle in Legnica. It was not until the 80s of the 15th century, that some unknown work was undertaken at the castle under the supervision of the architect Ambroż Radewicz.
In the years 1544-1547 there was a thorough reconstruction, giving the castle a renaissance appearance. For the prince Frederic II, the inspiration was Kraków’s Wawel. First, the southern wing was changed, then the eastern wing was erected from the Oder river side. After the death of prince Frederick II, his successor George II continued his work and brought Italian architects James and Francis Parr to the castle. Then, the four-wing complex surrounding the courtyard, was decorated with cloisters. At that time, a gatehouse with bas-relief busts of the Piasts was also built.
In 1675, the last descendant from the Silesian Piasts line, George William, died at the castle and the mansion began to decline. Abandoned castle served as an inn, barracks and warehouse. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the western wing was destroyed, and subsequent devastation brought the Second World War. The restoration of the castle to its renaissance form began in the 1960s.
