Wildegg Castle was built by the Habsburgs around 1200 AD. Together with Habsburg Castle to the north and Brunegg Castle to the east, it formed part of the Habsburgs’ defensive system against the Kyburgs at Lenzburg to the south. In 1483, Kaspar Effinger, a member of the Aargau landed gentry, acquired the castle estate. From 1483 to 1912, Wildegg Castle was the family seat of the Effinger family. The estate included a kitchen garden and pleasure garden, a rose garden, vineyards, a lime-tree terrace, woods, a farmstead and an inn. All these buildings have been largely preserved to this day. The estate once also included workshops. In 1912, Julie von Effinger, the last heiress of Wildegg, bequeathed the castle estate, together with its furnishings and lands, to the Swiss Confederation.
Since 1 January 2011, the castle has been owned by a foundation established by the Canton of Aargau. At the same time, the running of the museum was taken over by Museum Aargau.
