The Counts of Celje had controlled the area - a nexus of important trade routes between Friuli, Carinthia, and the Upper Sava Valley - since 1418, having inherited it from the Counts of Ortenburg.
When the Ortenburg dynasty became extinct in 1418, their possessions passed to the Counts of Celje.
When the Counts of Celje themselves became extinct with the killing of Hermann's grandson Ulrich II in 1456, the Counts of Ortenburg-Neuortenburg claimed their ostensible rights, but failed to prove their kinship to the Carinthian Ortenburgs.
After the extinction of the Counts Ortenburg on 28 April 1418, the Counts of Celje inherited their area holdings, expanding the castle into a formidable fortress and renaming it Schloss Grauenwarth, although the surrounding settlement retained the Slavicised Latin name Kostel.
After 1418 the castle and lordship passed by inheritance to the Counts of Celje, who retained it until the line's 1456 extinction.
It was originally built in the 13th century and belonged to the Counts of Celje.
In the early 15th century, it came into the possession of the Counts of Celje.
It was the residence of the knights of Vipava until the mid-14th century, when it became a ducal fief, granted to a long series of noble and knightly families, including the knights of Rihemberk, lords of Snežnik and Belopeš, Counts of Celje, barons Herberstein, Counts Thurn, the noble family of Edling, counts Thrillegkh, and finally the counts Lanthieri, who abandoned the decaying castle in the 17th century.
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Celje Castle (also known as Celje Upper Castle or Old Castle) (Slovene Celjski grad, Celjski zgornji grad or Stari grad) is a castle ruin in Celje, Slovenia, formerly the seat of the Counts of Celje.
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In 1333, the castle came into the possession of the Lords of Sanneck, who from 1341 onward were the Counts of Celje.
In the 1370s, it became property of the Lords of Ptuj, and in 1438 it was inherited by the Counts of Schauenburg, the adversaries of the Counts of Celje.
In medieval times it belonged to the estates of the Hohenwart castle, seat of the Counts of Celje, the Counts of Ortenburg, the Knightly Order of Saint George in Millstatt and finally the Austrian House of Habsburg.