Construction of the Royal Castle in Poznań began in 13th century by the Duke of Greater Poland Przemysł II. He was thought to be the most powerful ruler of the local lands and the Piast dynasty and was hoping to be coronated for a king of Poland. He decided to build a proper royal castle on his land. The castle was planned to be the royal residence but also a part of defensive facilities of the city of Poznań.
The coronation of Przemysł II took place in 26th June 1295. Unfortunately only few months later in 8th February 1296 the king was assassinated and the construction of the castle was stopped. His successor Wacław II decided to restart building of the royal castle and the works were being continued by Henryk II Głogowski, Władysław I Łokietek and finished by Kazimierz III Wielki. The royal castle became the biggest castle in Poland at that time and because of the geographical location of Poznań became an important point in the history of Polish politics and diplomacy with Western and Northern Europe. As an example one of the most important events which took place in the castle was a homage of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Johann con Tiefen to the king of Poland Jan Olbracht in 29th May 1493.
The castle was destroyed and reconstructed many times throughout history. In 1536 the building was heavily damaged in the fire of the city and rebuilt in the renaissance style. A little over 100 years later the residence was destroyed due to the Swedish Invasion. The royal castle was also devastated by Prussians after the second partition of Poland in 1783. It was rebuilt again although it didn't survive the battles for Poznań Citadel in 1945 and was completely ruined due to the heavy artillery fire. Only the original foundations survived through the ages and on that base the royal castle was reconstructed one more time.