Cmurek Castle stands on a steep cliff above the bridge over the Mura River near the settlement of Trate, where there is an international border crossing to the Austrian settlement of Cmurek. The castle was built in the first half of the 12th century by the free lords of Cmurek. Burkhard de Morekke is first mentioned in old records in 1148. In 1174, Reinbert of Cmurek was the chief chamberlain (procurator) at the court of the Styrian margrave Ottokar IV. After the original owners (the Cmureks) died out in 1245, the lordship and castle were inherited by the Traugavian ministerial lords of Trušenj.
The castle itself is only mentioned in sources in 1299 as the Murek manor. In 1386, Cmurek was bought by the Counts of Celje (Herman II and William), and in 1401, Count Herman of Celje sold it to his brother-in-law Hans Stubenberg. The Counts of Stubenberg owned it until 1931, when it was purchased by Anton Mali, the castle's previous caretaker.
The castle is still Romanesque in its core, with an irregular ground plan, a Renaissance arcaded courtyard and peripheral residential tracts, although reconstructions in the 16th century greatly obscured the original architectural designs. In the 18th century, the multi-storey Romanesque tower was demolished.
After World War II, the castle was inhabited by the Institute for the Mentally and Nervously Ill in 1956. It operated until 2004, and during a longer period, it is estimated that between 200 and 400 people lived here. Since 2014, its premises have also housed the Museum of Madness, which was created with the aim of preserving the history of the castle and the Institute for the Mentally and Nervously Ill. Its exhibition and artifacts were also the target of a burglary in April 2021. The Museum of Madness is facing eviction due to internal problems with the castle's administrator, SVZ Hrastnik, after two extensions of its operating license.