The Counts of Montfort resided in Tettnang from 1260 to 1780. At first they lived in a "Torschloss" from the late Middle Ages, and later in a castle on a mountain spur over the Lake Constance valley. After this castle was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, Count Johann VIII von Montfort 1667 erected a new building facing toward the town in its place, today the Old Palace (Altes Schloss).
The royal building of the New Palace (Neues Schloss) in Meersburg attracted the attention of Count Anton III von Montfort and he commissioned the same architect, Christoph Gessinger, to draw up the plans for a palace in Tettnang in 1712. His political power, which was diminished by the partition of the family estate, was to be put in a shining light with a representative new building.
In 1713 the new, three-story complex fortified with towers was built in place of the destroyed castle. Its sumptuous appointments were intended to evoke admiration. As in Meersburg, the facade was structured with mighty pilasters. Diagonally positioned corner towers with staircases on the inside flank the four building sections, which each carry pavilion-like structures in the center. The interior appointments were also magnificently executed by highly skilled artists, i.e. the fresco painters Johann Michael Rottmayr and Johann Rudolf Byss, and the stuccoworker Dominikus Zimmermann.
After a building time of fifteen years, the palace was still not completed, and Count Anton had work stopped. The burden of debts had grown to such a degree that he resigned from the government. His son Ernst still had the court chapel completed up until 1731. In 1753 the palace was gutted by fire, leaving only the vault of the ground floor. Apart from the facades very little of the interior decoration remained.
Rebuilding was pursued by Count Franz Xaver von Montfort. The fame of the family was, in turn, to be honored by outstanding artists with the financial assistance of Austria. Up until today the high artistic ranking of the New Palace is based on the interior furnishings created at that time. The work of Feuchtmayr, Dirr, Moosbrugger, Gigl (stuccowork), Kuen, Brugger (frescos) and J.J. Kaufmann and his daughter Angelika (portraits) was completed around 1770 and resulted in an exceedingly grand first floor complete with staircases and a chapel.