The small Renaissance chateau was built at the end of the 16th century. In 1608, when the chateau was owned by the Cernahus family, Emperor Rudolph II and his brother Mathias concluded the peace treaty there. After the Battle fo White Mountain in 1621 the property was confiscated and then it changed ownership several   times. In 1651 the new owner of the Chateau Liben the Nostic family, had it enlarged and rebuilt in the Baroque style. In 1662 the property was bought by the Old Town of Prague, and 220 years later, the chateau became a favourite summer residence of Prague Mayors. In 1757, during the Prusian invasion, the chateau was   seriously damaged. The architect Jan Josef Prachner recontructed it in the Rococo style between 1769-70.

The chateau got a new wing, a little steeple, and a chapel. During the following years, many kings visited the Chateau in Liben. Empress Marie Therese stayed there each year between 1770-77. In 1786 Emperor Joseph II and at the turn of 1803-4 Emperor Francis I were also accommodated in the chateau. In August 1791 Emperor Leopold II spent the night there before the ceremony of crowning him a Czech King.

On 12 September 1901 an affiliation to Prague was declared in the front wing. The chateau has been the seat of the head office of municipal authorities in Prague 8 ever since. The chateau is a remarkable example of the Rococo style. Original frescoes and ceiling paintings of Jakub Obrovský in the marriage ceremony hall make it very popular in Prague. The chapel of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary decorated by Ignác Raab served as a Catholic church in Liben until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Since 1993 regular spring and autumn concert cycles, in 1995 joined by the music festival Youth Liben Spring, which is held paralelly with the International Music Festival Prague Spring, have been taking place here.

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