The history of Château de Rochefort goes back a long way. The Association des Amis du Château de Rochefort (AACRO) was created by a group of people in early 2013. AACRO’s main objectives are to help make this place better known and respected. By making the history of the castle known, it contributes to historical research: excavations have been carried out by students from the universities of Neuchâtel and Lausanne under the aegis of the OPAN (Office du Patrimoine et de l’Archéologie de Neuchâtel)

Vauthier, a bastard son of Count Louis of Neuchâtel, obtained the lordship of Rochefort and Les Verrières in 1372. On 4 November 1396, he took back the castle of Rochefort which Neuchâtel had taken from him. His nephew, Conrad de Fribourg, Count of Neuchâtel, refused to return it. The latter then attacked his uncle Vauthier and threw him into prison. In an arbitration procedure, the Princess of Orange, Marie des Baux, lord of Neuchâtel, ruled in favour of Vauthier. However, hostilities within the family and falsified documents by Vauthier led to his execution in Neuchâtel on 11 March 1413. The castle was gradually abandoned and declared in ruins in 1512.