The first documented reference to Günterstal Abbey is dated 15 September 1224, when Konrad von Tegerfelden, Bishop of Constance, inaugurated a new altar in the chapel of the as yet unfinished nunnery.

[1] A nobleman of the nearby Burg Kybfelsen is said to have founded the abbey for his daughters Adelheid and Berta, who were joined by other women seeking to live in a monastic community.

[3] In 1246, Pope Innocent IV confirmed its possessions again, which had grown in the meantime through gifts and donations.

The nobility of the region, such as the Küchlin, Geben and Schnewlin families, made frequent gifts to the abbey: their unmarried daughters who wanted to enter it had to give all of their possessions to it, unlike a Damenstift (community of secular canonesses).

The abbey chose its Vögte from the local nobility which supported it (for example, the families of Schnewlin, Falkenstein and Blumegg).

After improvement in the abbey's financial situation it was decided in 1727, under Abbess Maria Rosa von Neveu, to replace the old conventual building with a new one.

Between 1728 and 1748, under Abbess Maria Franziska Cajetanna von Zurthannen, completely new Baroque premises were constructed according to designs by Peter Thumb.

On 30 January 1806, the Electorate of Baden declared that all monasteries, nunneries and other religious communities in the Breisgau were abolished and on 3 February Günterstal Abbey was formally seized.

The new owners, Benedict and Marquard von Hermann, then hired mainly children from the ages of 12-14 to work at the mill.

Today they are occupied by the boarding house of the Deutsch-Französische Gymnasium of Freiburg, a kindergarten and various social facilities.