[1] By 1378 a group of Beguines existed at Äschach farm in the area.

In 1424 the Abbot of Saint Gall Kuno von Stoffeln allowed a monastery for the laywomen to be built near the ruins of Grimmenstein Castle.

Because Grimmenstein was located in the town of Walzenhausen, which elected to join the protestant Ausserrhoden, the ownership of the monastery became a source of conflict.

In 1870 the federal government declared that the land within the walls of Wonnenstein Friary and Grimmenstein monastery would be part of Appenzell Innerrhoden and everything outside the walls would be Appenzell Ausserrhoden.

[1] They established the daughter friary in Nevada in the United States.