Half of them live in Groß-Umstadt itself, the remainder in eight other districts which were incorporated by the Hesse State Municipal Reform Act in the 1970s: Traces of palaeolithic habitation have been identified outside the town.

The settlement of Civitas Auderiensium was founded at Dieburg in AD 125 in the context of the Roman occupation of the section of the province of Germania Superior on the right bank of the Rhine.

After the conquest of Alemannic territory by the Franks, they established royal fortifications in order to secure control of the area.

In 766 Princely Abbey of Fulda acquired the ownership of the Umstaedter Mark, and by 985 it owned three churches, mills and vineyards here.

Thus in 1374 he mortgaged the Otzberg Castle, the town of Hering and parts of Umstadt to his nephew Ulrich IV for 23,875 guilders (florins).

During the war the town was protected by its strong fortifications, preventing major destruction, but nevertheless there was great suffering, not least during the plague in 1634–36.

[4] The town was briefly occupied and laid waste by a force of 600 dragoons under the Marquis of Barbistere in December 1688 during the War of the Palatine Succession.

(December 31) Each year on the second weekend of September there is a "Winzerfest" (a wine festival) which attracts tens of thousands of people.