The "Kornhaus" (granary) was built in 1498 as a place to hold dances and to store and sell grains. It should have been finished by the time King Maximilian I held his Reichstag (Imperial Diet) in Freiburg that same year, but it was not completed in time.

The building was used as a slaughter house from 1547 until 1785.

From 1770 -1785, the Kornhaus served as the city's first permanent theatre and was known as the Komödienhaus (Comedy House). Most of the pieces were performed by ever changing traveling theatre troops. In 1944, the Kornhaus was destroyed down to the ground walls. It was rebuilt in its original form (1969-71) under the direction of the architect Herbert Dörr.

Today, the house is an arcade with shops, a cafe, restaurants and office space.

The main point of interest is the attractive stair-step shaped front gable with its attic windows. Formerly, items stored in the Kornhaus were heaved out of the storage rooms through these windows.