The "Gerichtslaube" (Court Arbor) was built in 1303 and served, after 1547, as the conference place for the city court and council. (Therefore the name).

The building was renovated between 1551 and 1552. The lavish, roofed, free-standing stairs, the two-storied, circular ribbed vaulting, and the fire-proof archive wing were built at this time by the city foreman Jörg Sorger of Lindau.

The 1944 bombs destroyed the "Gerichtslaube", leaving only the foundations, the heavily damaged free-standing stairs and the protected archive wing.

A rebuilding effort led to the buildings reconstruction between 1975 and 1979.

The small well in front of the steps was discovered during excavations near the city hall. It is used as a collecting basin for rain water.