The town was first mentioned in 1233 in a document confirming the establishment of a Benedictine nun's convent as "Gerungeswalde" as a deserted "oppidum" together with a destroyed castle . After the Protestant reformation, the convent was dissolved and transformed into a manor. The town was never walled. An orthodox Lutheran school was funded in 1566, but closed again in 1568 due to the founder and the rector being accused of Gnesio-Lutheranism. 134 freeholders were counted in 1587, but in 1764 there were only 36 freeholders and 168 smallholders.