Named after property belonging to the Gertrudenhospital located in the lane, which is first documented in the inheritance register of 1429. The lane itself is not yet mentioned there; only in 1454 is it named in a tax register of the suburb, which lists "sunte Gertruden hoff mit dem strateken" (St. Gertrude's yard with the little street). From the second half of the 15th century onward, Gertrudengasse became the established name. As late as 1616, the poor at St. Gertrude's churchyard still received a perpetual annual rent of 14 Skot from an estate in the lane.

After the war it was renamed to ul. Wilcza (Wolf Lane), only to disappear entirely from maps after just a few years. Only around 2006 did it reappear under the same name. The probable reason for the postwar naming: the officials of the renaming commission were apparently unable to distinguish the four-legged wolf from the two-legged one.

History