A plan from 1608 still counts this lane and its surroundings among the "plateae anonymae" (unnamed lanes) of the Hakelwerk, Danzig's medieval suburban district. Even later, the street names in this area remained highly uncertain.

In 1624, the stretch of Jungferngasse from Burggrafenstrasse to approximately Kleine Bäckergasse (Small Bakers' Lane) was called "Rittergasse" (Knights' Lane). This designation survived into the 18th century as "altstädtische Rittergasse" (Old Town Knights' Lane), to distinguish it from the Rittergasse belonging to the old castle in the Rechtstadt (Main Town). The name is likely explained, as with Burgstrasse, by the fact that the lane led to the Teutonic Order's castle, whose gate stood at the extension of today's Schlossgasse (Castle Lane). The stretch from Kleine Bäckergasse to the Hakelwerk was called "Lawendelgasse" (Lavender Lane) in 1624.

Both street names — Rittergasse and Lawendelgasse — are still mentioned in 1694. Alongside these, the present-day name was already in use for the entire lane, first appearing in 1663 as "Jungfraugasse" (Maiden Lane). From the mid-18th century it appears regularly on maps.

The historian Löschin states, unfortunately without citing a source, that the name derives from the lane having almost entirely belonged to the Bridgettine convent. Such a connection would be entirely plausible, especially since a similar case exists in Breslau (Wroclaw), where the present-day Annengasse, formerly Nonnengasse (Nuns' Lane), was also called Jungferngasse. However, the old designation of part of the lane as "Lawendelgasse" — a name also used elsewhere specifically for disreputable, squalid lanes — suggests rather that the lane owes its name to those associations. The name of the neighboring Plappergasse (Chatter Lane) seems to confirm this.

The designation "Langer Krug" (Long Tavern) originally comes from Jungferngasse No. 3 and was used in the 15th century to denote the neighborhood including Plappergasse and Kleine Bäckergasse. Maidens were as commonly found in Jungferngasse as the scent of lavender in the Lawendelgassen — which is to say, the name was likely ironic. The fact that the Order's bathhouse was located between Jungferngasse and An der Schneidemühle (At the Sawmill) likely did not contribute to the area's good reputation either. Since the war, the street has borne its name translated into Polish: ul. Panieńska.

History