The settlement of walahse was first mentioned in 926 in the context of the Hungarian invasions. In 1181, Emperor Friedrich I confirmed a clerical community living there as an Augustinian canons' monastery, before Waldsee was elevated to the status of a city by King Albrecht I in 1298. Initially, the city was ruled by the Lords of Wallsee, who were initially ministerials (servants) of the Guelphs and Hohenstaufen. After they entered the service of King Rudolf I in 1278 and ultimately moved to the Austrian hereditary lands (hereditary possessions of the House of Habsburg in the Holy Roman Empire), they sold Waldsee to the Austrian dukes Albrecht II and Otto of Habsburg in 1331.

The Habsburgs then pledged Waldsee to the Truchsesses of Waldburg in 1386 and 1402 respectively. This pledge led to numerous conflicts between the Truchsesses and the citizens of Waldsee, who always felt a sense of belonging to the Habsburgs, but also to conflicts of power within the pledge between the Truchsesses of Waldburg and the Habsburgs. Finally, in 1680, the city detached itself from the pledge and remained under Austrian rule until the end of the Old Empire (1803/1806). Afterwards, Waldsee was incorporated into the Kingdom of Württemberg.