The restaurant and guild house "Zum Grünen Glas" is located in the properties Untere Zäune 15 and Obere Zäune 16 - a somewhat forgotten corner of Zurich's old town. The two properties were first documented in 1310 and were then called "Schwarze Leiter" and "Blauer Stern".

The name "Grünes Glas" was first mentioned in 1684. Most of the houses came into the possession of monasteries through donations, namely the Barfüsserkloster monastery. Today, the Zurich High Court is located on the site of the former monastery. At that time, the houses on Untere Zäune were sold for life to older people who wanted to spend their twilight years here. After their death, the houses reverted to the seller. One particular owner for a short time from 1842 was Dr. Friedrich Ludwig (von) Keller, a well-known lawyer and professor of Roman law. Keller is regarded as the actual founder of modern Swiss jurisprudence. As the leader of the Liberals, he had a decisive influence on the politics of the 1830s. After the "Züriputsch" of 1839, he was forced to leave Zurich for a while. In 1844, Keller was appointed professor of Roman law in Halle and a few years later in Berlin, where he was ennobled and became a member of the Prussian ruling family.

From 1845, there is evidence of an inn "Zum Grünen Glas" in the property at Untere Zäune 15. The first landlord came from Gotha and was called Johann Gottfried Ludwig, who was known in Germany as a revolutionary. He had a fencing hall built behind the house on Obere Zäune and taught this art to students at the nearby university. He was listed as a fencing master in the residents' register of the time. Ludwig's reputation was legendary, his intelligence and in particular his excellent knowledge of Latin and Greek are said to have benefited many a dissertation student. However, one of the students, a certain Wilhelm C. Röntgen, is said to have been interested neither in Ludwig's fencing skills nor his knowledge of languages, but rather in one of his daughters, Anna Bertha. She is said to have been very lovable and - according to legend - was even able to elicit a smile from the well-known morning grouch Gottfried Keller. Wilhelm Röntgen and Anna Bertha married in 1872 in Utrecht, Holland. Röntgen was to achieve world fame at the end of the 19th century with the rays named after him and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1901.

Around 1810, the Zurich Casino was built opposite the restaurant. Zurich's first theater, the Aktientheater, was added in 1834. Mozart's "Magic Flute" was performed at the opening on December 10, 1834. From 1855 to 1861, meetings of the Zurich Stock Exchange Association were also held in the theater's foyer. On New Year's Eve 1890, the theater burned down completely. However, the theater lovers were not discouraged and just 12 days after the fire, the go-ahead was given for the construction of a new municipal theater, today's opera house. The former gable of the Aktientheater can still be seen today on the west wall of the Obergericht (from Obmannamtsgasse). Today, various cantonal courts, including the Zurich High Court, are housed in the former Zurich Casino and parts of the former Barfüsserkloster convent.

In 1954, the entire row of houses on Untere Zäune was demolished. The current buildings were constructed between 1955 and 1957. In 1977, the Riesbach guild bought the two properties that are now part of the "Green Glass". In 1983, the property at Obere Zäune 16 was renovated and extended with the guild hall, the guild master's room and the beautiful old town garden. The guild house was inaugurated in 1984.