Roman and Alamanni archeological finds as well as two Alamanni cemeteries in Altchile indicate that the Abtwil area was occupied before the village of Abtwil is first mentioned in 1256 as Apwiler. During the Middle Ages the sovereign rights to the village were held by the Knights Hospitaller of Hohenrain. In 1256 Count Gottfried von Habsburg-Laufenburg unsuccessfully contested Knights' rights. The four farm houses remained in the possession of the Knights until 1805. Abtwil was, until 1798, part of the High Court of Meienberg. Before 1415 the court was under the Habsburgs authority, then from 1415-24 it was under Lucerne's control and after 1424 it was under the authority of the Swiss Confederacy.
