Vorarlberger Bergkäse (VB) is an artisanal raw milk washed-rind hard cheese manufactured in Western Austria without adding external ripening cultures. The composition of the VB rind microbiota has been described recently by our group. To learn more about the functional contribution of abundant gram-negative bacteria to cheese ripening, we performed genome sequencing of Advenella (Betaproteobacteria), Psychrobacter (Gammaprotoeobacteria) and Psychroflexus (Bacteroidetes) isolated from VB rinds. Furthermore, total and species-specific bacterial numbers during ripening were determined using quantitative PCR (qPCR). Cheese rind samples were taken from ripening cellars of 2 cheese producing facilities in Austria at the day of production and after 14, 30, 90 and 180 d of ripening. Genome sequencing resulted in 17 to 27 contigs with assembly sizes of 2.7 Mbp (Psychroflexus), 3 Mbp (Psychrobacter), and 4.3 Mbp (Advenella). Our results reveal that each genome harbors enzymes shown to be important for cheese ripening such as: Cystathionine/Methionine β or gamma-Lyases, many proteases and peptidases (including proline imminopeptidases), aminotransferases, and lipases. Thus, all 3 isolates have the potential to contribute positively to cheese ripening. Psychrobacter and Psychroflexus increased significantly during the first 30 d, then decreased to their initial abundance during the rest of ripening. Advenella decreased significantly in the first month of ripening, but increased significantly throughout ripening. In conclusion, the 3 species quantified were stable community members throughout the ripening process and their abundance on cheese rinds together with the results from genome sequencing suggests an important contribution of these bacteria to cheese ripening. Although Advenella, Psychrobacter and Psychroflexus have been found on cheese rinds in recent studies in various different cheeses, our knowledge about their possible contributions to cheese ripening is still limited. Here, we provide first insights into their genomic potential with a particular focus on cheese ripening.