EARLY MEDIEVAL BEGINNINGS
The monastery in Hirsau was founded three times. It is unclear when it was first founded, possibly around 830, when the relics of St. Aurelius were brought here from northern Italy. They were enshrined in a small monastery, one which did not survive for long. In the middle of the 11th century, it was re-founded by papal request and operated by Benedictine monks. The second Aurelius Monastery was built on top of the original monastery walls in 1059 and included a new church and convent buildings.