The traditional story of the foundation, in which there may be some elements of truth, is that in the 9th century there was a nunnery here called "Hohenhusen", which was abandoned at the time of the Hungarian invasions in the early 10th century. A ploughing ox later turned up a chest of valuables buried by the nuns before their flight, and the monastery of Ochsenhausen was founded on that spot. The abbey was secularised in 1803 and in 1806 its territories were absorbed into the Kingdom of Württemberg.