The abbey, dedicated to the Holy Saviour, the Virgin Mary and Saint Felicity, was founded before 788 as a nunnery.
After the death of the last Carolingian abbess, Bertha, in 877, the nuns left the abbey and it was taken over by Benedictines from Megingaudshausen.
Egbert not only reformed and renewed the spiritual life of Münsterschwarzach but then, through the spread of the subsequent Münsterschwarzach Reforms, exerted an influence far beyond it, from Harsefeld Archabbey [de] near Stade in the north to Melk and Lambach in the south.
The abbey was restored under Abbot Johannes Burckhart (1563-1598), who rebuilt the library and reorganized the monastery's possessions.
[1] After the Thirty Years' War, Abbot Remigius Winckel (1646-1654) had the monastery villages resettled, rebuilt the destroyed monastery mill, stocked up on livestock, and, by recruiting young novices, ensured a revival of the spiritual life of the abbey.
In a fire in 1677, Abbot Placidus Büchs (1672–1691) risked his life to save most of the valuables from the outbuildings, which were destroyed entirely.
The architects were Valentino Pezani, whose guest house built in 1696/97 is still partially preserved, and Josef Greising.
[1] In the 18th century a Baroque basilica was commissioned from Balthasar Neumann, with frescoes in the cupolas by Holzer; it was dedicated in 1743 by Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn.
The medallion to the left of the cross shows the sacrifice of a lamb, a symbol of the Old Covenant.
Abbot Placidus (†1943), the builder of the church, is buried in a high grave in front of the crypt.