The grounds were both theological and political:[2][3] Wolfhelm was sympathetic to Platonist ideas and is accused of trying to mediate between Macrobius and Christian doctrine; but also he was close to the imperial party of Emperor Henry IV, in the oncoming Investiture Conflict.
[5] He wrote a letter against the theology of Berengar of Tours,[6] addressed to Meginhard of Gladbach Abbey.
[7] A Life of Wolfhelm written a generation later, by Konrad, a monk of Brauweiler, was a hagiographical work.
It is known that Wolfhelm taught at the cathedral school of Cologne before moving to the abbey in 1065.
[9] His sister Bertha was a nun of Vilich Abbey, who wrote a Vita of the abbess Adelheid.