The history of Hirsau Abbey begins around the year 830, when Bishop Noting of Vercelli brought the bones of St. Aurelius to Hirsau. Erlafried of Calw, a relative of Bishop Noting who had possessions in the area, ordered the construction of St. Aurelius I in the form of a small hall church, which was then settled by a colony of Benedictine monks. The first monastery existed until around the year 1000. After that, the monastery was uninhabited and decayed.