It was founded in 997 under Emperor Otto III. The first abbot, Gregory, who came to Burtscheid from Calabria, is sometimes said to have been the brother of Theophanu, Byzantine mother of the Emperor. He was buried beneath the altar after his death in 999, and his date of death, 4 November, was kept as a feast day until the dissolution of the abbey. The abbey church was rebuilt in the mid-14th century, and again between 1735 and 1754 by the architect J.J. Couven. The remaining abbey buildings are now used for the school and for residential and administrative purposes.