Andlau Abbey was founded in or about 880 by Richardis, later Saint Richardis, Empress of Charles the Fat, on her ancestral lands. The foundation legend states that the abbey was sited where Richardis saw a she-bear scratching at the soil; a bear is one of her emblems in reference to this. In 887 Richardis was put to the ordeal by fire by her husband on the pretext of adultery with the chancellor Liutward. She survived the ordeal successfully and withdrew to Andlau, where at the time her niece Rotrod was abbess. She died here in about 895 and was buried in the abbey church.