According to a document from the year 775, the Gaugraf of the Waldsassengau Troandus handed over the monastery "Holtzchiricha" [1] he had built to Charlemagne, who in turn transferred it to the Imperial Abbey of Fulda. The monastery had its heyday at the beginning of the 12th century However, this only lasted until 1273. On October 1 of that year, a group of armed men attacked the monastery and burned it down. The monastery only slowly recovered. By 1518, Provost Reinhard von der Tann had rebuilt the provost building and surrounded the monastery with a wall. He also renovated the dilapidated buildings and decorated the monastery church. In 1525 the provost Holzkirchen was again severely damaged in the Peasants' War. In 1552 the monastery was dissolved in the course of the Reformation by Count Michael III von Wertheim. The monastery goods were confiscated. Already in 1561 the property became property returned to the monastery, however, the life of the monastery remained extinct.In 1612 Prince Bishop Julius Echter moved the monastery al s settled fief for the Bishopric of Würzburg. A newly established convent of twelve monks was expelled by the Swedes in 1631 during the Thirty Years' War.
In 1724, Bonifatius von Hutten, a brother of Prince Bishop Christoph Franz von Hutten, took over the provost and built the monastery church of St. Maria (Holzkirchen) between 1728 and 1730, a creation by Balthasar Neumann.
It was not until 1759 that a monastery was reestablished by Ferdinand Zobel von und zu Giebelstadt.