200 years ago Secularization changed the German Southwest. Following the Napoleonic wars, the buildings, landholdings and property of the monasteries and bishoprics passed into state ownership. The repercussions are felt up until today, as new uses had to be found repeatedly for most of the empty buildings. Ochsenhausen Monastery was also affected by the closure of religious institutions and the takeover of church property.
The monastery dominion with the stately possessions fell to Prince Franz Georg of Metternich in 1803. He guaranteed the continued existence of the convent and the "Gymnasium" (secondary school) and scientific studies, as well as considerably expanding the library. The monks received pensions as their livelihood: "These will be estimated according to how long they still have to live". The prince's family moved into the guest building of the monastery and held court from the summer of 1803. Opera performances took place, musically supported by the members of the Order. However, Ochsenhausen was also to serve to pay off the enormous debt accumulated by the Metternichs - through rigorously increased income or by selling off parts of its holdings.
With the crowning of Friedrich II of Württemberg in 1806, various principalities and earldoms, including Ochsenshausen, fell within his sovereignty. As a result, the government officials of Prince Metternich and the members of the Order were sworn in as civil servants of the King. Offices of the Württemberg government moved into the monastery buildings. In 1807 King Friedrich had the monastery closed once and for all. The library and observatory were abandoned, and the "Gymnasium" and teacher's seminar were closed. In his chronicle Father Georg Geisenhof wrote of the last abbot Romuald Weltin: "With a bleeding heart he left the monastery...", in which the Order hat worked for more than 700 years. Royal commissioners took over rule in Ochsenhausen.
Following a marriage between the dynasties of Metternich and Württemberg in 1817, Prince Metternich's son sold Ochsenhausen in 1825 for 1.2 million florins to the King of Württemberg - with the exception of the most valuable part of the inventory. Almost the entire movable furnishings, such as the library and the art treasures, were brought to the palace of the Metternichs, Königswart, in Bohemia. The precious manuscripts and archival items are kept today at the National Museum in Prague.
Beginning in 1843 the former monastery was used for various administrative and educational institutions. In the 19th century it housed the fiscal authority, an agricultural school and an orphanage. In the 20th century the office of the local forest superintendent also moved in. During the National Socialist period, a secondary school for women teachers and a vocational school of agriculture and domestic science were set up. From 1974 there was a "Gymnasium", and later a "Hauptschule" (two different types of secondary school). In 1988 State Academy for the Musical Youth (Landesakademie für die musizierenden Jugend) in Baden-Württemberg was added. The former Monastery Church (Klosterkirche) is used by the Catholic congregation as its parish church. In 1999 a monastery museum was set up which traces the monastery's fascinating history.