The convent building adjoins the abbey church in the south. It was erected in 1697 by Abbot Stefan I by the Vorarlberg architect Franz Beer as the third of the Salem convent buildings following a catastrophic fire. Renowned architects and artists, like Bagnato, Beer, Feuchtmayer, Dirr, Spiegler, Stauder and Brugger to name just a few, were involved in creating the interior appointments. At least in the region of Upper Swabia, the 18th century - the high age of the Baroque - is unimaginable without the art form of stuccowork. In the former imperial abbey of Salem, the entire magnificent development of this art form can be experienced by walking through the rooms, for example in the Bernhardus Passage (Bernhardusgang) or in the Summer Refectory (Sommerrefektorium).
The ornately appointed library bears witness to the importance that was placed on education in the monastery. The Baroque library room was "modernized" in the Classicistic style and provided with a gallery and new book cabinets toward the end of the 18th century under Abbot Robert. The appointments include the portrait of the Abbots Konstantin Miller, Anselm II Schwab and Robert Schlecht. Today the library is used by the District Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Emperor's Hall (Kaisersaal) is located in the prelate's building (Prälatur) in which the abbot resided. It was the representative reception room of the former imperial abbey and fascinates visitors primarily due to its expansiveness and its surprising brightness. The program of pictures depicts the founding of the abbey, the rights granted to it and its status at that time within the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The magnificent stuccowork appointments (around 1711) are considered to be the most important work of Franz Joseph Feuchtmayer, who came to Salem in the course of the monastery's rebuilding.