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. Schussenried Monastery was also affected by the closure of religious institutions and the takeover of church property.
The helpless Abbot Siard Berchtold was already presented with the declaration of resignation on 1 December 1802, even though the expropriation by the "Reichsdeputationshauptschluss" (Main Resolution of the Imperial Delegation) did not take place until February 1803. The new owners were the imperial counts of Sternberg-Manderscheid, who were compensated for the territories surrendered west of the Rhine. The family's hereditary daughter, Countess Augusta of Manderscheid, took over the property and turned the monastery into a palace. The former canons exchanged the white vestment of the Order for a black robe and joined together to form a loose community.
However, when the rule of Sternberg-Manderscheid fell under the sovereignty of Württemberg in 1806, this union was abolished again, and with it the canons' mass. Duke Friedrich of Württemberg, a partisan of Napoleon, had not only received the kingship but also large landholdings which included Schussenried. As the family of the imperial count were unable to meet the demands of the new lord, Schussenried was placed under forced rule. The monastery library and parts of the church treasure were confiscated. In 1835 the final sale of the remaining volumes from the library to a Stuttgart antiquarian took place.
In 1835 the imperial counts sold the dominions of Schussenried and Weißenau for one million florins to the royal dynasty of Württemberg. The state decided to use the real estate economically and opened the "Wilhelmshütte", an iron smelting plant with a blast furnace, on the monastery grounds in 1840. A large part of the former monastery complex had been torn down for this purpose. This consisted of two-thirds of the east wing of the New Monastery and the sections of the Old Monastery which lay in the east.
The remaining monastery buildings long stood empty. The plan to convert the complex into a barracks, as had happened at the former monasteries of Weingarten and Wiblingen, was rejected. Instead, the "Königliche Heil- und Pflegeanstalt" (Royal Sanitarium and Nursing Home) was established. Numerous new buildings of the home define the area around the complex today. In 1997 the "Psychiatrisches Landeskrankenhaus" (State Psychiatric Hospital) vacated large parts of the former monastery building. Today it is used as an "Akademie- und Dienstleistungszentrum" (Academy and Service Center) and a "Treffpunkt für Bildung, Innovation und Kultur" (Center for Education, Innovation and Culture).