Blessed Uta von Uttenweiler

Uta of Uttenweiler (died 722 in Uttenweiler) was a beatified woman. Little is known about the life of Blessed Uta. According to one legend, she was of noble birth, while another legend claims she was a servant. The name of the municipality of Uttenweiler, located below the Bussen, is said to be derived from the blessed woman. Several sources speak of her special love for children. In 1449, Berthold vom Stain, a devotee of Blessed Uta, founded the Augustinian monastery in Uttenweiler, which no longer exists today. The Augustinians of the monastery had a distant relationship with the cult surrounding the blessed woman. Furthermore, there is no reference to Uta of Uttenweiler in the foundation charter, as was previously believed. A chapel dedicated to the honor of Uta is documented in 1620. A hermit named Brother Klaus and later Johannes Speth, who died in 1737, lived in the vicinity of the chapel. A grave of the blessed woman near the baptismal font of the current parish church of St. Simon and Jude in Uttenweiler was the destination of an annual pilgrimage, during which prayers were offered for the well-being of sick children. This pilgrimage was banned during the period of Josephinism. In 1875, a new chapel in honor of the blessed woman was consecrated on the Dautenberg near Uttenweiler; it was rebuilt in 1950 after the old chapel had become dilapidated.