Uta von Schauenburg (approx.1115, died after 1196)
Uta von Schauenburg was the daughter of Gottfried von Calw and Luitgards von Zähringen. The young Uta was one of the richest heirs at that time in the Reich. Around 1131 she married, certainly also for political reasons, Welf VI. With this marriage she became the aunt of the Guelf Heinrich der Löwe and of the Staufer Friedrich Barbarossa. Following the death of Uta's father, these two powerful noble families were involved in bloody quarrels over who would be his successor, and these were not ended until 1152 by Friedrich Barbarossa.
After the death of her only son, Uta and Welf VI lived at separate
castles and did not rejoin until they were old. Uta von Schauenburg had
a free hand in the use of her dowry and donated Allerheiligen Monastery
between 1191 and 1196.
Norbert von Xanten (approx. 1082 - 1134)
Norbert von Xanten, later the German founder of the Premonstratensian Order, was born as Edler von Gennep around 1082 in Xanten, where he also spent his childhood. In 1110/11 he became a curate under Emperor Heinrich V. Norbert von Xanten lived according to strict rules, such as poverty and life in seclusion, and wandered through Germany and France as a preacher. In 1120 he founded the Premonstratensian Order in the valley of Prémontré near Laon. At the Imperial Diet in1126 he was elected Archbishop of Magdeburg. Emperor Lothar III appointed him to Chancellor for Italy. Norbert von Xanten died on 6 June 1134. Pope Gregor XIII proclaimed him a saint in 1582, and he is celebrated on 6 June.
Premonstratensians
The Catholic order founded in 1120 by Norbert von Xanten arose out of a reform movement which propagated ascetic, priestly life, poverty and itinerant preaching in groups according to the example of the apostles. The so-called ”Norbertines” went barefoot and were clothed in white wool garments. One focus of the tasks of the Premonstratensians were the priestly duties in the parishes around their monastery.
At the center of the Order stood the main monastery in Prémontré, however the individual monasteries were independent. In Germany the Magdeburg Monastery became an important center for missionary work in the East. Allerheiligen Monastery was one of the late monastery foundings of the Premonstratensian Order. In modern times the southern German and Austrian convents promoted baroque culture. Following secularization at the beginning of the 19th century, the Order almost completely disappeared.