Ottilia, a duke's daughter from Alsace, was born blind. Her father disowned the girl and she was accepted into a monastery. On a later pilgrimage, Ottilia and her sisters are said to have come to the never-ending spring in Pfahlenheim. By wetting her eyes with the soft spring water, she regained her eyesight and could see from now on.
Her father, who found out about it, took her back to his castle and gave her all of his fortune. Ottilia had a monastery built on the Ottilienberg in Alsace, joined this order and did a lot of good with her father's goods and money. After her death, she was canonized. The built monastery still stands today and is visited by many pilgrims.
According to another tradition, Ottilia was never in the Pfahlenheim and she did not regain her eyesight through the water of the spring, but in other wondrous, unspecified ways. But when our area was populated by people from Alsace, they also brought their culture with them. They expanded the spring on the western edge of the village with the spring stick and called it Ottilien spring.
However it may have happened - the year 1494 is carved into the vault. The spring provides very soft water and helps alleviate eye ailments. It is still visited today by pilgrims, especially from the Ochsenfurt Gau, but also by pilgrims who come through Pfahlenheim on the Jakobs.- or Kunigundenweg.
Even today, the children of Pfahlenheim are baptized with the Ottilien water on request. In addition, it served as drinking water for many farming families and ensured that our homeland was settled early. (from the Pfahlenheim website)