Index: magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/content2bean/impl/Content2BeanTransformerImpl.java
===================================================================
--- magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/content2bean/impl/Content2BeanTransformerImpl.java	(revision 50091)
+++ magnolia-core/src/main/java/info/magnolia/content2bean/impl/Content2BeanTransformerImpl.java	(working copy)
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 
 import info.magnolia.cms.core.Content;
 import info.magnolia.cms.util.ContentUtil;
+import info.magnolia.cms.util.SimpleUrlPattern;
 import info.magnolia.cms.util.SystemContentWrapper;
 import info.magnolia.content2bean.Content2BeanException;
 import info.magnolia.content2bean.Content2BeanTransformer;
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@
 import info.magnolia.objectfactory.Classes;
 import info.magnolia.objectfactory.ComponentProvider;
 import org.apache.commons.beanutils.BeanUtilsBean;
+import org.apache.commons.beanutils.Converter;
 import org.apache.commons.beanutils.MethodUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.beanutils.PropertyUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.beanutils.PropertyUtilsBean;
@@ -94,6 +96,11 @@
         // de-register the converter for Class, we do our own conversion in convertPropertyValue()
         convertUtilsBean.deregister(Class.class);
 
+        convertUtilsBean.register(new Converter() {
+            public Object convert(Class type, Object value) {
+                return new SimpleUrlPattern((String) value);
+            }
+        }, SimpleUrlPattern.class);
         this.beanUtilsBean = new BeanUtilsBean(convertUtilsBean, new PropertyUtilsBean());
     }
 
@@ -341,7 +348,7 @@
             try {
                 return Classes.getClassFactory().forName(value.toString());
             } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
-                log.error(e.getMessage());
+                log.error("Can convert {} to class: {}", value, e.toString());
                 throw new Content2BeanException(e);
             }
         }
Index: magnolia-core/src/test/java/info/magnolia/content2bean/Content2BeanTest.java
===================================================================
--- magnolia-core/src/test/java/info/magnolia/content2bean/Content2BeanTest.java	(revision 50091)
+++ magnolia-core/src/test/java/info/magnolia/content2bean/Content2BeanTest.java	(working copy)
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import info.magnolia.cms.core.Content;
+import info.magnolia.cms.util.SimpleUrlPattern;
 import info.magnolia.content2bean.impl.Content2BeanProcessorImpl;
 import info.magnolia.test.MgnlTestCase;
 import info.magnolia.test.mock.MockComponentProvider;
@@ -330,6 +331,22 @@
     }
 
     @Test
+    public void testSimpleUrlPatternIsConvertedAutomagically() throws Exception {
+        Content node = MockUtil.createContent("myNode", new String[][]{
+                {"class", "info.magnolia.content2bean.Content2BeanTest$BeanWithSimpleUrlPattern"},
+                {"myPattern", "H?llo*"}
+        }, new Content[0]);
+        final BeanWithSimpleUrlPattern res = (BeanWithSimpleUrlPattern) Content2BeanUtil.toBean(node, true);
+        assertNotNull(res);
+        assertNotNull(res.getMyPattern());
+        assertTrue(res.getMyPattern() instanceof SimpleUrlPattern);
+        assertTrue(res.matches("Hello world"));
+        assertTrue(res.matches("Hallo weld"));
+        assertFalse(res.matches("Haaaallo weeeeeld"));
+        assertFalse(res.matches("Bonjour monde"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
     public void testCanSpecifySpecificMapImplementation() throws Exception {
         final Content node = MockUtil.createNode("/foo/bar",
                 "/foo/bar.class=" + BeanWithMap.class.getName(),
@@ -407,6 +424,22 @@
         }
     }
 
+    public static final class BeanWithSimpleUrlPattern {
+        private SimpleUrlPattern myPattern;
+
+        public SimpleUrlPattern getMyPattern() {
+            return myPattern;
+        }
+
+        public void setMyPattern(SimpleUrlPattern myPattern) {
+            this.myPattern = myPattern;
+        }
+
+        public boolean matches(String in) {
+            return myPattern.match(in);
+        }
+    }
+
     public static class MyMap extends HashMap {
     }