Sängerkrieg
Encyclopedia
The Sängerkrieg also known as the Wartburgkrieg (Wartburg contest), was an alleged contest among minstrels (Minnesänger) at the Wartburg
castle in Thuringia
in 1207.
literature, reflecting a literary flourishing at the court of Count (Landgraf
) Hermann I in the early 13th century. Both historical (Wolfram von Eschenbach
and Walther von der Vogelweide
) and fictional (Klingsor of Hungary and Heinrich von Ofterdingen
) minstrels were alleged to have participated in the competition. Reinmar von Zweter
, a historical Minnesänger, is anachronistically listed as a participant.
The songs of the Wartburgkrieg have not been discovered in the original, but various versions can be found within the great Liederhandschriften of the late Middle Ages (the Codex Manesse
, Jenaer Liederhandschrift, Kolmarer Liederhandschrift). A collection of lyrical poems entitled "Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg", written between 1240 and 1260, was translated into modern German by Karl Simrock
and published in 1858. http://12koerbe.de/lapsitexillis/wartb-1.htm
The Fürstenlob ("princely praise") was a contest among six minstrels: Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Walther von der Vogelweide, Biterolf, Reinmar von Zweter, Wolfram von Eschenbach and Heinrich Schreiber. The six singers were placed before the Count and Countess of Thuringia, in order to determine which best understood how to sing praises of a prince. Heinrich von Ofterdingen was the most eloquent, but earned the envy of the other minstrels, who tricked him into earning a death sentence. Heinrich gained the protection of Countess Sophia and a one-year reprieve, during which he went to Hungary and sought the assistance of the sorcerer Klingsor. Heinrich and Klingsor returned to Thuringia to resume the contest.
The Rätselspiel ("mystery game") was the subsequent poetic duel between Wolfram von Eschenbach and the Hungarian sorcerer Klingsor. Wolfram proved himself capable and eloquent, and when Klingsor grew weary he summoned a demon to continue the duel. When Wolfram began to sing of the Christian mysteries, the demon was unable to respond.
's Wiederentdeckung des Mittelalters (Rediscovery of the Middle Ages), which contained an account of the Sängerkrieg. Interest in the minstrels grew in popularity, as evidenced by the publication of “Heinrich von Ofterdingen
” by Novalis
in 1802. While Novalis did not describe the Sängerkrieg itself, the event was central to E. T. A. Hoffmanns Der Kampf der Sänger (1818). An account of the contest could also be found in the Grimm Brothers' Deutsche Sagen (1816). One of the most famous interpretations is Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg
(1843). Wagner was the first to merge the Tannhäuser legend with the Wartburg Sängerkrieg. In Wagner’s version, the Sängerkrieg is completely subordinated to the Tannhäuser story and the theme of release (Erlösung). The mythical sorcerer Klingsor, as an adversary of Christian conviction, is the figure which made possible the blending of these stories, because he could also embody the same demonic forces which had trapped Tannhäuser under the spell of the Lady Venus.
In the early 19th century, the Wartburg re-emerged as a German cultural symbol, and restoration work began in 1838. As part of this restoration, Moritz von Schwind
painted frescoes in several parts of the castle between 1854 and 1856. The Minstrel Contest Fresco (Sängerstreitfresko) is the largest of them, making the viewer believe that he or she is actually witnessing the event. The inscription reads: “In this hall the singer’s contest was held on the 7th of July 1207, for the birthday of Saint Elizabeth.” (“In diesem Saale wurde der Sängerstreit gehalten den 7ten Juli 1207, dem Geburtstag der Heil. Elisabeth.”)
Whether the contest was purely legend or had some basis in an actual event has been debated since the Middle Ages. Local Thuringian historians, such as Dietrich von Apolda (1220 or 1230–1302) and Johannes Rothe (c.1360-1434), in the 14th and 15th centuries respectively, suggested the poems referred to an actual historical event. In the 19th century, Johann Rinne argued that the events never occurred.
Wartburg
The Wartburg is a castle overlooking the town of Eisenach, Germany.Wartburg may also refer to:* Wartburgkreis, a district in Germany named after the Wartburg* Wartburg , former East German brand of automobiles, manufactured in Eisenach...
castle in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
in 1207.
Medieval accounts of the Sängerkrieg
The poems of the Sängerkrieg form an important collection of Middle High GermanMiddle High German
Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
literature, reflecting a literary flourishing at the court of Count (Landgraf
Landgrave
Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...
) Hermann I in the early 13th century. Both historical (Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.-Life:...
and Walther von der Vogelweide
Walther von der Vogelweide
Walther von der Vogelweide is the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets.-Life history:For all his fame, Walther's name is not found in contemporary records, with the exception of a solitary mention in the travelling accounts of Bishop Wolfger of Erla of the Passau diocese:...
) and fictional (Klingsor of Hungary and Heinrich von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen is a famous, quasi-fictional Minnesinger who participated in the Sängerkrieg on the Wartburg. The authorship of the Laurin, a poem about Dietrich von Bern, was also sometimes ascribed to him. He is chiefly known by the novel of Novalis of the same name and the role of...
) minstrels were alleged to have participated in the competition. Reinmar von Zweter
Reinmar von Zweter
Reinmar von Zweter was a Middle High German poet of Spruchdichtung. The iconography in the Manesse Codex suggests that he may have been blind, since he is the only person represented in the manuscript with closed eyes and other people writing...
, a historical Minnesänger, is anachronistically listed as a participant.
The songs of the Wartburgkrieg have not been discovered in the original, but various versions can be found within the great Liederhandschriften of the late Middle Ages (the Codex Manesse
Codex Manesse
The Codex Manesse, Manesse Codex, or Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift is a Liederhandschrift , the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German Minnesang poetry, written and illustrated between ca. 1304 when the main part was completed, and ca...
, Jenaer Liederhandschrift, Kolmarer Liederhandschrift). A collection of lyrical poems entitled "Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg", written between 1240 and 1260, was translated into modern German by Karl Simrock
Karl Joseph Simrock
Karl Joseph Simrock , was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of the Nibelungenlied into modern German.- Life :He was born in Bonn, where his father was a music publisher...
and published in 1858. http://12koerbe.de/lapsitexillis/wartb-1.htm
Story of the Sängerkrieg
The oldest poetic accounts, dating from the 13th century, describe specific episodes of the contest such as the Fürstenlob and the Rätselspiel.The Fürstenlob ("princely praise") was a contest among six minstrels: Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Walther von der Vogelweide, Biterolf, Reinmar von Zweter, Wolfram von Eschenbach and Heinrich Schreiber. The six singers were placed before the Count and Countess of Thuringia, in order to determine which best understood how to sing praises of a prince. Heinrich von Ofterdingen was the most eloquent, but earned the envy of the other minstrels, who tricked him into earning a death sentence. Heinrich gained the protection of Countess Sophia and a one-year reprieve, during which he went to Hungary and sought the assistance of the sorcerer Klingsor. Heinrich and Klingsor returned to Thuringia to resume the contest.
The Rätselspiel ("mystery game") was the subsequent poetic duel between Wolfram von Eschenbach and the Hungarian sorcerer Klingsor. Wolfram proved himself capable and eloquent, and when Klingsor grew weary he summoned a demon to continue the duel. When Wolfram began to sing of the Christian mysteries, the demon was unable to respond.
The Sängerkrieg in modern literature
The history of the Sängerkrieg in modern literature begins in the 18th century with Johann Jakob BodmerJohann Jakob Bodmer
Johann Jakob Bodmer was a Swiss-German author, academic, critic and poet.-Life:Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters...
's Wiederentdeckung des Mittelalters (Rediscovery of the Middle Ages), which contained an account of the Sängerkrieg. Interest in the minstrels grew in popularity, as evidenced by the publication of “Heinrich von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen
Heinrich von Ofterdingen is a famous, quasi-fictional Minnesinger who participated in the Sängerkrieg on the Wartburg. The authorship of the Laurin, a poem about Dietrich von Bern, was also sometimes ascribed to him. He is chiefly known by the novel of Novalis of the same name and the role of...
” by Novalis
Novalis
Novalis was the pseudonym of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg , an author and philosopher of early German Romanticism.-Biography:...
in 1802. While Novalis did not describe the Sängerkrieg itself, the event was central to E. T. A. Hoffmanns Der Kampf der Sänger (1818). An account of the contest could also be found in the Grimm Brothers' Deutsche Sagen (1816). One of the most famous interpretations is Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
(1843). Wagner was the first to merge the Tannhäuser legend with the Wartburg Sängerkrieg. In Wagner’s version, the Sängerkrieg is completely subordinated to the Tannhäuser story and the theme of release (Erlösung). The mythical sorcerer Klingsor, as an adversary of Christian conviction, is the figure which made possible the blending of these stories, because he could also embody the same demonic forces which had trapped Tannhäuser under the spell of the Lady Venus.
In the early 19th century, the Wartburg re-emerged as a German cultural symbol, and restoration work began in 1838. As part of this restoration, Moritz von Schwind
Moritz von Schwind
thumb|Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860Moritz von Schwind was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna.Moritz von Schwind received rudimentary training and spent a happy and carefree youth in Vienna. Among his companions was the composer Schubert, some of whose songs he illustrated...
painted frescoes in several parts of the castle between 1854 and 1856. The Minstrel Contest Fresco (Sängerstreitfresko) is the largest of them, making the viewer believe that he or she is actually witnessing the event. The inscription reads: “In this hall the singer’s contest was held on the 7th of July 1207, for the birthday of Saint Elizabeth.” (“In diesem Saale wurde der Sängerstreit gehalten den 7ten Juli 1207, dem Geburtstag der Heil. Elisabeth.”)
Whether the contest was purely legend or had some basis in an actual event has been debated since the Middle Ages. Local Thuringian historians, such as Dietrich von Apolda (1220 or 1230–1302) and Johannes Rothe (c.1360-1434), in the 14th and 15th centuries respectively, suggested the poems referred to an actual historical event. In the 19th century, Johann Rinne argued that the events never occurred.
Literature
- Hugo Baumgarten. Der sogenannte Wartburgkrieg. Hoya Petzold-Druck, 1931.
- Alexander, Freiherr von Gleichen-Russwurm. Die Wartburg und ihre Sänger. Levy & Müller, Stuttgart, 1911.
- August Koberstein. Über das wahrscheinliche Alter und die Bedeutung des Gedichtes vom Wartburger Kriege. A.G. Bürger, Naumburg, 1923.
- Friedrich Mess. Heinrich von Ofterdingen: Wartburgkrieg und verwandte Dichtungen Böhlaus, Weimar, 1963. LCCN 87-874235
- Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de la Motte-Fouque. Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg; ein Dichterspiel. F.A. Herbig, Berlin, 1828.
- Hermann von Plötz. Über den Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, nebst einem Beitrage zur Literatur des Räthsels. Hoffmanische Hofbuchhandlung, Weimar, 1851.
- Johann Karl Friedrich Rinne. Es hat keinen Sängerkrieg zu Wartburg gegeben. I.Webel, Zeitz, 1842.
- Tom Rompelman. Der Wartburgkrieg. Amsterdam, H.J.Paris, 1939. LCCN 50-49039
- Karl SimrockKarl Joseph SimrockKarl Joseph Simrock , was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of the Nibelungenlied into modern German.- Life :He was born in Bonn, where his father was a music publisher...
. Der Wartburgkrieg. Cotta, Stuttgart, Augsburg 1858. OCLC 5363166 - Adolf Strack. Zur Geschichte des Gedichtes vom Wartburgkriege. A.Strack, 1883.
- Burghart Wachinger. Sängerkrieg. Untersuchungen zur Spruchdichtung des 13. Jahrhunderts. Beck, München 1973. ISBN 3-406-02842-X
- Burghart Wachinger. Der Sängerstreit auf der Wartburg. Von der Manesseschen Handschrift bis zu Moritz von Schwind. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2004. ISBN 3-11-017919-9
External links
- German edition of Wikipedia, Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg
- Der Wartburgkrieg, translated by Karl Simrock 1858: Fürstenlob, Rätselspiel, Der Gral als Stein aus Luzifers Krone, Zabulons Buch, in Middle High German and Simrock's modern German translation (on-line edition)
- Wartburgkrieg bibliography