Philipp Frankfurter (c. 1450 – 1511) was a writer from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He collected the humorous tales surrounding the "Priest from Kahlenberg" (''Pfaff vom '' r ''von''' Kalenberg''), published with a

frame story A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

in verse form as ''Des pfaffen geschicht und histori vom Kalenberg''. It was printed as early as 1472 or 1480 in Augsburg. The "Priest from Kahlenberg" is a folkloristic trickster or prankster figure. A 1490 edition was printed by

Heinrich Knoblochtzer Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. The work was very popular, reprinted well into the 17th century, with translations to Low German, Dutch and English. The figure of the "priest from Kahlenberg" is also mentioned in the

Ship of Fools The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...

Sebastian Brant Sebastian Brant (also Brandt) (1458 – 10 May 1521) was a German humanist and satirist. He is best known for his satire '' Das Narrenschiff'' (''The Ship of Fools''). Biography Brant was born in Strasbourg to an innkeeper but eventually enter ...

and in the

Till Eulenspiegel Till Eulenspiegel (; nds, Dyl Ulenspegel ) is the protagonist of a German chapbook published in 1515 (a first edition of ca. 1510/12 is preserved fragmentarily) with a possible background in earlier Middle Low German folklore. Eulenspiegel is ...

chapbook. The figure also inspired the modern narrative poem ''Der Pfaff vom Kahlenberg'' by

Anastasius Grün Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg, also known under the name Anastasius Grün (11 April 180612 September 1876), was an Austrian poet and liberal politician from Carniola, a former Habsburg crown land in today's Slovenia. Biography He was born ...

(1850). The ''Pfaff von Kalenberg'' character is not named in Frankfurter's text. He is identified as one ''Gundacker von Thernberg'' by

Ladislaus Sunthaym Ladislaus Sunthaym (''Sunthaym, Sunthaim, Sunthain, Sunthaymer'', born c. 1440 in Ravensburg, died 1512 or 1513 in Vienna) was a German historian, genealogist and geographer. He studied theology in Vienna and was elected "procurator of the Rhenis ...

in 1486/1501. An alternative name for the character, ''Wigend'' (also ''Wigand, Weigand'') ''von Theben'' is an invention by

Wolfgang Lazius Wolfgang Laz, better known by his Latinized name Wolfgang Lazius (October 31, 1514 – June 19, 1565), was an Austrian humanist who worked as a cartographer, historian, and physician. Lazius was born in Vienna, and first studied medicine, becomin ...

, but was reported as the name of the historical character well into the 20th century. Gundacker von Thernberg is recorded as parish priest in

Kahlenbergerdorf Kahlenbergerdorf (Central Bavarian: ''Koinbeagaduaf'') was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden. Geography Location Kahlenbergerdorf l ...

, a village north of Vienna, for the period of 1339–1355, and later in

Prigglitz Prigglitz is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the n ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, where his name has been found on the fragment of a tombstone. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Gundacker died already in the plague year of 1349.Wodarz-Eichner (2007:153).

References

* "Frankfurter, Philipp". In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). vol.7, Leipzig 1877, 271 f. *Hellmut Rosenfeld: "Frankfurter, Philip"p. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) vol. 5, Berlin 1961, . * Eva Wodarz-Eichner: ''Narrenweisheit im Priestergewand: Zur Interpretation des spätmittelalterlichen Schwankromans »Die geschicht und histori des pfaffen von Kalenberg'', München, 2007. *R. Perger: "Philipp Frankfurter, ein Wiener Volksdichter des ausgehenden Mittelalters", ''Wiener Geschichtsblätter'' 24 (1969), 455 ff. {{DEFAULTSORT:Frankfurter, Philipp Writers from Vienna 1450s births 1511 deaths