The ''Sängerkrieg'' (minstrel contest), also known as the ''Wartburgkrieg'' (Wartburg contest), was a contest among minstrels (''
Minnesänger'') at the
Wartburg
The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...
, a castle in
Thuringia
Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area.
Er ...
, Germany, in 1207.
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 and Johannes Rothe, 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.
Medieval accounts of the ''Sängerkrieg''
The poems of the ''Sängerkrieg'' form an important collection of
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
literature, reflecting a literary flourishing at the court of Count
Hermann I in the early 13th century.
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.
Life
Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...
and
Walther von der Vogelweide
Walther von der Vogelweide (; ) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs ('' Sprüche'') in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundred or s ...
) as well as (Klingsor of Hungary and
Heinrich von Ofterdingen) minstrels participated in the competition.
Reinmar von Zweter, a 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
The Codex Manesse (also or Pariser Handschrift) is a (a German term for a manuscript containing songs) which is the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry. It was written and illustrated manuscript, illustr ...
'', ''
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.
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 Bodmer'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
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...
in 1802. While Novalis did not describe the ''Sängerkrieg'' itself, the event was central to
E. T. A. Hoffmann's ''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'' (1845). 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
image:Moritz von Schwind 2.jpg, 200px, Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860.
Moritz von Schwind (21 January 1804 – 8 February 1871) was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna. Schwind's genius was lyrical—he drew inspiration from chivalry, folklore, and t ...
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''.”)
Footnotes
Literature
*Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de la Motte-Fouque. ''Der Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg; ein Dichterspiel''. F.A. Herbig, Berlin, 1828.
*Johann Karl Friedrich Rinne. ''Es hat keinen Sängerkrieg zu Wartburg gegeben''. I.Webel, Zeitz, 1842.
*Hermann von Plötz. ''Über den Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, nebst einem Beitrage zur Literatur des Räthsels''. Hoffmanische Hofbuchhandlung, Weimar, 1851.
*
Karl Simrock. ''Der Wartburgkrieg''. Cotta, Stuttgart, Augsburg 1858. OCLC 5363166
* L.C.E. Artaud-Haussmann. ''Le tournoi poétique de la Wartburg, poème allemand du treizième siècle''. Firmin Didot, Paris, 1865
*Adolf Strack. ''Zur Geschichte des Gedichtes vom Wartburgkriege''. A.Strack, 1883.
*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.
*Hugo Baumgarten. ''Der sogenannte Wartburgkrieg''. Hoya Petzold-Druck, 1931.
*Tom Rompelman. ''Der Wartburgkrieg''. Amsterdam, H.J.Paris, 1939. LCCN 50-49039
*Friedrich Mess. ''Heinrich von Ofterdingen: Wartburgkrieg und verwandte Dichtungen''. Böhlaus, Weimar, 1963. LCCN 87-874235
*Burghart Wachinger. ''Sängerkrieg. Untersuchungen zur Spruchdichtung des 13. Jahrhunderts''. Beck, München 1973.
*Burghart Wachinger. ''Der Sängerstreit auf der Wartburg. Von der Manesseschen Handschrift bis zu Moritz von Schwind''. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2004.
*
Robert Löhr. ''Krieg der Sänger''. Piper, München, Zürich, 2012.
References
External links
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)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sangerkrieg
Singing competitions
Minnesang
Eisenach