The Codex Manesse is a Liederhandschrift, the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German Minnesang poetry, written and illustrated between c. 1304 when the main part was completed, and c. 1340 with the addenda.
Minnesang was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who wrote and performed Minnesang were known as Minnesänger, and a single song was called a Minnelied.
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 so love-songs are widely regarded as the pinnacle of Minnesang, the medieval German love lyric, and his innovations breathed new life into the tradition of courtly love. He was also the first political poet to write in German, with a considerable body of encomium, satire, invective, and moralising.
Franz Pfeiffer, was a Swiss literary scholar who worked in Germany and Austria.
Karl Joseph Simrock was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of Das Nibelungenlied into modern German.
Johann Ludwig Uhland was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.
"Die Gedanken sind frei" is a German song about freedom of thought. The original lyricist and the composer are unknown, though the most popular version was rendered by Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1842.
Heinrich Frauenlob, sometimes known as Henry of Meissen, was a Middle High German poet, a representative of both the Sangspruchdichtung and Minnesang genres. He was one of the most celebrated poets of the late medieval period, venerated and imitated well into the 15th century.
Heinrich von Ofterdingen is a fabled, quasi-fictional Middle High German lyric poet and Minnesinger mentioned in the 13th-century epic of the Sängerkrieg on the Wartburg. The legend was revived by Novalis in his eponymous fragmentary novel written in 1800 and by E. T. A. Hoffmann in his 1818 novella Der Kampf der Sänger.
Heinrich von Morungen was a Minnesinger, whose 35 surviving Middle High German songs are dated on both literary and biographical grounds to around the period 1190–1200. Alongside Walter von der Vogelweide and Reinmar he is regarded as one of the most important Minnesänger: he was "the most colourful, passionate, tender and musical of the Minnesänger" and his work "marks a new and brilliantly effective stage in the development of the German lyric."
The Tagelied is a particular form of mediaeval German-language lyric, taken and adapted from the Provençal troubadour tradition by the German Minnesinger. Often in three verses, it depicts the separation of two lovers at the break of day.
The Palästinalied is a crusade song written in the early 13th century by Walther von der Vogelweide, the most celebrated lyric poet of Middle High German literature. It is one of the few songs by Walther for which a melody has survived.
Albrecht von Johansdorf was a Minnesänger and a minor noble in the service of Wolfger of Erla. Documents indicate that his life included the years 1185 to 1209. He may have known Walther von der Vogelweide and is believed to have participated in a crusade. He is known to have written at least five "recruitment" songs in Middle High German, most likely for the Third Crusade. His "Song 2" owes a debt to the structure and melody from a song in Old French by trouvère poet Conon de Béthune. His "Song 5", which mentions the capture of Jerusalem, may suggest that he wrote around 1190. Von Johansdorf's Minnelieder conform outwardly to the standard pattern of man subordinating himself to the woman above him and is responsible for the classical formulation of "the educative value of Minnedienst". His integrity and warmth of heart are most evident in poems referring to the departure for the crusade.
Reinmar von Hagenau was a German Minnesänger of the late twelfth century who composed and performed love-songs in Middle High German. He was regarded by his contemporaries as the greatest Minnesänger before Walther von der Vogelweide, a view widely shared by modern scholars. Although there are uncertainties as to which songs can be reliably attributed to him, a substantial body of his work — over 60 songs — survives. His presentation of courtly love as the unrequited love of a knight for a lady is "the essence of classical Minesang".
The Sängerkrieg, also known as the Wartburgkrieg, was a contest among minstrels (Minnesänger) at the Wartburg, a castle in Thuringia, Germany, in 1207.
"Under der linden" is a well-known poem written by the medieval German lyric poet Walther von der Vogelweide. It is written in Middle High German. The song may have originally been sung to the surviving melody of an old French song, which matches the meter of the poem.
Ougenweide was a German progressive rock band. They are notable for being pioneers of the medieval folk rock subgenre. The name comes from Middle High German ougenweide.
Thomasin von Zirclaere, also called Thomasîn von Zerclaere or Tommasino Di Cerclaria was an Italian Middle High German lyric poet. The epic poem Der Wälsche Gast is the only preserved work by him.
Wilhelm Wackernagel was a German-Swiss philologist specializing in Germanic studies. He was the father of Indo-Europeanist Jacob Wackernagel.
"Elegie" is a poem written by the German lyric poet Walther von der Vogelweide. It is written in Middle High German and is a lament to the passage of the years.
