Middle High German literature

Middle High German literature refers to literature written in German between the middle of the 11th century and the middle of the 14th. In the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year "golden age" of medieval German literature referred to as the mittelhochdeutsche Blütezeit (1170–1230). This was the period of the blossoming of MHG lyric poetry, particularly Minnesang (the German variety of the originally French tradition of courtly love). The same sixty years saw the composition of the most important courtly romances. These are written in rhyming couplets, and again draw on French models such as Chrétien de Troyes, many of them relating Arthurian material. The third literary movement of these years was a new revamping of the heroic tradition, in which the ancient Germanic oral tradition can still be discerned, but tamed and Christianized and adapted for the court. These high medieval heroic epics are written in rhymed strophes, not the alliterative verse of Germanic prehistory.

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Genres

Epic Poetry

The Kaiserchronik is one of the first monuments of Middle High German. The three key authors of courtly romances are Hartmann von Aue, Gottfried von Strassburg, and Wolfram von Eschenbach, in particular his Parzival, which is regarded as one of the supreme literary achievements of the period. The revamping of the heroic tradition is visible in works like the Nibelungenlied, Kudrun, and the various epics about the heroic figure Dietrich von Bern. Another epic of the High Middle Ages is Herzog Ernst; other authors include Konrad von Würzburg, Rudolf von Ems, and Ulrich von Türheim.

Lyric Poetry
Portrait of Walther von der Vogelweide, the most celebrated of all medieval German lyric poets, from the Codex Manesse

The most impressive example of Early Middle High German lyric poetry is the Annolied or Song of Anno. Towards the beginning of the twelfth century A.D., the poetess Ava became the first woman to write poetry in German.

During the Middle High German period, Minnesänge, songs about courtly love, were very popular. The most notable of all the Minnesänger was Walther von der Vogelweide, whose most famous Minnesang is the poem "Unter der Linden", but there were also many others. Some of the melodies for these Minnesänge have survived to the present day, but most have been lost. The only one of Walther's songs for which the melody has survived is the Palästinalied, which is not a Minnesang.[1] Other notable works of Middle High German lyric poetry include the incomplete Christherre-Chronik, a thirteenth-century world chronicle from Thüringen, the lyric poem Der Busant, and the works of Heinrich Frauenlob. Parodies of courtly poetry also exist, among them Der Weinschwelg.

Mystical Literature

Middle High German mysticism, often called "Rhineland mysticism," is a key prose genre. Three fourteenth-century Dominican authors are particularly important: Meister Eckhart, Henry Suso (also known as Heinrich Seuse), and Johannes Tauler. Female religious writers also made significant contributions, particularly Mechthild von Magdeburg (The Flowing Light of the Godhead) and Margareta Ebner.[2]

Transition to Renaissance literature (1350 to 1500)

The Middle High German period ended around 1350. The period between 1350 and 1500 is one of transition between the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In the German literature of the 15th century, medieval genres (such as the latest works of classical Minnesang) overlap with works of early Humanism, and by the end of the 15th century early popular literature in the form of the Volksbuch (Fortunatus, Till Eulenspiegel).[3]

We see the rise of urban literature starting in the later 13th century, which becomes the dominant force from the mid-14th century onwards. This urbanization and the introduction of printing in the 15th century (beginning in Mainz, but quickly spreading across Germany) are the main developments marking the vague boundary between late medieval and early modern German literature. The first important urban author was the Viennese chronicler Jans der Enikel. Other poets include Hans Folz, Johannes von Tepl, and Sebastian Brant.

Judeo-German

From the late 13th century, there is evidence of the beginnings of the Yiddish language, which in the early phase is a variety of Middle High German, not distinct enough even to be described as a dialect, but written in Hebrew characters. In its early phase, it is normally referred to as Judeo-German; from the 15th century it becomes Old Yiddish. Poems in this idiom belong equally to the fields of Medieval German Studies and Jewish/Yiddish studies.

Notable works include the 14th-century Dukus Horant (a narrative poem known as the "Jewish Kudrun") or the 15th-century Bovo Bukh, the most popular chivalric romance in the Yiddish language.

References
  1. Meinolf Schumacher: "Die Konstituierung des "Heiligen Landes“ durch die Literatur. Walthers "Palästinalied“ und die Funktion der europäischen Kreuzzugsdichtung." In Orientdiskurse in der deutschen Literatur, edited by Klaus Michael Bogdal, Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag, 2007, pp. 11–30 ISBN 978-3-89528-555-4
  2. McGinn, Bernard (2008), The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany (1300–1500)
  3. Dorothea Klein, 'Wann endet das Spätmittelalter in der Geschichte der deutschen Literatur?' In: Forschungen zur deutschen Literatur des Spätmittelalters. Festschrift für Johannes Janota, ed. Horst Brunner, Werner Williams-Krapp, Tübingen 2003, 299–316. Hugo Kuhn, Entwürfe zu einer Literatursystematik des Spätmittelalters, 1980.

Sources
  • Gentry, Francis (2002). A Companion to Middle High German Literature to the 14th Century. Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill. ISBN 978-9004120945.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)</ref>
  • Gibbs, Marion; Johnson, Sidney, eds. (2002). Medieval German Literature: A Companion. New York, London: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-90660-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Hasty, Will, ed. (2006). German Literature of the High Middle Ages. The Camden House History of German Literature. 3. New York, Woodbridge: Camden House. ISBN 978-1571131737.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Jones, Howard; Jones, Martin (2019). The Oxford Guide to Middle High German. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199654611.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Murdoch, Murdoch, ed. (2004). German Literature of the Early Middle Ages. The Camden House History of German Literature. 2. New York, Woodbridge: Camden House. ISBN 1-57113-240-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Reinhart, Max, ed. (2007). Early Modern German Literature 1350-1700. The Camden House History of German Literature. 4. New York, Woodbridge: Camden House. ISBN 978-1571132475.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

See also
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