KÜRENBERC, DER VON (fl. late 12th c.)
Der von Kürenberc is the earliest named German lyric
poet. His poems are preserved only in the famous Hei-
delberg University library Minnesang manuscript “C,”
where he is grouped among the barons. He is possibly a
member of the Kürenberg family who had a castle near
Linz, Austria, during the mid-twelfth century. He is part
of what is known as the Danube or indigenous school,
showing very little French infl uence.
Fifteen stanzas have been preserved. The basic metri-
cal unit is the four-beat half-line; the long lines formed
of two such halves are combined in rhyming couplets.
There are two stanza patterns: the predominant one
of four long lines, which is the basis of the so-called
Nibelung stanza, or Nibelungenstrophe, and that where
a rhymeless line is inserted as the odd fi fth half-line.
Several are so-called “Women’s stanzas,” or Frauenstro-
phen, written from the woman’s point of view. In one
poem, a lady stands at night on battlements, listening to
a knight singing from among the crowd, in kürenberges
wîse (Minnesangs Frühling [MF], no. 8,1). In another
poem, the lady is compared with a falcon: women and
falcons are easily tamed, if one entices them rightly,
they will seek the man (MF 10, 17).
Kürenberc makes dramatic and effective use of the
Wechsel, or lyrical dialogue, alternating speeches of
identical length. Frequently the speeches do not make
contact; the man and woman talk past each other. In
a Wechsel, he parodies the fi gure of the lover who so
idealizes the lady that he stands beside her bed and does
not dare wake her up, much less think of enjoying her
favors (MF8, 9–15). He has a dramatic sense of situa-
tions; his lyrics often tell little stories. His best known
song has the falcon as its subject, Ich zôch mir einen
valken, for which many widely differing interpretations
have been proposed (MF 8, 33). A person rears a falcon
for more than a year, trains and adorns it with gold wire
and silken jesses. The falcon fl ies away “into other
lands.” Later, the person sees the falcon, still with the
gold and the silk, and says: Got sende si zesamene, die
geliep wellen gerne sîn (God bring those together who
wish to be lovers!). The poem might be the literal story
of the loss of a falcon or the falcon might be a symbol
for a messenger of love, or for the yearning of lovers,
or for an unfaithful lover. If the woman is speaking, the
poem may be identifi ed as Frauenstrophen, if a man,
as a Botenlied. If it is fi rst the man and then the lady,
it is a Wechsel.
Der von Kürenberc introduces several elements that
appear in later minnesang: the message and messenger
taken from medieval Latin epistle form; the need for
secrecy and fear of spies, merkære (slanderers) and
lügenære (liars); the submissive role of the man.Further Reading
Agler-Beck, Gayle. Der von Kürenberg: Edition, Notes, and
Commentary. German Language and Literature Monographs- Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1978.
Heffner, R.-M.S, and Kathe Peterson. A Word-Index to Des
Minnesangs Frühling. Madison: University of Wisconsin
Press, 1942.
Koschorreck, Walter, and Wilfried Werner, eds. Codex Manesse.
Die Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift. Faksimile-Aus-
gage des Cod. Pal. Germ. 848 der Universitdts-Bibliothek
Heidelberg. Kassel: Ganymed, 1981 [facsimile].
Moser, Hugo, and Helmut Tervooren. Des Minnesangs Frühling
unter Benutzung der Ausgdben von Karl Lachmann und
Moriz Haupt, Friedrich Vogt und Carl von Kraus. Stuttgart:
Hirzel, 1982.
Rakel, Hans-Herbert S. Der deutsche Minnesang. Eine Einfrüh-
rung mit Texten und Materialien. Munich: Beck, 1986.
Sayce, Olive. Poets of the Minnesang. Introduction, Notes and
Glossary. Oxford: University Press, 1967.
Schweikle, Günther. Die mittelhochdeutsche Minnelyrik, vol. 1.
Die frühe Minnelyrik. Texte und Übertragungen, Einführung
und Kommentar. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesell-
schaft, 1977.
——. Minnesang. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1989.
Tervooren, Helmut. Bibliographie zum Minnesang und zuden
Dichtern aus “Des Minnesangs Frühling.” Berlin: Schmidt,
1969, pp. 55–58.
Wapnewski, Peter. “Des Kürenberger’s Falkenlied.” Euphorion
53 (1959): 1–19.
Stephanie Cain Van D’Elden
KÜRENBERC, DER VON