T

TANNHÄUSER, DER (FL. MID–13TH C.)
The lyrical works of Tannhäuser, a thirteenth-century
traveling singer and composer, are preserved in the fa-
mous Zurich Manesse family and Jena manuscripts of
courtly love poetry known as Minnesang. The name is
toponymic, but as several villages are called Tannhau-
sen, the poet’s place of origin cannot be determined.
We know only that he was for a time at court in Vienna
under the patronage of Duke Frederick II. The fi rst song
(Leich) can be dated to 1245, the sixth to 1264–1266.
The language is South German.
The range and quality of the surviving poetry reveal
Tannhäuser as a fi ne poet of great versatility. All three
major categories of Middle High German verse are rep-
resented: Minnesang, Leich, and Sangspruch. The six
Minnelieder, preserved in the Manesse manuscript, can
be grouped as two summer songs, two winter songs—all
relatively conventional—and two Minne (courtly love)
parodies in which the poet’s optimism is obviously
misplaced in the face of the impossibility of his lady’s
absurdly exaggerated demands.
The Leiche, likewise in the Manesse manuscript, are
probably Tannhäuser’s best-known pieces. There are
seven, fi ve of them Tanzleiche, the earliest such dance
songs in German literature. The fi rst is a panegyric on
Duke Frederick, and princes and patronage return later
in Leich 6. Minne is a theme in several, and 2 and 3 both
contain love stories. The shortest, 7, is a riddle. Recur-
ring motifs are nature, May, and dancing, lending the
Leiche a consistently jovial tone. The poet delights in
references to contemporary narrative literature. A pas-
sion for geographical locations is no doubt intended to
underscore the vast experience of the traveling singer,
though some feel that in Leich no. 5 this reaches the
level of parody.

There are sixteen Sangsprüche in three cycles in the

Manesse manuscript and—though authenticity is open

to question—a further cycle of four in the Jena manu-

script. The principle theme of the Manesse Sangsprüche

is the experience (and the poverty) of the traveling

singer, patronage, and the death of the patron. The Jena

cycle is more pious, including prayers of atonement.

Other lyrical works attributed to Tannhäuser in Jena,

Kolmar, and Wiltener manuscripts are at best of dubi-

ous authorship.

Tannhäuser was held in particular esteem in ensuing

centuries, his love poetry being celebrated by the Meis-

tersänger, who named a melody (Tannhäuserton) after

him and cast him as the thirteenth member at the gather-

ing of the “12 old masters.” By contrast, a pious rejection

of sexuality underlies the late medieval Tannhäuser leg-

end, in which the poet endangers his soul by his service

to Venus but turns to Mary in the end. In the poems

Tannhäuser und Venus and Tannhäuser und Frau Welt,

the Minnesinger takes his leave of the goddess despite

her allure. The fi fteenth-century Tannhäuser-Ballads

develops this, with Tannhäuser then traveling to Rome

to seek absolution. The pope (Urban IV) tells him he

can no more be saved than the papal staff can produce

life. When the dry stick begins to bud, the pope sends

for Tannhäuser, but too late; the poet has returned to Ve-

nus and the pope is damned. The most familiar modern

version of the legend is Wagner’s opera, in which it is

merged with the story of the Wartburgkrieg.

Further Reading

Thomas, J.W., trans. Tannhäuser: Poet and Legend. Chapel Hill:

University of North Carolina Press, 1974.

Graeme Dunphy