Here, the framework often becomes little more than a
poetological commentary on the songs, though as in
many razos, or reasons (i.e., prose commentaries), of the
troubadours—a possible inspiration for this part of the
work—the commentary consists largely of paraphrase,
and praise of the songs’ excellence. Ulrich’s fi fty-seven
songs and one Leich (poem), though accomplished,
pale somewhat against the originality of their frame.
His models were Walther von der Vogelweide (whom
he quotes without attribution), Wolfram von Eschen-
bach (whose dawn songs he parodies), and Gottfried
von Straßburg. He also doubtless learned from singers
such as Gottfried von Neifen (whose use of the motif
of the lady’s rose-red mouth he exaggerates to comic
effect) and probably infl uenced others in turn, such as
Steinmar. A set of strophes he shares with Heinrich von
Veldeke and Niune (Kraus, no. 58 XII) probably bears
the former’s name through scribal misascription and was
adapted into two shorter songs by the latter.
In addition to the Frauendienst, he wrote the Frauen-
buch, a didactic treatise in debate form in which a lady
and a knight discuss who is responsible for the sad
state of the world. In the end the lady is declared free
of blame. Though it lacks the innovative sparkle (and
the occasional narrative tedium) of the former work, its
earnestness and apparent sincerity remind us that despite
the ubiquity of humor and playfulness in Ulrich’s larger
work, he seems to have taken the exhortations to be
constant, loyal, pure, and kind (good)that permeate both
works to heart. Despite all the weaknesses and absurdi-
ties that he clearly recognizes in contemporary life and
(especially) letters, he valorizes courtly ideals and seeks
to promote hôher muot (courtly good cheer).
See also Heinrich von Veldeke;
Walther von der Vogelweide
Further Reading
Bechstein, Reinhold, ed. Ulrich’s von Lichtenstein Frauendienst.
2 vols. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1888.
Kraus, Carl von, ed. Deutsche Liederdichter des 13. Jahrhun-
derts. 2 vols.; 2d ed. Gisela Kornrumpf. Tübingen: Niemeyer,
1978.
Lachmann, Karl, ed. Ulrich von Lichtenstein. Berlin: Sander,
1841; rpt. Hildesheim: Olms, 1974.
Thomas, J. W., trans. Ulrich von Liechtenstein’s Service of Ladies.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1969.
Hubert Heinen
ULRICH VON TÜRHEIM
(fl. ca. 1230–1245)
After Gottfried von Straßburg had left his Tristan as a
torso around 1210, two authors picked up the fragment
and provided their own conclusions—Heinrich von
Freiberg (ca. 1280–1290) and Ulrich von Türheim. The
latter composed his continuatio (continuation) roughly
between 1230 and 1235, adding a total of 3,730 verses.
Uirich’s conclusion of the Tristan was commissioned by
the imperial cup-bearer (Reichsschenk), the Augsburg
nobleman Konrad von Winterstetten (d. 1243). Some-
time after that Ulrich wrote the continuation of Wolfram
von Eschenbach’s Willehalm, the so-called Rennewart,
comprising more than 36,000 verses, completed before- Among his earliest literary enterprises, however,
we fi nd Ulrich’s short narrative Clîges, which is extant
only in a fragment from circa 1230 and based on Chré-
tien de Troyes’s Cligès.
An Ulrich von Türheim appears in the documents
of the bishop and the cathedral chapter of Augsburg
between 1236 and 1244. We assume that he was identi-
cal with our poet.
For his Tristan continuation, Ulrich relied heavily
on the Tristan version by Eilhart von Oberg, Tristrant.
Here, Tristan marries Isolde Whitehand, without sleep-
ing with his newlywed. Her brother Kaedin learns about
this scandalous situation and challenges Tristan, who
then tells him of Isolde the Fair. Together they travel to
England and meet Isolde secretly. Tristan spends one
night with her alone, whereas Kaedin is duped by a
chambermaid. Later Tristan is falsely accused of having
failed in his service for the queen, and the latter orders
him to be beaten and chased away when he shows up
at court in the guise of a leper. The lovers overcome the
confl ict and misunderstanding, however, and Tristan
can spend some time at court hidden behind his mask,
until he is discovered and then returns to Arundel with
Kaedin. Now Tristan fully accepts his wife and sleeps
with her. When he later helps Kaedin in a secret love
affair, Kaedin is killed and Tristan badly wounded. He
requests help from Isolde the Fair, and asks that in case
of her arrival the ship should set a white sail. When
Isolde the Fair approaches the coast, jealous Isolde
Whitehand deceives her husband and tells him that the
sail is black. Despairing, Tristan dies, and when his
true love has fi nally arrived at the bed, she drops dead
next to him. King Marke has both buried together; a
rosebush and a grapevine planted on their grave later
intertwine, symbolizing the everlasting love of Tristan
and Isolde the Fair.
Ulrich’s Rennewart focuses on the history of the
eponymous hero, who is, after the victory over the
Saracens (described by Wolfram von Eschenbach in
his Willehalm), baptized and married to King Loys’
daughter Alise. Rennewart assumes the kingdom of
Portebaliart and continues with his battles against the
heathens. Alise dies at the birth of her child Malefer,
who is soon after kidnapped by merchants and brought
to Terramer, who wants to raise him as an opponent
to Christianity, though to no avail. Rennewart, deeply
grieved, joins a monastery where he lives for twenty
ULRICH VON LIECHTENSTEIN