Reinmar von Brennenberg (or Reinmar der Brennenberger) was a

minnesinger (; "love song") 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 w ...

and

ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

to the

Bishop of Regensburg The Bishops of Regensburg (Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany.

in the 13th century.

Life and work

The family were ministeriales in the

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...

in the service of the bishops of Regensburg. They took their name from

Brennberg Brennberg is a municipality in the district of Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Ger ...

. There were altogether four people with the name "Reinmar von Brennberg." Which of these four was the minnesinger is not altogether clear; however, it is generally believed that the minnesinger refers to Reinmar II von Brennberg, who was documented in 1224-1236 and died between 1271 and 1275. Reinmar II was not murdered, as was depicted in the image from the

Codex Manesse The Codex Manesse (also Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift or Pariser Handschrift) is a ''Liederhandschrift'' (manuscript containing songs), the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry, written and illustrat ...

, but his son Reinmar III was in 1276. His Minnelieder are among those associated with courtly traditions, and are close to

Ulrich von Singenberg Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of A ...

Reinmar von Hagenau Reinmar von Hagenau (also Reinmar der Alte, ''Reinmar the Elder'') 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 Minnesänge ...

Heinrich von Morungen Heinrich von Morungen or Henry of Morungen (died c. 1220 or 1222) was a German Minnesinger. Life Almost nothing about his life can be deduced from Heinrich's songs. Possibly he is identical with the ''Hendricus de Morungen'' who is documented in T ...

and

Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170c. 1230) 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 hundr ...

in style. In total five songs from Reinmar survive, four ''Kanzonen'' in

bar form Bar form (German: ''die Barform'' or ''der Bar'') is a musical form of the pattern AAB. Original use The term comes from the rigorous terminology of the Meistersinger guilds of the 15th to 18th century who used it to refer to their songs and the ...

and a Spruchton with at least 12 strophes.

Editions

* Fr. v. d. Hagen, ''Minnesinger, Deutsche Liederdichter des 12., 13. und 14. Jahrhunderts'', vol. 4, Leipzig 1838, 278ff. * Hugo Kuhn, ''Reimar von Brennenberg'', in Carl von Kraus, ''Deutsche Liederdichter des 13. Jahrhunderts'', 2nd edition, Tübingen 1978, Bd. 2, S. 385-396, * Frank S. Wunderlich, ''Wol mich des tages do mir alrerst ist worden kunt'', Reichelsheim (Odenwald), Verlag der Spielleute, 2006,

References

* ''Pierer's Universal-Lexikon'', vol. 3, Altenburg 1857, S. 278 * Hanno Rüther, ''Der Mythos von den Minnesängern.Die Entstehung der Moringer-, Tannhäuser- und Bremberger-Ballade'', Köln, Weimar, Böhlau-Verlag, 2007, * *

External links

Digitalisat des Codex Manesse bei der UB Heidelberg, Cod. Pal. germ. 848, Blatt 188r: ''Reinmar von Brennenberg''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinmar von Brennenberg Minnesingers 13th-century deaths 13th-century births 13th-century German poets Ministeriales