Martinus of Biberach

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Drawing from the 18th century of a painting in the Franciscan Church in Heilbronn

Magister Martinus von Biberach († allegedly 1498 in Biberach ) is attributed a four-line saying on the cover of a handwritten book ("haec magister Martinus in Bibrach. 1498"), which is much older than the year given. Nothing is known about the life of Master Martinus. What was later erroneously interpreted as his "grave inscription" is a priam , which became popular in Christian piety and is also reflected in literature to this day (cf. Bertolt Brecht : Der Radwechsel ):

I live and
do n't know how long, I die and
don't know when, I far and don't know what,
I am surprised that I am [so] happy.

The authorship of Martinus of Biberach on the award can be considered refuted by now, but the attribution to is Walther von der Vogelweide in Konrad Bollstatters "Logia" (1468/1469), the previously oldest tradition source , as incorrect. Variants can be found in some manuscripts from the late 15th century.

The saying is (incorrectly) also considered the "motto" of Emperor Maximilian I. On one of the paneled walls of Tratzberg Castle one can read among other chalk inscriptions in calligraphic flourishes: " Live, don't know how long and die, don't know when, I don't know where I'm surprised that I'm so frelich. "

According to an old chronicle , the expanded text was part of a ceiling painting in the former Franciscan church in Heilbronn that was destroyed in 1688 : “ I live and don't know how long / I die and don't know where / I drive and don't know where / I'm amazed that I'm so happy am / when I think about the dot and the eternal pain / so I don't want to be so cheerful. "

Martin Luther knew the saying and rejected it as the “rhyme of the godless” because the life situation of Christians was exactly the opposite: they knew where and where they were coming from, namely from and to God, but were still a little frightened of death there they would die like all "Adam's children" and would have to suffer death. In a sermon on Michaelmas Day (September 29, 1531) Luther also offers a “reversal” of the “common proverb [s]”: I live and know how long, / I die and know, tub, / I drive and knows, praise God, where to / I am amazed that I am sad!

The painter Hans Thoma expanded the original version: I come, don't know where / I am, and don't know who / I live, don't know how long / I die and don't know when / I'm going, don't know where / I am surprised that I am happy. // Since my being is so unknown to me / I give it up entirely in God's hands / They probably lead it here, just like there / I am surprised when I am still sad . These two stanzas are reprinted in Christian edification literature to this day.

The writer Johannes Mario Simmel wrote a novel in 1949 under the title I am surprised that I am so happy . In an interview he stated that he had read the saying on a German monastery wall. The cartoonist FK Waechter published an anthology in 1991 under the title I'm amazed that I'm happy .

literature

Web links

Wikiquote: Martinus von Biberach  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Joseph Mone : Denksprüche , In: Anzeiger für Kunde der teutschen Vorzeit 4 (1835), Col. 206-208, here Col. 207, No. 21 (first publication; digitized edition of the University and State Library of Düsseldorf ).
  2. ^ Joseph Maria von Radowitz : The motto and motto of the later Middle Ages: a contribution to the poetry of sayings . Cotta'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1850. S. 86 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  3. ^ Robert Priebsch : German Manuscripts in England , Vol. 2. The British Museum, Fr. Junge, Erlangen 1901 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  4. ↑ University Library Tübingen Mc 32 - Grammatical collective manuscript (Leipzig, 1491, 1494) 125r ( digitized edition )
  5. ^ State and City Library Augsburg Cim. 31, pp. 1-46 [previously 4 ° Cod. H. 27] pp. 14
  6. ↑ Erich Egg u. Wolfgang Pfaundler : Emperor Maximilian I and Tyrol , Innsbruck 1969. P. 136 f.
  7. ↑ Weimar Edition, vol. 37, p. 328, line 25 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ): “How the godless rhyme is”.
  8. ↑ Weimar Edition, vol. 34, 2nd section, p. 274 f. ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
  9. ↑ Yearbook of the Soul, 1922.
personal data
SURNAME Martinus of Biberach
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Martinus in Bibrach; Magister Martinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Magister
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 1498
Place of death uncertain: Biberach