Strasbourg riddle book

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The Strasbourg riddle book is the first printed riddle book known in German-speaking countries . It first appeared around the year 1500 / 1505 , and then in numerous other conditions (are in the period from 1515 to 1789 alone received 39 thereof). This makes it one of the most successful secularly popular books of the early modern period .

There is only one handwritten German puzzle collection that was created shortly before, the so-called Weimarer Q 565, comprising 65 puzzles . Individual puzzles, on the other hand, appeared much earlier and in large numbers.

The author of the Strasbourg riddle book, so-called for lack of an actual title, is not known; the assumption was made that it could be Thomas Murner .

The original work, which has not been preserved, contained 336 spiritual and secular puzzles , many joke questions (partly as word games ), puzzle stories with solutions, as well as individual anecdotes and proverbs . Some of the puzzles are designed as pair rhymes . The text is supplemented by changing title woodcuts in the subsequent editions .

In the choice of topics (many - some of which were already known by writers of antiquity - popular puzzles from the everyday life of farmers and craftsmen, but also questions of knowledge about the content of the Bible) and in its mode of expression (sometimes faecal language is used, also satire against other classes appears several times) the work is aimed at a broad public in the bourgeoisie and nobility.

The “Strasbourg riddle book” is cited as evidence of an increased need for entertainment in the period between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. It is considered a trigger for the away 1540 until the end of the 16th century emerging own book type of "mystery book". The popularity of the work prompted the preacher Johann Behem as early as 1535 to write a "Christian riddle book for children" against the Strasbourg riddle book, which itself established its own sub-genre, the "Christian riddle book".

literature

  • Heike Bismark: Puzzle books: Origin and development of an early modern book type in the German-speaking area. With a bibliography of the puzzle books up to 1800 (= early modern times / studies and documents on German literature and culture in a European context. Volume 122). Niemeyer, Tübingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-484-36622-0 (also dissertation WWU Münster, 2003).
  • Martin H. Jones: Puzzle books (German). In: Kurt Ruh et al. (Ed.): The German literature of the Middle Ages: author lexicon . 2nd Edition. Volume 7. de Gruyter, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-11-011582-4 , Sp. 1039-1044.