From Obernburg

“Von Obernburg”, miniature in Codex Manesse, fol. 342v

One von Obernburg , whose first name is unknown, appears in the Codex Manesse as a minstrel . Since there is no coat of arms on the miniature in the Codex Manesse , as on some other miniatures, it is difficult to make a statement about its origin. Because the term “her” (lord) is also missing, it is assumed that he was not of noble descent, although he was depicted in a valuable garment that was then only reserved for the nobility. The order of the 140 minstrels listed in the Codex Manesse (137 of them shown in miniature) is based on a class ranking. So at the beginning there is Emperor Heinrich VI, the son of Friedrich Barbarossa. Kings, dukes, margraves, counts, barons and ministerials and finally commoners follow. Von Obernburg appears in the 97th section and joins the lower nobility. Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen , however, expressed the assumption that the minstrel came from the town of Oberburg (Gornji Grad) in Lower Styria and was a ministerial of the local monastery, but does not prove that this sex there was already under the in the middle of the 13th century Oberburg name flourished. It is much more likely to be assigned to the Kyburg ministerial family of Oberburg near Burgdorf in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, because there was a good breeding ground for the development of a noble minstrel, at least due to the proximity to the "mighty Count of Kyburg-Burgdorf". Frank Wunderlich notes that von Obernburg's language is pure, without dialectic or typical regional features, which is why he cannot be classified regionally because of his language; His texts also lacked appropriate location and person-related information for a chronological classification. It is believed that his songs were not written before the mid-13th century.

Image interpretation

The essential elements of the miniature of the Codex Manesse are an abundance of red roses, below on the left a standing woman holding a small dog in her left arm, and on the right of the woman kneeling the minstrel of Obernburg.

Ingo F. Walther interprets the picture as follows: The dark robe and the veil-like cloth over the giver of the lady could be an indication of a clerical office and the "gold trim on the neck and sleeves" a sign of noble descent. The lap dog is interpreted as an attribute of the court ladies of that time. The kneeling posture of the young man in knightly garb indicates a humble posture that marked a gesture of submission between master and vassal . His raised right hand expresses greeting and homage at the same time . With his left hand, the young man hands the lady a letter in the form of a scaled-down tape as a sign of his courtship and love . The tree with the red flowers, the trunk of which rises between the hands of the two of them and the writing tape, is supposed to symbolize the love that connects them. A closer look at the miniature, taking into account the dress code at the time the Codex Manesse was created, calls this interpretation into question in many respects.

Minstrel

Seven songs with 20 stanzas have survived from the poetry of von Obernburg. His poetry is described as conventional, devoid of any individuality, it points to the style of courtly minnowsong in the third and fourth decades of the 13th century: "Ordinary sentimental sighs of love and requests, the traditional play with hope, wishes and despair, resonant praise Woman's beauty, natural entrance - all without originality. Reminiscences of the older Reinmar and Walther von der Vogelweide are particularly noticeable. " However, one can attribute formal artistry to the songs: "The use of the refrain , the joy in puns and above all the mastery of artistic rhyme techniques show the von Obernburg as a talented artist." (R. Hausner)

Occurrence of the name of Obernburg

Conclusive evidence of the minstrel's origin is currently not possible due to the documents and files known to date. The different names “Obernburg”, Oberburg and “von Oberburg” should also be noted. Oberburg as a gender name occurs only in Switzerland and Lower Styria. Oberburg is the place name in Switzerland, Bavaria, Hesse, and in the former Duchy of Carniola. Further research into a correlation between topographical names and the gender name of Ober (n) burg could not reveal any clues.

Walter Leuenberger, a local researcher from Oberdorf BE, assumes that the minstrel from Obernburg was a Kiburg ministerial. This thesis is supported by various documents and the fact that the first one on record from Oberburg was originally called "Wiman". The Wiman family lived in the immediate vicinity of the Kyburg in the city of Winterthur. (See also under: Occurrence in Switzerland according to Stettler - "Joh. Von Oberburg, dictus Wiman, der 1240 ...").

Occurrence according to Ingo F. Walther

Ingo F. Walther writes that the minstrel's origin is uncertain. He mentions the Burgraves of Oberburg as possible descent, who are said to have been attested to around the middle of the 13th century in Lower Styria west of Cilli . We know of Pirchegger that most of the top Sann valley center the high outdoor Diebald part of the 12th century by Chager and his wife Truta. Around 1140 they handed over this property to the Patriarch of Aquileja and together with him founded the Benedictine monastery of Oberburg . In the course of this handover, the Oberburg Fortress and the chivalric team of the Chager, around 100 ministerials with their families, came to Aquileia . In a document of the patriarch from 1243, the "old" castle - antiquum castrum - upper castle is mentioned, which is said to have been located on the Gradische (Gradišče) hill on the Drietbach (Dreta), where in 1820 the remains of walls were still visible. The existence of a family from Oberburg was not documented by any of the authors in the 13th century in this area.

Occurrence in Switzerland according to Stettler

The Swiss historian and journalist Karl Ludwig Stettler (1773-1858) wrote, in addition to numerous other works, the 6-volume work Genealogies of the Bernese families , which has been preserved as a manuscript . There Stettler also reports on a family of Oberburg and describes the village of Oberburg in the valley of the Emme 2 km south of Burgdorfs as the place of origin - certainly meaning the ancestral seat - of a family of free landowners, “unknown to history, but once through quite significant Property ownership not without some respect among the citizens of the old headquarters of the mighty Counts of Kyburg-Burgdorf . ”. According to Stettler, the upper castle belonged to the nobility. This "old" family died out around the middle of the 14th century. One line of the house is said to have been “buried” in Bern and lived there until the beginning of the 17th century.

Stettler also handed down the coat of arms of the upper castle :

Two black bars in the silver shield . A helmet on the shield . Crest : A black and white closed flight . Helmet covers : black and white. The expressed resemblance of this coat of arms to that of the Krainer von Oberburg does not hold up from a heraldic point of view. While the Bernese Oberburg coat of arms has two black bars in the silver shield, the Slovenian Oberburg coat of arms shows that the shield is divided diagonally from white and black to the left and has two oblique left bars in alternating colors, which are shortened towards the center.

Stettler names as a representative of the Oberburg family:

• Johann von Oberburg, called Wiman , who in 1240 sold some of his goods to the Interlaken monastery with the consent of his liege lord , the Count of Kyburg . His stepfather was Rudolf von Buchsee.
• Rudolf appears in a certificate from the Counts of Kyburg in 1257 as "quondam scultetus " (former mayor ). Only the most distinguished servants of the count were entrusted with this office.
• Ludwig is referred to as "Burger zu Burgdorf", appears in 1277 and 1297 as a witness, and in 1294 as Schultheiss zu Hutwyl .
• Rudolf , who referred to himself as Ludwig's blessed son in a document from 1327; with his wife Ita, he sold some goods to the Interlaken monastery.
• Johann von Oberburg, “Burger zu Bern”, acquired several properties in Britenried in 1286.
• The brothers Ulrich and Niklas appear in documents as witnesses in 1328. In 1347 Niklas still owned a garden in Bern.

The sources from which Stettler drew are not explained in detail. One of the most important sources of Stettler's research into representatives of the Oberburg family seems to have been the Burgdorf year book . As further sources, Stettler mentions: “Int. Doc. ”(Meaning documents from the Interlaken monastery),“ St. Urban Doc. ”,“ Stifts Doc. ”(Presumably referring to documents from the Frauenkappelen monastery ) and“ Hall. Collection".

See also

• Andree Bernhardin von Oberburg
• Susanna of Oberburg

literature

• Konrad Burdach:  Obernburg, The von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, p. 102.
• Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen: Minnesinger. German song poets of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries . Barth, Leipzig 1838, Vol. II, No. 116, pp. 513-514 ( digitized version )
• Renate Hausner: The one from Obernburg . In: The German literature of the Middle Ages. Author Lexicon . Volume 7. De Gruyter, Berlin 1989, Col. 6-7 (not viewed)
• Ambros Kocher: Solothurn document book. First volume. 762-1245 . Published by the government council of the canton of Solothurn. (= Sources on the history of Solothurn ; 1). State Archives, Solothurn 1952
• A. Kracher: The one from Obernburg - a Styrian? In: Festschrift for D. Kralik, Horn 1954, pp. 162–182.
• Josef Kraßler: Styrian coat of arms key . Landesarchiv, Graz 1968
• Hans Pirchegger: History of Styria . Leuschner & Lebensk, Graz et al. 1932–1934
• Hans Pirchegger: Lower Styria in the history of their dominions and guilds, cities and markets . Oldenbourg, Munich 1962
• Johannes Baptista Rietstap , Victor Rolland: Planches de l'Armorial Général. IV . Paris 1910
• Franz Schumi (Ed.): Document and regesta book of the Duchy of Carniola. II. Volume. 1200-1269 . Self-published, Laibach 1884–1887
• Karl Ludwig Stettler (1773-1858): Genealogies of the Bernese families . 6 volumes. Manuscripts of the city of Bern
• Heinrich Türler (Hrsg.): Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz . 2nd / 4th / 6th Volume, Neuchâtel 1924/1927/1931
• Johann Weichard von Valvasor : The honor of the Hertzogthums Crain . Endter, Laibach 1689 (Reprint: Dr. Dr. Rudolf Trofenik , Munich 1971)
• Ingo F. Walther: Codex Manesse. The miniatures of the Great Heidelberg Song Manuscript . 3. Edition. Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-458-14385-8
• Frank S. Wunderlich: I want to gvete from wibes. 7 songs by the minstrel of Obernburg. With melodies by Frank S. Wunderlich . Publishers of the Minstrels, Reichelsheim 2002, ISBN 978-3-927240-71-1
• Joseph von Zahn: Place Name Book of Styria in the Middle Ages . Hölder, Vienna 1893
• Yearbook of the kk heraldic society "Adler" . Vienna 1884–1885
• Research correspondence Attila v. Wurzbach (see discussion)

Web links

Wikisource: Der von Obernburg  - Sources and full texts

• T. Horn, A. Sczesny and M. Syring: Minnesangs Wende, Minnesangs Ende: Selected bibliography, status 11/2003 , chap. 3.52, p. 48f .: Der von Obernburg (PDF file; 1.56 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} cf. Ingo F. Walther: Codex Manesse . Frankfurt 1988
2. ^ K. Burdach, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
3. ^ Quote from Stettler