Walther von Klingen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Walther miniature of the Codex Manesse, fol. 52r, around 1300.
Coat of arms of Walther von Klingen

Walther von Klingen , (documented in Klingnau since 1240 ; † March 1, 1286 in Basel ), was a minstrel in the second half of the 13th century.

life and work

Walther von Klingen was the son of Ulrich II von Klingen (documented 1227-1248) from a Thurgau noble family with ancestral seat at Altenklingen Castle and his wife Ita von Tegerfelden , the heir to extensive estates on both sides of the High Rhine in Aargau and in southern Baden. The parents founded Klingnau Castle and the small town of Klingnau in Aargau in 1239 . Around 1251, two sons shared the inheritance: Walther received the possessions on the Upper Rhine with Klingnau and Werrach Castle in Wehr , his brother Ulrich the Altenklingen estate, and a younger brother joined the Johanniterkommende Leuggern .

In 1256, Walther is attested as the founding donor of the Dominican convent in Klingental , which was initially still located in Wehr , but moved to the Kleinbasel bank of the Rhine in 1274 and which developed there into one of the wealthiest and most important monasteries in Basel . Unlike his father, who was close to the Kyburgers , Walther leaned against Count Rudolf von Habsburg , who was elected king in 1273, during the interregnum .

Walther's three sons had died before 1260. Walther and his wife Sophie von Frohburg then made various spiritual foundations, including donations of land and money to monasteries and convents ( St. Blasien Monastery , Predigerkloster Basel , Klingental Monastery ). They were also founders of the Sion Monastery . In a letter of foundation dated May 27, 1269, he and his wife presented an oratorio at the foot of the Achenberg with the name Sion, qui locus vocabulo Syon dictur . Two months later, on July 26th, Walther von Klingen confirmed the award.

In 1269 Walther sold the town and castle of Klingnau to the bishopric of Konstanz , but stayed in the north wing of the castle until the 1280s before moving to Strasbourg and finally to Basel.

In a purchase contract dated May 20, 1269 with the St. Blasien Abbey, four daughters are listed: Verena, Hazelaud, Katharina and Klara. In 1267 his daughter Verena († 1314) married Count Heinrich von Veringen (mentioned 1267–1282). Verena's daughter Anna married Count Hugo von Montfort . The daughter Sophie married Konrad von Lichtenberg and another daughter married into the von Bucheck family .

In 1272 Walther sold the town of Wehr and in 1273 the Werrach Castle there to the later King Rudolf I of Habsburg , whose cousin and close confidante he was. In Rudolf's entourage he was listed as a documentary witness in numerous legal sources of the time, especially in the years 1273–76 and 1283. The same applies to Walthers Ministeriale , the two Klingnau knights Conrad and Berthold Steinmar; the latter is identified with the minne poet Steinmar of the great Heidelberg song manuscript ( Codex Manesse ). Walther was with King Rudolf in 1283 in Aarau , among other places , where he is first mentioned as a witness in the town charter awarded to this place.

Walther is represented in the Codex Manesse as the author of eight minne songs that can be called conventionally. Both formally and thematically, they identify him as a pupil of Gottfried von Neifen and Konrad von Würzburg . A contemporary minstrel from the family of the Free von Wengen near Frauenfeld praises Walther's art of singing more than the virtues of his character: triuwe (loyalty), milte (generosity) and zuht (chivalry) (cf. Bartsch, K: Die Schweizerischen Minnesänger).

The last signs of life are testamentary dispositions from 1284 in Basel, where he lived next to Klingnau. His burial place cannot be clearly determined; Both the Predigerkloster zu Basel and the Klingental monastery are possible burial sites.

Text output

  • Friedrich Pfaff (Hrsg.): The great Heidelberg song manuscript (Codex Manesse) In true text print . Title edition of the second, improved and supplemented edition edited by v. Hellmut Salowsky with a list of the beginning of the stanzas and 7 tablets. Heidelberg 1995, Sp. 127-133.

Literature and Sources

  • Josef Bader: The former Sanktblasische Amt Klingenau . In: Journal for the History of the Upper Rhine (ZGO) 1/1850, p. 452 ff.
  • Karl Bartsch (ed.): The Swiss minnesingers . Huber, Frauenfeld 1964.
  • Moriz Gmelin: Document book of the Teutonic Order Commende Beuggen . In: ZGO 28/1876, page 78; Continued on pages 1266–1299, ibid. Page 376-439
  • Johann Huber: The regests of the former Sanktblasier Propsteien Klingnau and Wislikofen in Aargau. A contribution to the church and state history of the old county of Baden . Räber, Lucerne 1878.
  • Walther Merz (Ed.): The medieval castles and fortifications of the canton Argau . Sauerländer, Aarau 1904, here: section "Klingnau", p. 293 ff., With a family tree of the "Free of blades"
  • Elmar Mittler, Wilfried Werner (Ed.): Codex Manesse. The Great Heidelberg Song Manuscript. Texts. Photos. Things . Catalog for the 1988 exhibition, Heidelberg University Library. Braus, Heidelberg 1988.
  • Otto Mittler : History of the City of Klingnau 1239-1939 . Sauerländer, Aarau 1947
  • Ursula Peters: Literature in the City. Studies on the social conditions and forms of cultural organization of urban literature in the 13th and 14th centuries . Niemeyer, Tübingen 1983; here: “The literary circle around Walther von Klingen”, pp. 105–114.
  • Max Schiendorfer: Walther von Klingen: Chairman of a Basel singing group? A regional historical case study . In: Journal for German Philology. 122/2003, pp. 203-229.
  • Max Schiendorfer: Walther von Klingen. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Rudolf Wackernagel , Rudolf Thommen (arrangement): Document book of the city of Basel . Basel 1890–1910.
  • Walther von Klingen and the Klingental Monastery in Wehr , ed. from the city weir. Ostfildern 2010.
  • Ingo F. Walther (Ed.): Codex Manesse. The miniatures of the Great Heidelberg Song Manuscript . Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1988.
  • Wilhelm Wilmanns :  blades, Walther von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1882, p. 189.

Web links

Commons : Walther von Klingen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Walther von Klingen  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Bärmann: Mr. Göli: Neidhart reception in Basel.
  2. ↑ On genealogy see: Walther Merz (Ed.): The medieval castles and fortifications of the canton Argau. Sauerlander, Aarau 1904.
  3. ↑ Christopher Schmidberger: Unequal friend or vassal? The personal relationship between Walther von Klingen and Rudolf von Habsburg . In: Walther von Klingen , anthology, ed. vd city weir. Ostfildern 2010, pp. 23–46.
  4. ↑ Erich Beck: The castles of Klingnau and Wehr as seats of the noble sex of those von Klingen - considerations on their role in the exercise of power . In: Burgen und Schlösser, magazine for castle research and monument preservation , ed. from the European Castle Institute of the German Castle Association , 4/2015, pp. 249–258.
  5. ↑ Sebastian Locher: Regesten der Graf von Veringen. 1872. p. 74.
  6. ↑ Urkundenbuch Basel , Vol. II., No. 445, p. 257 f .; Nos. 447-449, pp. 258-261.
personal data
SURNAME Walther von Klingen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION minstrel
DATE OF BIRTH before 1240
PLACE OF BIRTH Klingnau
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 1286
Place of death Basel