ABSTRACT
Hartmann von Aue ranks as one of the most important poets of the so-called Blütezeit, a period (1170/80 – 1220/30) which marks both the real beginnings of secular vernacular literature in the written medium (the trickle had started by the mid twelfth century) and at the same time its golden age. Hartmann, along with Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gottfried von Strassburg (see ch. 13) and the anonymous poet of the Nibelungenlied are the giants of the era, between them introducing the Arthurian theme to German literature and producing arguably the finest European versions of Parzival, Tristan and the story of Siegfried, made into cult figures of high cultural consumption in the nineteenth century by Wagner.
