High and late medieval German literature - Definition

The Nibelungenlied is one of the few examples we have of early German literature, and is believed to have been passed on from Scandinavian oral tradition.

Many anonymous works were composed in Middle High German, including the story of Herzog Ernst.

Authors of this time period include:

• Hartmann von Aue,
• Wolfram von Eschenbach,
• Heinrich von Freiberg,
• Gottfried von Strassburg,
• Ulrich von Türheim,
• Rudolf von Ems,
• Konrad von Würzburg,
• Jans der Enikel,
• Heinrich Frauenlob,
• Reinmar der Alte,
• Walther von der Vogelweide

Most of these men were poets who wrote courtly tales, especially Arthurian romances. Others wrote poems in the Minnesinger tradition.