A Meistersinger (German for "master-singer") was a German lyric poet of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, who carried on and developed the traditions of the medieval Minnesingers. Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and song writing in Germany which flourished in the 12th century and continued into the 14th century. ...

These singers, who, for the most part, belonged to the artisan and trading classes of the German towns, regarded as their masters and the founders of their guild twelve poets of the Middle High German period, among whom were Wolfram von Eschenbach, Konrad von Würzburg, Reinmar von Zweter, and Frauenlob. The last mentioned of these, Frauenlob, is said to have established the earliest Meistersinger school at Mainz, early in the 14th century. This is only a tradition, but the institution of such schools originated undoubtedly in the upper Rhine district. In the 14th century there were schools at Mainz, Strassburg, Frankfort, Witzburg, Zurich, and Prague; in the 15th at Augsburg and Nuremberg the last becoming in the following century, under Hans Sachs, the most famous of all. By this time, the Meistersinger school had spread all over south and central Germany; and isolate guilds were to be found farther north, at Magdeburg, Breslau Görlitz, and Danzig. A guild is an association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ... Middle High German is an ancestor of the modern German language, and was spoken from 1050 to about 1500. ... Portrait of Wolfram from the Codex Manesse. ... Portrait of Konrad von Würzburg from the Codex Manesse (folio 383r). ... Heinrich von Meissen, born between 1250 and 1260 and died in 1318, was known as Frauenlob which means woman praise. He had great musical talents, and he also held court positions in Prague. ... Map of Germany showing Mainz Mainz (French Mayence) is a city in Germany, which is the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... Strasbourg townscape Strasbourg (German Straßburg, road to castle, Alsatian Strossburi) is the capital and principal city of the Alsace région of northeastern France. ... Frankfort is the name of several places: Frankfort, Illinois Frankfort, Indiana Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort, Michigan Village of Frankfort, New York Town of Frankfort, New York Frankfort, Ohio Frankfort, Wisconsin Frankfort, South Africa Today, Frankfurt, the name of two cities in Germany, is known as that in English. ... General view showing Grossmünster church. ... Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... Augsburg is a city in south central Germany. ... Nuremberg coat of arms Location of Nuremberg Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ... Hans Sachs (September 5, 1494 - January 19, 1576) was a German meistersinger (mastersinger), poet, playwright and shoemaker. ... View of Magdeburg with the cathedral, from the tower of the Johanniskirche Magdeburg, the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe river. ... Wrocław. ... Map of Germany showing Görlitz Görlitz ( pronunciation, Lusatian: Zhorjelc, Czech Zhorelec) is a town in Germany on the river Neiße, in the Bundesland (Federal State) of Saxony, opposite to the Polish town of Zgorzelec, with which it was until 1945 united. ... For alternative meanings of Gdańsk and Danzig, see Gdansk (disambiguation) and Danzig (disambiguation) The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

Each guild numbered various classes of members, ranging from beginners, or Schuler (corresponding to trade-apprentices), and Schulfreunde (who were equivalent to Gesellen or journeymen), to Meister, a Meister being a poet who was not merely able to write new verses to existing melodies but had himself invented a new melody. The poem was technically known as a Bar or Gesetz, the melody as a Ton or Weis. The songs were all sung in the schools without accompaniment. The rules of the art were set down in the so-called Tabulatur or law-book of the gild. The meetings took place either in the Rathaus, or town hall, or, when they were held as was usually the case on Sunday, in the church; and three times a year, at Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, special festivals and singing competitions were instituted. At such competitions or Schulsingen, judges were appointed, the so-called Merker, whose duty it was to criticize the competitors and note their offences against the rules of the Tabulatur. If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ... A journeyman is a tradesman or craftsman who may well have completed an apprenticeship but is not yet able to set up their own workshop as a master. ... Easter is the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed in March, April, or May each year to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after his death by crucifixion (see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year around AD 30-33. ... Note: This article is mostly about the Christian holiday of Pentecost. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, usually observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ...

The literary value of the Meistersinger poetry was hardly in proportion to the large part it played in the life of the German towns of the 15th and 16th centuries. As the medieval lyric decayed, more and more attention was given to the externals of poetic composition, the form, the number of syllables, the melody; and it was such externals that attracted the interest of these burgher-poets. Poetry was to them a mechanical art that could be learned by diligent application, and the prizes they had to bestow were the rewards of ingenuity, not of genius or inspiration. Consequently we find an extraordinary development of strophic forms corresponding to the many new tones which every Meistersinger regarded it as his duty to invent, tones which bore the most remarkable and often ridiculous names, such as Gestreiftsafranblumleinweis, Fettdachsweis, Vielfrassweis, geblumte Paradiesweis, etc. The verses were adapted to the musical strophes by a merely mechanical counting of syllables, regardless of rhythm or sense. The meaning, the sentiment, the thought, were the last things to which the Meistersingers gave heed. At the same time, there was a certain healthy aspect in the cultivation of the Meistergesang among the German middle classes of the 15th and 16th centuries; the Meistersinger poetry, if not great or even real poetry, had especially in the hands of a poet like Hans Sachs, many germs of promise for the future. It reflected without exaggeration or literary veneer the faith of the German burgher, his blunt good sense and honesty of purpose. In this respect, it was an important factor in the rise of that middle-class literature which found its most virile expression in the period of the Reformation. The Meistergesang reached its highest point in the 16th century; and it can hardly be said to have outlived that epoch, although the traditions of the Meistersinger schools lingered in south German towns even as late as the 19th century.

Specimens of Meistersinger poetry will be found in various collections, such as J. J. Gdrres, Altdeutsche Voiks- und Meisterl-iede, (1817); K. Bartsch, Meisterlieder der Kolmarer Handschrift (PubI, of the Stuttgart Literarischer Verein, vol. lxviii. ;I862). Of the older sources of information about the Meistersinger the most important are Adam Puschmann, Grundlicher Bericht des deutschen Meistergesangs zusamt der Tabulatur (1571; reprinted in W. Brauner Neudrucke deutscher Literaturwerke des z. und ir. Jahrh., 73, 1888) and J. C. Wagenseil, De civitate Noribergensi (1697). See furthei J. Grimm, Uber den altdeutsch~n Meistergesang (1811); F. Schnori von Carolsfeld, Zur,Geschichte des deutschen Meistergesangs (1872) R. von Liliencron, fiber den Inhalt der allgemeinen Bildung -in de Zeit der Scholastik (1876); G. Jacobsthal, Die musikalische Bildunt der Meistersinger (Zeitschrift fur deut. Altertum, xx., 1876); 0. Lyon Minne- und Meistergesang (I882); K. Mey, Der Meistergesang~i~ Geschichte und Kunst (1892). The art of the Meistersingers has been immortalized by Richard Wagner in his music drama, Die Meistersinger (1868). Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883) was an influential German composer, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his groundbreaking symphonic-operas (or music dramas). His compositions are notable for their continuous contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: themes associated... Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Master Singers of Nuremberg) is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...