ENSEMBLE FÜR FRÜHE MUSIK AUGSBURG – Oswald von Wolkenstein | Medieval Minnesänger

Oswald von Wolkenstein was truly a character who lived an incredible, novel-like life. He was born in Tyrol around 1376 to a noble family whose name was linked to Wolkenstein Castle in Val Gardena. His birthplace is uncertain: perhaps it was Trostburg Castle or Schöneck Castle. What we know is that he spent many years of his life near Seis am Schlern, where the remains of his home, the evocative Hauenstein Castle, still stand. Since 1973, studies of his remains have revealed that Oswald was born with a smaller-than-normal right orbit; as a result, the destroyed eye was constantly under strain until it finally closed permanently over time.

During his life, he traveled extensively throughout Europe as a diplomat. In his autobiographical song “Es fügt sich…”, Oswald described his travels to Crete, Prussia, Lithuania, Crimea, Turkey, the Holy Land, France, Lombardy (what is now known as northern Italy), and Spain. He was also shipwrecked in the Black Sea.

In 1415, at the Council of Constance, he met the Rex romanorum Sigismund of Luxembourg, for whom he became ambassador and traveled extensively. He later joined the Order of the Dragon, founded by the latter to fight the Hussites. Its members included Prince Vlad II Dracul and János Hunyadi, known as the White Knight.

In 1423, Oswald was involved in the siege of Greifenstein Castle as a besieged person, along with other nobles and the Starkenberg family, owners of the castle and legal controllers of the San Genesio area. He escaped unharmed and told the story in a ballad. In 1429, with other supporters of the Chapter, he kidnapped and blackmailed the Prince-Bishop of Brixen, Ulrich II Putsch.

In the last period of his life, he retired to Tyrol, where he became an important political figure due to his long experience. He died during a diet in Merano on August 2, 1445, at the age of approximately 68: his lineage continued until 1937 with Count Arthur of Wolkenstein-Rodenegg. The lineage of his brothers Michael and Leonhard, however, was shorter or continued through the female line. Oswald’s tombstone is preserved in the cathedral cloister in Bressanone, but he was actually buried—according to his will—in the Augustinian convent of Novacella Abbey.

Minnesänger were poet-musicians of the German Middle Ages, active roughly between the 12th and 14th centuries. The word Minnesänger means “love singer” — from Minne, the Middle High German word for courtly or idealized love.