Sample of German Poems

The Innsbrucker Codex is an important collective manuscript of a medieval short epic. It is exceptional for the story analysis, a significant source because it is the youngest collection of poems of this kind to have been made. Besides the 32 tales (u. a. Konrad von Werzburg, the Stricker, Ruediger von Hinkhofen) the manuscript also contains fables and parodies from spiritual literature. Altogether, this manuscript represents a worldly collection of entertaining stories mirroring the taste of the middle-class during the Middle-Ages.

A Vital Research Source

In terms of literary analysis, the manuscript is not only interesting due to the numerous illustrations found within (which correspond to the style of a “people's manuscript” (H.Wegner) with clear details given so that these poems would be easily understood in these times), but also because few illustrated stories have been preserved from this time period. In the second part of the manuscript, where the collection was to be added onto blank sheets, one finds the second important duplication of “Gauriel von Muntabel” by Konrad von Stoffeln, whose ending is unfortunately missing. This transcript is worthy of note regarding the history of literature because here Konrad tries to shorten his epic in comparison to the older version in the Donaueschinger Manuscript.