Des Reiches genialste Schandschnauze

Peter Rühmkorf and Walther von der Vogelweide: a friendly approach between two great poets across the centuries, told through poems, letters, and diary entries. In the 1970s, Peter Rühmkorf discovered an astonishing and significant closeness to Walther von der Vogelweide for his further literary work. This book narrates that journey. Rühmkorf's connection over a span of eight centuries is evident in his translations of the Middle High German poems of Walther von der Vogelweide, "the realm's most brilliant scoundrel." In parallel, Rühmkorf wrote a noteworthy essay from a literary studies perspective about the "court singer and peddler," for which he sought advice from the prominent medievalist Peter Wapnewski. The correspondence between the poet and the scholar reveals their debates on the right approach to Walther.