Neidhart von Reuental (Middle High German

Middle High German

Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...

: Nîthart von Riuwental. Also Her Nîthart) was one of the most famous German minnesingers. He was probably active in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 and then is known to have been a singer at the court of Friedrich II in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. As a minnesinger he was most active from 1210 to at least 1236.

Neidhart is very well known for being rather sarcastic and comical. More melodies survive by him than from any other minnesinger.

His name is most likely a pseudonym, for its meaning is more or less Grim-Heart of Lament-Valley. The second part of his name, however, was "reconstructed" by philologists of the 19th century, who took literally the role of the "speaker," who calls himself "von Reuental" in his poems, and thus combined it with the author's name, which was simply "Nîthart". All manuscript sources until the 15th century refer to him only as "Nithart". His songs often stand in harsh contrast to the normal minnesinger topic, courtly or romantic love. This style has been referred to as Höfische Dorfpoesie (courtly village-poetry) by philologist Karl Lachmann

Karl Lachmann

Karl Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Lachmann was a German philologist and critic.-Biography:He was born in Brunswick, in what is now Lower Saxony....

and was often imitated by composers called pseudo-Neidharts.

Probably his best-known song is "Meienzît" ("May Time") in which Neidhart starts by describing a peaceful spring scenario but quickly comes to insulting his foes (and several friends and allies that betrayed him).