Reinmar von Zweter was a 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...

  poet of Spruchdichtung. The iconography in the Manesse Codex (see illustration) suggests that he may have been blind, since he is the only person represented in the manuscript with closed eyes and other people writing. The caption, not shown here, of that miniature refers to him as "Herr" (then spelled "Her") Reinmar, implying that he was a knight and that he became blind (if he was blind) in adulthood.

Life

According to his writings, he was "born at the Rhine and grown up in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

". He started his work as a poet around 1227 in Austria. Living under Leopold VI of Austria and Frederick II, Duke of Austria

Frederick II, Duke of Austria

Frederick II, known as the Quarrelsome or the Warlike , from the House of Babenberg, was the duke of Austria and Styria from 1230 to 1246....

, his writings indicate a stay in Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 under Venceslas I of Bohemia

Venceslas I of Bohemia

Wenceslaus I Přemyslid was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253.-Family:Wenceslaus was a son of Ottokar I of Bohemia and his second wife Constance of Hungary. He was a younger, paternal half-brother to Margarethe of Bohemia and Božislava of Bohemia. His half-sisters were respectively the first Queen...

. Apparently, Reinmar was continuously on the move after 1241. His last confirmed writing dates to 1248.

Work

He is considered an important poet, between Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide is the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets.-Life history:For all his fame, Walther's name is not found in contemporary records, with the exception of a solitary mention in the travelling accounts of Bishop Wolfger of Erla of the Passau diocese:...

 and Frauenlob.