HARTMANN von der AUE. — German poet, b. ca. 1170, d. between 1210 and 1220. Through him, much of what the French spirit had reworked flowed into Germany, enriched with the life of chivalry and the Celtic mythical and fabulous world.
Four epic poems remain: Erek (ca. 1190) and Iwein (shortly after 1200), from the Arthurian cycle; Gregorius auf dem Stein (from the intervening decade); and the masterpiece Der arme Heinrich. Thanks to them, the development of art, in the taste of the time and from a formal point of view, took a further step toward perfection. As a Minnesänger, H. was instead a weak lyric poet; he nevertheless distinguished himself by turning, when the highest honors were being paid to courtly Minne, toward the love of Christ (even going to the Holy Land as a crusader), as well as toward rustic Minne, thus becoming a forerunner of the future niedere Minne, that is, love for humble and simple creatures.