WALTER von Rheinau (GUALTIERO di Rheinau). - German religious poet of the 13th century (?), born in Bremgarten on the Reuss (in the Aargau) from the impoverished branch of a noble family whose name is found near Zurich and Winterthur.
He certainly studied in a convent and wrote to earn his living. His poem, a Life of Mary in 1,500 verses, written in 13th-century German, cannot be dated earlier than 1300 on account of its mystical and passionate tone. It follows its model, Philip the Carthusian’s *Vita beata Virginis*, even more closely than that work does, concealing beneath good literary culture a lack of talent and imagination; yet in the exposition of spiritual matters a tendency toward psychological depth is noticeable. Clear traces of courtly poetry and of Konrad von Würzburg are evident.