Spruch, Spruchdichtung

Spruch, Spruchdichtung, name applied since the middle of the 19th c. to a genre of Middle High German poetry. The Spruch is closely related to the liet (see Minnesang) and some authorities consider that the distinction is arbitrary. In general it can be said that the Spruch, like the liet, was sung, hence the more recently introduced term Sangspruchdichtung. It consists of one or more strophes and deals with social or political matters, often in a personal context. The beginnings of the Spruch are found in Hergêr (see Spervogel), its first great master is Walther von der Vogelweide, whom Reinmar von Zweter closely follows. The later authors of Sprüche are mostly commoners, many of them itinerant poets wandering from court to court. The most notable exponents of the form, apart from those already mentioned, are Der Marner and Heinrich Frauenlob.

In the Middle Ages the term was applied primarily to short spoken poems, of moral or didactic character. In this sense, Freidank is the outstanding author of Sprüche. The term gnomische Dichtung (aphoristic or gnomic verse) and similarly specifying terms are sometimes used as an alternative to Spruchdichtung.

In the 16th c. Hans Sachs used the term Spruchgedicht to include not only his moral poems, but also his plays.