The story of “Tannhäuser” tells the tale of Tannhäuser: a knight and minnesinger torn between the sensual world of the goddess Venus and the holy love of Elizabeth. The opera traces the battle between the holy and profane love and the chance for redemption through love.

Who are Tannhäuser, Elizabeth and Wolfram? Where is Venus’ cave located?

Days before the premiere of “Tannhäuser”, we give you the opportunity to acquaint yourselves with the heroes and places where the story in the opera takes place as well as with their historical and legendary background.

Minnesingers

Medieval German minstrels, often of a knightly or noble heritage, who wrote and sang songs of love. The name comes from the medieval German ford Minne which meant “love” and the songs were called Minnelied. The minnesingers are comparable to the Occitan and North France troubadours but they had their own original German contribution to court music.

Tannhäuser

A knight and minnesinger from the 13^th century famous for his “Song of Atonement”. The theme of repentance in this song probably inspired German national ballads from the 16^th century onwards in which Tannhäuser served the goddess Venus and later begged pope Urban IV for forgiveness. The most famous version of this legend describes him as a descendant of the Tannhausen family related to the Imperial ministerium: this has been documented in different sources dating back to the 13^th century.  

Herman I the Strong

Landgrave of Thuringia from 1190 till 1217, a crusader and patron of the arts. Son of Ludwig II the Iron and Yudith from Hohenstaufen, sister of emperor Friedrich Barbarossa.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

A Hungarian princess, daughter of Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. She married the sone of Herman I, even though in Wagner’s opera she is the landgrave’s niece. After her husband’s death, Elizabeth founded an institution which looked after the poor and sick. She was a member of St. Francis’s Third order of Assisi. She was canonized as a saint in 1235.

Wolfram von Eschenbach

A knight, poet and composer who took part in the minnesinger contest in Wartburg, 1207. His chivalrous romance “Parsifal” dedicated to the search of the Holy Grail closely connected to King Artur’s legend was adapted by Wagner in “Parsifal”, his final opera. The eighty-four surviving manuscripts of “Parsifal”, full as well as fragmented, show the enormous popularity of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s most famous piece in the two centuries to follow.

The Wartburg castle

A castle built in the 11^th century close to the city of Eisenach in the German province of Thuringia. It was the residence of the landgraves (or counts) of Thuringia up until 1440. This is the place where Martin Luther: the German theologist and an important figure in the Protestant revolution translated the New Testament into German. The Wartburg castle inspired Ludwig II to build the Neuschwanstein castle.

Venus’ Mountain/Cave

This is the underground mountain residence of the goddess Venus inspired by German folktales and medieval ballads of fairies living in the hills. Some versions from the 19^th century localize the cave in Hörselberg: a mountain in Thuringia, close to the Wartburg castle. Venus’ cave, a metaphor for the great beyond and a fantasy land was first mentioned in German in the book “Formicarius” by Johanes Nieder (1437/1438) in the context of the growing interest in sorcery at that time.

The minnesinger contest in Wartburg

A semi-legendary minnesinger contest hosted by Herman I in the castle of Wartburg in 1207. The verses sung during this contest are an important collection of medieval German literature reflecting the literature bloom in count Herman I’s court in the beginning of the 13^th century. Even though Tannhäuser didn’t actually take part in this contest, Wagner anachronistically included him in the list of participants.

Photos: The National library of France.