(b ?c1150; d Philomelium [Akşehir], Asia Minor, 6 May 1190). German Minnesinger. His ancestral seat was in Rheinhausen, near Mannheim in the Rhine region. He is attested in documents from 1171 and was in the service of the Hohenstaufen emperors; he is traceable in northern Italy in 1175 and again in 1186 and 1187. He participated in the third crusade under Friedrich Barbarossa in 1189 and fell at the Battle of Philomelium. Contemporaries depict Friedrich von Hûsen as a highly esteemed figure. He belonged to the closest circle of intimates of Barbarossa (as his secretary and legal adviser) and of Henry VI. Friedrich was primarily responsible, together with Rudolf von Fenis-Neuenberg and Hendrik van Veldeke, for the adoption of Romance poetic features in German lyric poetry and for the further independent development of Minnesang. He was among the first poets writing in German to give full lyrical expression to the themes of Minne (love) and Minnedienst (love service). Apart from treating familiar amatory motifs, his poems are concerned more generally with symbolizing the ideal of love as an ennobling power. Another theme is the conflict within the crusader between love for God (Gottesminne) and love for his lady (Frauenminne).
53 strophes by Friedrich von Hûsen have survived (in the Weingartner and Manesse manuscripts), which can be arranged into 17 or 20 lieder, but all without melodies, that can only be reconstructed from possible French and Provençal models. He is also mentioned as having composed Leiche (see Lai). Music can only be assigned tentatively to those of his poems that seem to be direct contrafacta of Romance poems whose melodies survive. Friedrich exerted a strong influence on a group of contemporary south-west German and Swiss Minnesinger, known as the Hausen school.
Text edition:Des Minnesangs Frühling, ed. K. Lachmann and M. Haupt (Leipzig, 1857, rev. 38/1988 by H. Moser and H. Tervooren), 73–96 [MF]
Music editions:Singweisen zur Liebeslyrik der deutschen Frühe, ed. U. Aarburg (Düsseldorf, 1956) [A]Ausgewählte Melodien des Minnesangs, ed. E. Jammers (Tübingen, 1963) [J]The Art of the Minnesinger, ed. R.J. Taylor (Cardiff, 1968), i [T]
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Ich denke under wîlen, MF 51.33: from Guiot de Provins, ‘Ma joie premeraine’, R.142; A, J, T |
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Mir ist daz herze wunt, MF 49.13: from Anon., ‘Mult m’a demoré’, R.420; A |
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Si darf mich des zîhen niet, MF 45.37: from Folquet de Marseille, ‘En chantan m’aven a membrar’, PC 155.8; A |
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Deich von der guoten schiet, MF 48.32: from Bernart de Ventadorn, ‘Pos mi pregatz seignor’, PC 70.36; A, J, T |
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Diu süezen wort hânt mir getân, MF 44.13: from Gaucelm Faidit, ‘Si tot m’ai tarzat mon chan’, PC 167.53; A |
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Gelebte ich noch die lieben zît, MF 45.1: from Blondel de Nesle, ‘Se savoient mon tourment’, R.742; A (see Ich sage ir) |
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Ich lobe got der sîner güete, MF 50.19: from Gace Brulé, ‘Pensis d’amours veuill retraire’, R.187; A |
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Ich sage ir nu vil lange zît, MF 45.19: from Blondel de Nesle, ‘Se savoient mon tourment’, R.742 (see Gelebte ich noch) |
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An der genâde al min fröide stât, MF 43.28: from Gaucelm Faidit, ‘Si tot m’ai tarzat mon chan’, PC 167.53 (see Diu süezen wort) |
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Mîn herze den gelouben hât, MF 48.3: from Gontier de Soignies, ‘Se li oisiel baissent lor chans’, R.265a, olim R.309; A, J |
C. von Kraus: Des Minnesangs Frühling: Untersuchungen (Leipzig, 1939/R), 115ff
H. de Boor: Die höfische Literatur: Vorbereitung, Blüte, Ausklang, 1170–1250, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, ed. H. de Boor and R. Newald, ii (Munich, 1953, rev. 11/1991 by U. Hennig)
U. Aarburg: ‘Melodien zum frühen deutschen Minnesang’, Der deutsche Minnesang: Aufsätze zu seiner Erforschung, ed. H. Fromm, i (Darmstadt, 1961/R), 378–421
D.G. Mowatt: Friderich von Hûsen: Introduction, Text Commentary and Glossary (Cambridge, 1971)
G. Schweikle: ‘Friedrich von Hausen’, Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters: Versfasserlexikon, ed. K. Ruh and others (Berlin, 2/1977–)
G. Schweikle, ed.: Friedrich von Hausen: Lieder, mittelhochdeutsch/neuhochdeutsch (Stuttgart, 1984)
For further bibliography see Minnesang.
BURKHARD KIPPENBERG/LORENZ WELKER