Reigentanz. Nach Gottfried Kellers «Hadlaub»

In this scene, the minstrel Hadlaub is depicted wandering alone through the forest and making music, when he comes across Fides and a dancing round dance. Gottfried Keller's novella 'Hadlaub' tells the romanticized life story of the Zurich minstrel Johannes Hadlaub (2nd half of the 13th century - beginning of the 14th century in Zurich) and links it to the creation of the famous 'Codex Manesse'. At the center is the love story between Johannes and Fides, the illegitimate daughter of the prince abbess Kunigunde and Bishop Heinrich von Klingenberg. Fides grows up in Zurich in the house of the collector Rüdiger Manesse, while Johannes is accepted into the city's school for scholars as a talented pupil of the canon Konrad von Mure. Later, Manesse's son introduces Johannes Hadlaub to the Manesse circle, where the young minstrel makes his first impression with his songs. A central turning point is Manesse's proposal to preserve the scattered minnesongs by various authors in an anthology. Hadlaub is chosen as the ideal scribe and begins an extensive journey to collect the works. Meanwhile, his secret love for Fides develops. On the advice of her foster father Manesse, who sees great potential in Hadlaub's personal poems to Fides, she leaves his writings unanswered in order to inspire him to write further works to be included in the collection. Later, the couple's love is made public and encounters social resistance, particularly due to Fides' elevation in status and the courtship of a noble rival. In the end, Manesse and Hadlaub's father defend the union. Thanks to Hadlaub's economic security and his fame as a poet, the union is socially recognized and the couple become engaged. Fides leaves her castle and becomes a citizen of Zurich, bringing the novella to a happy end. Counterpart of inv. 875. Source