Page "Walther von der Vogelweide" Paragraph 3

Walther ’ s birthplace remains unknown, and given the lack of documentary evidence, it will probably never be known exactly.

There is little chance of deriving it from his name ; in his day there were many so-called “ Vogelweiden ” in the vicinity of castles and towns, where hawks were caught for hawking or songbirds for people's homes.

For this reason, it must be assumed that the singer did not obtain his name primarily for superregional communication, because it could not be used for an unambiguous assignment.

Other persons of the high nobility and poets who traveled with their masters used the unambiguous name of their ownership or their place of origin ; therefore, the name was meaningful only in the near vicinity, where only one Vogelweide existed or it was understood as a metaphoric surname of the singer.

Pen-names were usual for poets of the 12th and 13th century, whereas Minnesingers in principle were known by their noble family name which was used to sign documents.