The Ambraser Heldenbuch is a 16th-century manuscript written in Early New High German, now held in the Austrian National Library. It contains a collection of 25 Middle High German courtly and heroic narratives along with some shorter works, all dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. For many of the texts it is the sole surviving source, which makes the manuscript highly significant for the history of German literature. The manuscript also attests to an enduring taste for the poetry of the MHG classical period among the upper classes.
Ambraser Heldenbuch, fol. 149r
Frescoes in the Runkelstein Castle
The Ambraser Heldenbuch, folio V*v
The Ambraser Heldenbuch, folio 215r. The initials VF on the shield are assumed to be those of the artist.
Heldenbücher is the conventional title under which a group of German manuscripts and prints of the 15th and 16th centuries has come down to us. Each Heldenbuch contains a collection of primarily epic poetry, typically including material from the Theodoric cycle, and the cycle of Hugdietrich, Wolfdietrich and Ortnit.
The Heldenbuch texts are thus based on medieval German literature, but adapted to the tastes of the Renaissance.
Title page of the 1590 edition of the Heldenbuch.
The Dresden Heldenbuch, folios 264v & 265r: the first pages of "Herzog Ernst"
The Ambraser Heldenbuch, folio 215r. The initials VF on the shield are assumed to be those of the artist.
The Augsburg edition of the Strassburg Heldenbuch, printed by Johann Schönsperger, Augsburg 1491. Folio 49v.