German poet and mastersinger. He went to school in Nuremberg, then learned the shoemaking trade and traveled throughout Germany during his apprenticeship (1511-16).

 

In 1520 he became a master shoemaker and thrived in his hometown, then at the height of its cultural and economic development.

 

In 1509-11 he joined the Mastersingers Guild and through him Meistergesang was placed in the service of the Reformation.

 

His guild was a model throughout Germany. His extensive work (over 6000 works) includes master songs, satirical and didactic poems (proverbs), prose dialogues and theater pieces as well as 13 master notes for which he composed melodies. Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" (1868) in particular secured his posthumous fame.