WALTHER, Bernhard (1430-1504), astronomer, was born at Nuremberg in 1430. He was a man of large means, which he devoted to scientific pursuits. When Regiomontanus (q.v.) settled at Nuremberg in 1471, Walther built for their common use an observatory and a printing office, from which numerous calendars and ephemerides were issued, which became of great importance for the voyages of discovery. At this, the first German observatory, clocks driven by weights were first used in astronomical observations in 1484. The observations, continued until Walther’s death in May 1504, were published by Schoner in 1544, and by Snell in 1618, as an appendix to his edition of Landgrave William’s observations.

WALTHER VON DER VOGELWEIDE (c. 1170- c. 1230), the most illustrious of the German minnesänger, was born in Tyrol between 1165 and 1170. He belonged to a noble family, but had no hereditary possessions. At an early age he seems to have given evidence of an aptitude for poetry, and his genius was developed under the influence of the older poet Reinmar, whom he soon far surpassed. His earliest patron was the young and brilliant Duke Frederick of Austria, at whose court in Vienna he spent several years. After Duke Frederick’s death Walther betook himself to King Philip, at whose coronation in Mainz, on the 8th September 1198, he was present. King Philip appreciated his genius, but nothing is definitely known as to their relations to one another, or as to the causes which brought their connexion to an end. After a short stay at the court of Duke Leonhard of Carinthia Walther went to Eisenach, where poets were always welcomed by the landgrave Hermann. Here he remained until 1211, when the landgrave, in deference to the pope, joined some other princes in an attempt to secure the crown for the prince afterwards known as Frederick II. Walther, who disapproved of this policy, soon afterwards entered the service of the emperor Otho; but, the emperor having proved unfriendly towards him, he associated himself with the cause of Frederick, who greatly pleased him by granting him a small fief near Würzburg, thereby gratifying a wish the poet had often expressed. He might now have led a settled life, but he had so long been accustomed to go from court to court that it was apparently hard for him to live without the excitement of travel and adventure. In 1217 he was at the court of Duke Leopold of Austria, after whose departure for the Holy Land he appears to have been received ...