“Reading” medieval objects

Marburg’s university collections offer excellent conditions for working with historical objects, which prompted me to develop the teaching project “Höfische Kultur lesbar machen” – “Making courtly culture legible”. The project ran in the winter semester 2017/18 and in the summer semester 2018 at the Institute for Medieval German Philology at the Philipps University of Marburg. Funding for the teaching project came from the Lehre@Philipp ideas competition at Marburg University, supported by the German Federal-State Program “Qualitätspakt Lehre”. In November 2017, the project won the method prize of the ideas competition for innovative teaching at Marburg University. Although the project only ran for a year, the methods it used later became an integral part of the curriculum. From then on, the university collections had found their way into the academic teaching of medieval German literature.

What was the project about?

“Making courtly culture legible” brought medieval literature to life through the university collections. Students from Bachelor, Master, and teaching degrees (mainly third to sixth semester) engaged with objects from the archaeological teaching collection, precious medieval objects from the Museum of Art and Cultural History, and medieval manuscripts from the special collections of the University Library. The project’s goal was to prepare and organize our findings for the general audience. This process trained not only cultural mediation, science communication and public relations skills, but also other professional skills needed by the prospective Germanists and German teachers.

Doing your own research and sharing your knowledge: fun and motivating!



Practical and object-related work conveyed key skills. The guiding principle of exploratory learning ensured participants the necessary academic freedom for their individual development. Aims of the project were the self-determined acquisition of specialised knowledge about medieval literature and culture, as well as the development of mediation skills. In evaluating the course at the end of the project, the students highly praised its practical and creative orientation.

Structure of the seminar and participation

Students could choose to take part in one or both semesters of the project. The first phase of the project was a real success – the available 20 spots were quickly allotted and 17 people had to stay on the waiting list –, so I restructured the seminar to admit 40 students in the following semester. While this meant that the seminar now comprised two groups, some sessions took place with the entire group, for practical workshops on museum mediation, lectures by external speakers, and for the presentation of the project results, exciting for all to see.

Plenary sessions usually took place as a four-hour block, which some participants found exhausting and too long – yet the scheduling of a genuinely free format was not compatible with the structured academic timetable. Therefore, I would like to try out the form of a summer school for a future teaching project – a format successfully implemented at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, for example.

New dimensions for the appreciation of medieval literature: the Hessian-Thuringian coat of arms

A convincing example of our approach is a stanza from the Middle High German “Liet von Troie”, a verse epic written by Herbort of Fritzlar in the first half of the 13th century.

The following passage takes place shortly before the first battle in Troy. The Greek hero Hercules is riding with his army in front of the Trojans’ castle. King Laomedon observes the scene from the battlements of his castle. Because of the coat of arms depicted on the shield Hercules is carrying, Laomedon recognizes that they are enemies. The Middle High German passage reads:

Der künic kâm ouch zuo gewer,
dô sach er under dem hêr
oben von der mûre
einen schilt von lâsûre,
dâr inne einen lewen glîzen
von rôten und von wîzzen.
(verses 1325−1330)

The object described here is a blue shield with a red and white striped lion, in heraldry azure a lion rampant barry of argent and gules. It provides insight into the poet’s work, because it describes the coat of arms of the Hessian-Thuringian landgraves. In fact, Herbort states in the prologue that he wrote the “Liet von Troie” on behalf of Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia.

The University Museum of Art and Cultural History in Marburg houses the oldest and largest collection of medieval equestrian shields (16 in total). Among them is the shield of Konrad of Thuringia, the youngest son of Landgrave Hermann, for whom Herbort wrote “Liet von Troje”. The actual shield, which dates from before 1240, looks exactly as the poet describes it.

My impressions as a university teacher

Relating a text to a real object opens up new possibilities for understanding medieval literature. The project’s accomplishments are telling: the commitment and interest of the participants greatly exceeded my expectations. Beyond the insights they gained into specific objects and their function within courtly culture and literature, the students produced entire museum concepts, from museum board designs to interactive virtual exhibitions.

The students’ perspective

Now let’s hear what the students have to say! Swantje Bassin, Anna-Lisa Meil and Caroline Schneider were third- and fourth-semester students in the B.A. of “German Language and Literature” when they participated in the project.

Caroline Schneider: Theory-based studies lack practical experience. You can get lost in texts, books and miss out on the realities of academic work. When selecting the seminar, I expected a new practice-oriented form of study, linking classic academic research with journalistic work and the proximity to tangible objects. Collaborating with the Museum of Art and Cultural History provided the seminar with a new perspective and a sense of relevance. The seminar produced results which are not meant to get forgotten on a computer’s hard drive but actually be put to further use. During the project, the question arose: how can you break down information to make it appealing and understandable, but still retain a high standard of quality? This compelled me to think beyond my curriculum and confronted me with issues I might encounter in my future career.

The teaching project not only made university and academic work concrete but also enabled us to experience it. To me, it was particularly instructive because it built a bridge between Middle High German romances and medieval history.

Swantje Bassin: “‘Courtly culture’, what is that exactly?” I asked myself at the beginning of this seminar. Maybe something about the Middle Ages and their culture. It became clear that courtly culture and literature are best understood through their contemporary objects. The practice-oriented project gave us an insight into different fields: museum design and education, history, art and of course literature. I entered the course without clear expectations but with great curiosity. Without noticing, I gained a wide range of knowledge and skills throughout the seminar. Taking part in this seminar requires a certain level of familiarity with literary research, Middle High German language and literature – competences you would have gained by the third semester of your study, which is why the timing of the project in the broader curriculum felt right. Besides, it opened my eyes to the various museum objects: each exhibit has a unique provenance and history, no two are the same.

Anna-Lisa Meil: I also found the timing of the seminar appropriate. We laid a theoretical foundation at the beginning of the seminar, which later helped us put our ideas into practice and allowed us a better understanding of the historical coherence. Students need more seminars like this one, offering a peek into the practice.

The commitment to the project never waned in either semester. In the first semester, the production of an exhibition board and of an audio guide on courtly culture offered much more than the conventional examination at the end of a semester. Indeed, it served as the basis for the following course and testified to the evolution and improvement of the Höfische Kultur project. This seminar strongly stands out from the rest of the curriculum, because it taught us how to develop museum boards, audio guides, texts, corporate designs and other projects of such quality that they can be used in a museum. The abundance of ideas generated by this project shows how creative “learning by doing” can be. Several fellow students wonder how the project will continue and whether the seminar will be offered again in the future.