“Wan bî den liuten ist sô guot” Courtly Literature and Configuring Community at the Haus zur Kunkel in Fourteenth-Century Konstanz

A knight needs community, says Hartmann von Aue’s Erec, “because it is so good to be amongst people.” This essay examines Erec’s prescription through the in the 14th-century murals of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival at the Haus zur Kunkel in the southern German city of Konstanz. The murals present elements of Parzival in a program that configures courtly literature to articulate the aspirations of a community seeking to integrate courtly models in a fluidly dynamic patrician environment.