Tannhäuser, << TAHN hoy zuhr or TAN hoy zuhr, >> was a German minnesinger (minstrel) of the 1200’s. He led a restless life and even went to the Holy Land on a crusade. A ballad of the 1500’s tells the story that one evening, as he was riding by the Hörselberg in Thuringia, a beautiful woman appeared before him. He recognized her as the goddess Venus. He followed her to a palace inside the mountain and spent seven years there.
Finally, Tannhäuser left Venus and went on a pilgrimage to Rome to seek forgiveness for his sins. The pope said that just as the staff he held in his hand could never blossom, so would Tannhäuser’s sins never be forgiven. Tannhäuser went sorrowfully back to Germany. Three days later, the pope’s staff miraculously bore flowers. Messengers hurried to seek out Tannhäuser, but he had gone back to Venus. Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser is based on this legend.
