Nathanael Schlott (1666-1703)

When the old, worn painting from 1463 was replaced, the painter - Anton Wortmann - carefully studied and copied backgrounds, clothing and buildings.

In contrast, it doesn't appear that Schlott paid any attention to the remains of the medieval Low German text before he replaced it with his new High German text. Schlott wrote his poem in the fashion of the time, i.e. Alexandrines, meaning that each line consists of 12-13 syllables with the beat on every second:

Lübeckischer Todten-Tantz.

Heran, ihr Sterblichen! das Glas ist aus, heran,
Vom Höchsten in der Welt bis zu dem Bauersmann!

Schlott was born in Danzig (Gdansk), 13/2 1666, and came to Lübeck in 1699 where he got married. Two years later he became married again, so presumably he was a widower when he wrote his dance of death in 1701.

The next years Schlott published his text in several books and added a conclusion: thesis "Der Tod ist kein Tantz" and antithesis "Der Tod ist ein Tantz".

The next year, 1703, the St. Mary's Church paid him his fee for the new text. Both Wilhelm Mantels and Meyer are outraged over the size of the fee but it's hard to be envious since Schlott died 23/3 the same year.

The posterity has not been kind to the works of Schlott. The old text evoked the fear of Death and Hell (and contained quite a bit of social criticism). Schlott's text reflects the feeling of a new age where life is a vale of tears and people yearn for the long sleep. Take for instance Death to the baby:

Schlott's poetic leaves

Den Lybekske Dødning-Dantz.

It's probably all this talk about sleep - combined with the perpetual badaam-badaam beat - that made several reviewers refer to them as "langzeilige und langweilige" (long-lined and boring).(1) Mantels calls the poem "schlectes Machwerk" (lousy botch) and adds that the poem "werden einem heutigen Leser nur widerwillen erregen" (would excite nothing but aversion in a modern [1866] reader).

Harsh words indeed. There's nothing to indicate that the popularity of the painting decreased in the last 241 years, when Schlott's text had replaced the old one. Schlott's texts were published by himself and a great number of copists, and has inspired other dances of death, e.g.: in Erfurt.

In 1738 Schlott's text was translated into Danish by Lydert Höyer — still in Alexandrines: Den Lybekske Dødning-Dantz. In 1768 Thomas Nugent published his travelogue with a very free translation of Schlott's text into English.

Variations within the text

One would think that a famous text that was hanging in a public place for 241 years, would be sufficiently described.

In spite of this there are great variations, not just in spelling, but words, sentences and entire verses deviate. What is even stranger is that Schlott and Jacob von Melle are those who deviate most. One would think that the author himself knew best, but his publications are often at odds with the painting, and von Melle, the pastor, who had his daily work in the church, follows Schlott. See for instance three variants of the parish clerk or the many versions of the child.

The most reliable reproduction is the one written below Milde's lithographs. An equally reliable text can be read here: Die Verse des Lübecker Todtentanzes.

Here is a comparison of the titles in the various publications:

Some remarks:

• By comparing with photos of the painting it turns out that Mantels and Milde's book is the most correct. For instance the young man is called "Junggesell" and the physician "Artzt".

• An equally reliable text can be read here: Die Verse des Lübecker Todtentanzes. The few differences between this and Milde's text seem to be orthographic variants (auf/auff, Keyser/Kayser).

• An oddity is that Geissler, 1872, (not included in the table) writes "arzt" below the picture, but "doctor" in the headline of the following text. In the same way Geissler varies between Pabst/Papst and Clausner/Clausener.

• King's headlines follow Schmidt's closely; also when King makes revealing errors like "Der Kaiserin" and "Das Wiegenkinde".

Sources and Resources

Click to jump into the dance.

• Biographisches Lexikon für Schleswig-Holstein und Lübeck, 1991 (vol. 9, 340-342)
• Prof. Hartmut Freytag: Der Totentanz der Marienkirche in Lübeck
• Christa Pieske: Die graphischen Wiedergaben des Totentanzes von Bernt Notke, Philobiblon 1968, pp 82-104
• Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie (vol. 8, 680)
• Schlott, 1701: The text has been transcribed at totentanz-online.de
• Schlott, 1702: Schlott's text as published by himself in 1702: Des Lübeckischen Todten=Tantzes, andere Edition.
• Melle, 1713: Nathanael Schlott's text (transcribed by Jakob von Melle)
• Suhl, 1783: Suhl's lithographs (with text below) can be seen here: Ludewig Suhl. Here is a transcription of Suhl's text.
• Schmidt, 1839: See the page about The Brothers Borchers, and follow the external link to read the text.
• King, 1857: King's lithographs (there is no text) can be seen here: Thomas King
• Milde, 1866: Milde's lithograhps (I have cropped most of the text off) can be seen here: C. J. Milde. Here is the text, as written below the lithographs.
• Geissler, 1872: See the page about Geissler, and follow the external link to read the text.

Related information

• Schlott's High German text has been placed under the copper engravings of Ludewig Suhl. E.g: The pope.
• The text from the dance of death, as written below Milde's lithographs
• Nathanael Schlott's text (transcribed by Jakob von Melle)
• Thomas Nugent: Travels through Germany - With a particular account of the courts of Mecklenburg.
• The original Low German text from 1463 is placed under the photos of the painting.
• Den Lybekske Dødning-Dantz, a Danish translation (7 pages) from 1738 of Schlott's text.
• The dance of death in Erfurt

Footnotes: (1)

The dance of death Lübeck The new text Nathanael Schlott