Hans Folz

Hans Folz (c. 1437 – January 1513) was a German author of the late medieval early Renaissance period.

Folz was a reformer of the meistersangs, adding 27 new tones to those that had been allowed by the twelve "Alten Meister" (old masters) up to that point.

His Meisterlieder (a type of song), of which he wrote about a thousand, were mostly devoted to religious questions.

He also wrote twelve Fastnachtsspiele (short plays that made light of people in medieval society, for instance farmers, priests, and the bourgeoisie) in the same style as Hans Rosenplüt, but with more subtle language.

His name was adapted by Richard Wagner for the coppersmith "Hans Foltz," one of the Mastersingers portrayed in the opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.