The celebrated sixteenth-century Nuremberg poet and playwright Hans Sachs spoke highly of the late--medieval writer and publisher Hans Folz, calling him a "durchleuchtig" (luminous) poet and including him among the twelve grand old masters of Meistergesang or Meisterlieder, poetry set to music by the guild members known as Meistersinger. Folz was a founder of the Nuremberg Singschule (singing school). He was also the first publisher of plays in the German language. As a writer Folz left behind a generous contribution to early modern German literature, especially in the area of polemic verse, much of which was printed on his own press.

Little is known about Folz's early years. Most scholars infer from his calling himself "hans von wurmß" that he was born in Worms, but there is little documentary evidence for this assumption. Estimates of the year of his birth range from 1435 to 1440, based on the fact...