Dietrich von Bern

Dietrich von Bern, the central figure of the first and more important group, was the ideal type of German medieval hero, and, under more favourable literary conditions, he might have become the centre of an epic more nationally German than even the Nibelungenlied itself.

But the noble tribe of the Ostrogoths under their celebrated king Theodoric—called Dietrich von Bern in the German songs—tried another plan; they adopted Roman civilisation as far as possible and endeavoured to combine both nations under one dominion.

They were met on the other side of the river by Dietrich von Bern, one of the lords of the Hunnish court, who greeted Hagen with these words of friendly warning: "Kriemhild still mourns for Siegfried's loss."

The Ostrogoths, under the great Theodoric, Dietrich von Bern, the paramount hero of Germanic saga and song, replaced them and founded a more permanent government.

Dietrich von Bern, in his exile from home and throne, is under her protection.