The study is devoted to the poetological aspects of Neidhart's »Sommerlieder« and seeks to identify the contours of something approaching authorial identity. The texts drawn upon for the study are the oldest extant Neidhart manuscripts. In the various stages of their reception they present different images of the author. Detailed text analyses provide an in-depth discussion of the poetological differences between these images. From these authorial facets the study elaborates a consistent central core, the poetological identity of which can best be equated with that of Neidhart himself. In thematic terms this identity takes the form of deconstructive play with the opposition between courtly and natural/sensual vreude.