Abstract
Jans, also called Jansen Enikel, wrote two works - The World Chronicle (Weltchronik) and The Book of Princes (Fürstenbuch). These are examples of Middle High German verse literature of the second half of the 13th century.
The World Chronicle is older and contains 28,958 verses. In it, Jans Enikel describes the history of the world from creation through the best-known stories of the Old Testament, to the histories of selected emperors of ancient Rome up to Constantine the Great, and Charlemagne.
In a history of the world presented in this manner, there is no room for local events, for which The Book of Princes is reserved. The chronicler Jans Enikel came from Vienna and with high probability was a member of the newly established burgher class.
The chronicler's first mention that can be related to Vienna is a report stating that there was once paganism in Austria, but paganism soon had no power over Christianity. The capital at that time was Tulln on the Danube.
In the following verse,he moves on to Vienna - founded as Vaviana and later called Vienna, as it is to this day. The phrase "as it is still known today" is used very frequently here, as Enikel concludes every quatrain with it.
Enikel does not mention the Celts or Roman legions; he distinguishes only between pagans and Christians. Before moving on to the beginnings of Christianity in Vienna, however, he mentions the city's geographical location - "water" flows there, which is not nameless, but is still called the Danube.
A smaller river, called the Wien, flows from the other side of the city. It is worth mentioning here that in relation to Vienna, Enikel uses the term city (stat).
Another historical moment after the founding of the city that Enikel mentions is the construction of the Church of St. Ruprecht, which remains the oldest church still standing in Vienna.
The chronicler states that the Viennese built the church from the ground up on their own, in honour of St. Ruprecht, and that it was the first rectory in Vienna.
He describes in detail how they dried the waterlogged land and dug out solid foundations for the church. In the first half of the 14th century, the chroniclers Leopold of Vienna and Thomas Ebendorfer adopted Enikel's narrative of the early history of Vienna.