The German poet, playwright and master of the shrovetide plays Hans Sachs was born as the son of a master tailor in Nuremberg on November 5, 1494. He attended grammar school and from 1509 to 1511 was a shoemaker's apprentice. Subsequently he went traveling as an apprentice for five years.
During that time he served at the court of Kaiser Maximilian I in Innsbruck for some time. There, Sachs decided to study meistergesang and took lessons from master Lienhard Nunnenbeck in Munich.
In 1516 Hans Sachs moved to Nuremberg. In 1520 he became a master shoemaker and active member of the Meistersinger guild. In 1555 he became their chairman.
On September 1, 1519 he married Kunigunde Creutzer (1512-60), after whose death he married his second wife, Barbara Harscher, on September 2, 1551.
He preached Martin Luther's teachings and in 1523 wrote the poem "Die Wittenbergische Nachtigall", a popular portrayal of Luther's teachings, with which he achieved great acclaim. During the subsequent years, Hans Sachs produced more than 6000 works, including so-called "Knittelverse", and became one of the most successful poets of the 16th century.
Hans Sachs died on January 19, 1576 in Nuremberg.