Hanswurst

Hanswurst or Hans Wurst (German for "Johnny Sausage") was a popular coarse-comic stock character of German-speaking impromptu comedy. He is "a half doltish, half cunning, partly stupid, partly knowing, enterprising and cowardly, self indulgent and merry fellow, who, in accordance with circumstances, accentuated one or other of these characteristics."^[1]

Through the 16th and 17th centuries, he was a buffoon character in rural carnival theaters and touring companies.