Feuersnot (The Need for Fire or Fire Famine), is a Singgedicht (sung poem). The German libretto was written by Ernst von Wolzogen, based on J. Ketel's report "Das erloschene Feuer zu Audenaerde" in the Oudenaarde Gazette, Leipzig, 1843. It was Strauss' second opera. Thematically, the opera has been interpreted as a parody of Richard Wagner's idea of "redemption through love".