The real Till Eulenspiegel, according to the sources, the earliest being from the 1510s, lived from 1300-1350. Since the time his stories were retold many times over centuries, mostly known also in "The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak" by Charles De Coster, who put the character in the Eighty Years' War of 1568-1648 between The United Provices of the Dutch Republics and the Spanish empires. Also this movie is set in the 1500s.
Some of the characters have similarities with historical characters of the 16th century in Germany. Klaas Küllenwever, who in the movie is the mayor of Lübeck", is a reference to the real-life Jürgen Wullenwever, mayor of Lübeck from 1533-1535, who also wanted to finance his war against other countries by melting the church treasure of gold and silver. Professor Nicolaus Kopernikel from Erfurt is a reference to the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who, like the character, discovered the Heliocentrism, but never lived in Erfurt.