We have to admit that, when reading Ketrzynski’s claims we were skeptical. Indeed, we still are skeptical about some of his derivations and, as we said before, not every Wind or Wend may be connected with the Wends, Veneti or Slavs. Some of these may have to do with the wind or with the wending of the rivers, etc. Likewise, not every Culm strikes us as Slavic nor every –itz (although on this last point, oddly enough, the -itz names seem to be present only in those parts of Germany where Slavs were either documented or were suspected by Ketrzynski). So in that sense he may be overestimating various Slavic place names.
On the other hand, it is also the case that:
- there were a number of place names in Germany that seem Slavic to us that were not included by Ketrzynski – one of the reasons for this may simply be that he did not have a computer to zoom in and out and would have included them had he known about them;
- he excluded from analysis, honestly stating that he was no expert on non-Germanic names, a number of names that appear Slavic but that are in other countries such as Italy (most obviously) but also France and the Netherlands (a topic of some posts on this site);
- it is likely that in Ketrzynski’s time many former Slavic names had been so altered that by the 19th century when he wrote, it’d have been impossible to recreate their Slavic character – here names with the German ending -au come to mind;
- even going through his list – which is only about 150 years old – we notice that some names are no longer findable. They are listed in older sources (i.e., he did not make them up) but are impossible to locate – perhaps because they were renamed (even putting aside the Nazis’ policies on renaming Slavic names, some names may have been changed just in the course of time);
Therefore, it is just as likely that he undercounted Slavic names.
In any event, prudence, honesty and scholarship dictated that we should look at some of Ketrzynski claims to be Slavic.
We were skeptical but then we came across these.
Krakow
We will go back to this one more time. The fact that there is a Cracow in Poland surprises no one.
But there is a Krakow am See in Eastern Germany too. That Cracow counts as Slavic and that too is not questioned.
However, that there should be a Cracow on the West bank of the Rhine should surprise people. And it should surprise them not just for the similarity of sounds. It should surprise them because the name was reproduced on maps with the “classic” Slavic -ow suffix. We already posted its location but, what the heck, here is another map:
Interestingly, the Germans spell the Rheinish Crakow and the Mecklenburgian Krakow with an –ow suffix but the Polish Krakau one with an -au. Just this should be enough to ask how many -au ‘s in Germany are really Slavic. (Of course, we may have gotten this wrong – maybe the Polish Cracow is really a German town).
The three Cracows
To see that Carraca was also a town of the Beluni tribe of Venetia (or West of Venetia as Ptolemy claims) consult Ptolemy’s Geography.
On how an -ow becomes an -au see below.
Belgrad & Co
Wait, what? Belgrade, the capital of Serbia? No, not that one. The one in Pomerania that was called Belgard and after World War II became Białogard? The one on Bodensee. You know the Bodensee (the Lacus Veneticus), the home of the Vindelici who must have absolutely, positively been Celts. The Bodensee which has Bregenz on the Austrian side also has (or had) a bunch of interesting town names on the German, that is, Schwabian or as we say Suevian, side around the beautiful town of Lindau. Thus, we have Belgrad says Ketrzynski.
Naaaaaaa… no way – he must be lying…
Hmmm… Probably just a random fluctuation in the ether….
The three Belgrads
But surely we are not suggesting that the nearby town Allwind was Windisch, i.e., Slavic? Surely, it means it’s “all windy here”…
Altwinden!?
Our view – this proves nothing…
And, speaking of things that prove absolutely nothing, here Grod – in the same area.
Whether Edelitz, Engelitz or Lengatz could be Slavic (not to mention Beuren and Butzen) we leave to you. And if you really want to “conspiracy theory” here, note that Belgrad is in Gemeinde Reutin. That Reutin contains the classic Slavic -in suffix is no doubt also coincidental.
That Kochlin is also in the same Gemeinde just shows the depth and perfidy of the Slavic conspiracy here.
And the Kremlen has nothing to do with anything of the same name.
And the frequent references to Isner, Isiga or Isen have nothing to do with the Slavs either:
We could go on (and so we will)
Suffice it to say that, it seems to us, that Ketrzyski was onto something here. Something that seems perhaps somewhat insane but maybe not too insane.
Do you think that Pitz is a Slavic town? It has a Slavic -itz ending but, c’m on, German names also have -itz’es (e.g., der alte Fritz).
What if the Pitz sits next to a Wiesle? Is it different then?
Is Schlewiz a Slavic mountain name?
What if it was called Ischlawitz before?
Apparently, still not.
What about Granges? That is a French name and appears in a number of places in the Alps. To be clear here we are talking about the Western Alps – not somewhere next to Slovenia!
What if you knew that the town had been called Gradetz before?
Strange as all this may be, it all seems like a coincidence.
Surely, a town like Obertal was, is and forever bleibt Deutsch?
Would it matter if we knew it was previously called Britznach?
We say hell no! Makes no difference whatsoever!
But what if the Britznach had (before it was a Britznach) been recorded as a Britzina vel Brissina?
We already mentioned Krakau coming from Krakow but many such cases exist.
Fahr Out Man!
Here is a beautiful postcard of Mecklenburg. It shows, amongst other towns, the town of Warnow. The town of Warnow is said to derive its name from the Polabian Slavic tribe of Warni – a tribe that was a member of the Obodrite Confederation.
So far so good.
Now, here is a question, what does Warnow in Mecklenburg have to do with the town of Fahrnau which is located in the southwest corner of Germany in Baden Wurttemberg?
The two Warnows
Seemingly nothing – they could not be further apart within Germany (at least current Germany – given its many lost wars, there is only so much German territory we can work with here to make our point).
Which makes the following historic set of names of the town Fahrnau somewhat strange:
We are not saying that all of these are indicative of some great Slavic (really Wendish or Venetic) empire but it’s hard not to admit that Ketrzynski may have “something” here and not to complain that “mainstream” historiography has not really bothered to offer an answer to Ketrzynski’s questions for over a century and a half – its performance has been, to put it politely, dismal.
Stutgard
Stuttgart has the same etymology as Belgard (or Belgrade) and Stargard. But what does that mean? That Stuttgart is Slavic or that Stargard is not Slavic? Or are we going to split the difference? But Stuttgart has a -t not a -d, right? It does but it didn’t always:
It is supposed to have been built as a horse farm (or stud farm), i.e., Stuotengarten or Stutengarten. And what of Bebling? Berlin, Barlin? Or should these be Berling and Barling? As to the Hebrew gadar, that is way beyond our competences.
And if you think this is just too crazy, take a look at this 16th century Mercator map showing a Winada – today’s Winnenden between Schorndorf and Marbach am Neckar slightly northeast of Stuttgart.
And some links to other interesting names:
such as these -ins or these oddly familiar names (e.g., Barlin or Moskau) or these Bretonian names.
Make of it what you will but we are quite confused here.
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To the East of the green line we have Slavs, Germans in parts of Austria and more Slavs in southern Austria. Ketrzynski was not interested in those areas since their Slavic history (or present) were well known.
