Braunschweig (the English “Brunswick”) is a town in central Germany. In fact, it previously was in West Germany (albeit close to the East German border). Even here, however, there are signs of Slavic settlement. These are excerpts from Richard Andree’s Wendische Wanderstudien.
In the city itself, the northern town gate was referred to in 1254 as valva Slavorum. Similarly, a north south street had been called in 1268 platea Slavorum.
Several Slavic towns are found in the area:
- Wenden (listed in 1031 as villa Guinuthun) – north of Brunswick; it was probably from this place that a certain Balduin de Wenethen shows up in 1219 in the Wolfenbuettel records.
- Schwuelper (listed in 1191 as Suilbore and in 1200 as Suilbere) – the town refers to the Slavic word for forest – bor. It is located west of Wenden, near the Oker River (Okra) in the former Hannover province.
- Oelper (listed in 1241 as Elbere) – same idea as with bor.
- Wendezell – west of Oelper.
- Wendeburg (listed in 1195 as Winedeburg and then as Wenedeburch; aka Winetheborg) – also westwards.
(1252 Twedorp) – listed as a “Wendish” village (despite the German name). - Bortfeld (1311 Bortvelde) – listed as a “Wendish” village (despite the German name).
- Wense (1187 Wennehufen and 1290 Wendenihufen).
- Wendebutte (1007) – no longer around.
- Wendhausen – northeast of Brunswick on the river Schunter.
- Wendessen – near Wolfenbuettel on the Asse river.
- Wentfeld – east of Stederburg (Stetterburg).
Here are those place names as best as I can tell:
it’s closer to the Netherlands
But it gets better (from Forschungen zur Geschichte Niedersachsens, Volume 1, 1907) we have the following text
“Regarding the spread westwards of the Slavic round villages or villages built in Slavic “round village” fashion the West, it must be stated that these constructs, which in their layout cannot be explained [by reference to] the Saxon village descriptions and presentations, reach much further towards the West than has been assumed till now. Doctor Richard Andree – in the Journal of the Folklore Society, year 1896 p. 358 – sketched out an outline [of this issue], according to which [sketch] the area where round villages appear in the Hannover region reaches till the Ise [a tributary of the Aller] approximately by Gifhorn [north of Brunswick] and in the Brunswick region approximately till Brunswick [itself] in the West and till Helmstedt in the South. But these villages extend much further towards the West, even if their form has been disfigured and frequently rendered unrecognizable by reason of various influences such as new buildings and, especially, fires. There are, or there had been, some [of these] in the Lueneburg departments Burgdorf, Celle, Ahlden, Fallingbostel, Soltau, Tostedt; further, in the Stade departments, Harsefeld, Himmelphorten, Rothenburg, Verden; in the Hanoverian Neustadt, Uchte (this last one on the other [Western] side of the Weser!), finally in the Hildesheimian Peine and Liebenburg. Thus, they are relatively numerous, such that the Director Doctor Jellinghaus asks himself whether perhaps the Saxons, here or there, depending on the soil texture, did not copy the Wend village building type. We believe that the hypothesis that comes closest to the truth is that these really were Wend layouts that were later taken over by the Saxons.”
Here is a picture of these “Aemter” – the river Elbe is in blue in the East.
The thing is you do not have to look too hard to find other interesting names near these places:
- Bomlitz
- Jesteburg (1202 Gersedeburg)
- Brest
- Soltau itself (previously Saltowe, Soltouwe, Soltawe, Soltow, Zoltaw, Zolthow)
- Celle (Kellu, Kiellu)
- Pohle
- Pöhlde (Palithi)
- Wennenkamp?
Perhaps most of these have nothing to do with Slavs but some look suspicious.
The “Rundlingen” refers to the “round” Slavic villages.
As to Amt Uchte, “beyond the Weser” means westwards of the red line below:
Weser was also written as: Visurgis (Roman), Wesera, Wisara, Wisuraha, Wisora, Wisura, Visera, Visara, Wissula (!) and finally Wirraha.
In the picture above, notice also another Oder just south of Goslar. The Odera river is mentioned as follows:
- in 1287 – inter Oderam et Sevenam
- in 1321 – autem unam aque… Odera
The other better known European Odras are, of course, the Polish-German one and a smaller one in Croatia. But there are more – both in Europe and in India – see here. Take for example today’s Eder – previously known as Adrana (Tacitus’ Annals), Aderna, Adarna, Adrina, Adara.
Copyright ©2018 jassa.org All Rights Reserved
Great job! A little bit more in north we have Boye a part of Celle city, or Knesebeck by Wittingen!
Rundling refers not to the “round” Slavic houses, but to the circular village! In Polish “okolnica”.😁
yes, you are right!
At such times I like to quote Einhard: “deinde omnes barbaras ac feras nationes, quae inter Rhenum ac Visulam fluvios oceanumque ac Danubium positae, lingua quidem poene similes, moribus vero atque habitu valde dissimiles, Germaniam incolunt, ita perdomuit, ut eas tributarias efficeret; inter quas fere praecipuae sunt Welatabi, Sorabi, Abodriti, Boemani – cum his namque bello conflixit -; ceteras, quarum multo maior est numerus, in deditionem suscepit.” I noticed that in German sources barbarians are always called only Slavs! Visula is translated here as Wisła, but such a name is also bears in the Middle Ages Weser!
yes, there are some theories that ancient writers confused the two
The most important thing is hereby the river “Rhenum”!!! Who like who but Einhard can not be wrong 😈😆