LL-L "History" 2008.05.20 (02) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  - 20 May 2008 - Volume 02
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From: Soenke Dibbern <s_dibbern at web.de>
Subject: LL-L "History" 2008.05.20 (01) [E/LS]

Op'n Di., den 20. Mai.'08, hett Jonny Meibohm dit Klock 16.17 schreven:

 From: jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
> Subject: LL-L "History" 2008.05.19 (01) [E]
>
> Beste Ron,
>
> you asked:
>
>  Doesn't immigration from what are now the Netherlands figure into this at
>> some point too?
>>
> From AD 1168 till 1178 there had been an Archbishop *Baldwin from
> Holland*in Bremen- he was the direct follower of
> *Hartwig von Stade*, the last Earl (Markgraf) von Stade, who donated his
> 'Markgrafschaft' to the Archbisdom of Bremen. Baldwin may have started to
> call 'Hollandish' settlers into the region, but I am not sure about this.
> Assured knowledge about Dutch settlers dates into the 13th century.
>
>  What about a possible Frisian element? Erstwhile Frisian-speaking presence
>> is definitely attested all the way from what is now Belgium to
>> Land Wursten at the southern end of the mouth of the Elbe, on the island
>> of Heligoland off the mouth of the Elbe and then again north of
>> Dithmarschen into the southwest of what is now the Danish part of the
>> Jutland Peninsula.
>>
>
> this did not take place
> before the 9th/10th century, ergo *after* Charlemagne had defeated the
> Saxons. [...]
> But except of Wursten (the name refers to 'Wurth-Friesen', related to E
> 'wharf', but here meaning 'dwelling mound') and what now is called Northern
> Friesland they came in small numbers and made smallsettlements, probably arm
> in arm with the Saxons from the neighbourhood.
> I think they merged with the natives within short time, but possibly
> left some influence in our regional language (what hardly can be proven
> because of the above mentioned later waves of 'Hollandish' settlers).
> Summa summarum: the people here always felt themselves explicitly to be
> 'free Saxons'.
>
> You mention 'Büsum' as a possibly Frisian settlement, and you're probably
> right with your guess.
> Allerbest!
>
> Jonny Meibohm
>
> (PS: Dat slayt all meist in't Aosen mit sou eyn neyschierigen Keyrl as Di
> ;-)! Kaomst knapp noch tou 'n Slaopen bi...)
>

Moin tosamen!

You speak of Büsum, and you're probably right. What is Büsum today was an
island untill the 16th century, called "Busen" or "Biusne". Researchers have
found a few family names in the area they considered to be of frisian
origin. Same is true for some other places in Dithmarschen, namely
Fedderingen, Groven, Hillgroven, and Wollersum, all in the region's north at
the Eider. Other than that, iirc, there have been found be some frisian and
dutch family names in the south at the Elbe, in the Brunsbüttel and Neufeld
area.

What you said about the role of the north sea, its permanent threat and the
inhabitants' attitudes: The struggle and efforts for safe land has been one
of the main driving forces in Dithmarschen's history. Roughly at AD 700 some
inhabitants of the high, dry "Geest" started forming settlement
alliances/companionships (called "Slachten", G "Geschlechter") in order ro
reclaim the wet, low "Marsch" lands. They did so by building "Wurthen",
small man-made mounds higher than storm flood levels. Over time these
"Slachten" managed to claim the power by virtue of the fertility of their
new land, forcing the remaining people on the Geest to also form "Slachten"
to counterbalance. A "Slacht" comprised 2 to 5 rich and a substantial number
of average and poor families/clans and were the basic units when it came to
rising troops in war times.

They also had their feuds and micro wars amongst themselves, of course. Many
of the modern area municipalities in Dithmarschen were founded by the
Slachten, e.g. Volsemenhusen "The houses of the Voldemannen" or Hödienwisch,
Tödienwisch and Wennemannswisch "The meadows of the Hodiemannen, Todiemannen
and Wennemannen", respectively. The Slachten then again went into areal ties
with neighbouring Slachten, forming districts called "Döfften", of which 5
existed. In the 12th or 13th century the Slachten had eventually become so
powerful that they managed to expel the remaining native nobility from
Dithmarschen, who had often cooperated with the alien counts and dukes of
Stade and Holstein, according to the legends. At the same time, they started
dike building projects, to broaden and secure their economic basis, and were
successful.

This high degree of areal and personal organisation, together with its
fertile lands, gave Dithmarschen the military and economic means to build
and maintain its relative independence of the counts and dukes of Stade,
Schleswig and Holstein, the Danish King and the Archbishop of Bremen, to
whom the land initially formally belonged.

It is only few known about how the Slachten were lead internally, but I
suspect it was a kind of a "democracy" of/for the wealthy, like it evolved
in the Hansa league in parallel, since that is what evolved later with the
council of the 48 for the whole country. These things tend to come not out
of the blue, I imagine the Slachten would only have agreed to a proven
model.

All this lead to a certain "proudness" and self-reliance and a mistrust
towards foreigners, I assume. These are features one can still observe in
Dithmarschen. It is not by chance that the opposition to the plans of the
Schleswig-Holstein government to unify the Kreise (districts) to 4 or 5 big
ones is strongest in Dithmarschen - the mere idea of dissolving Dithmarschen
into some bigger unity is firing rage there.

So much to say, so little time...

Regards,
Sönke

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: History

Thanks a lot, Sönke. That's very interesting. I've been learning a lot from
you and Jonny.

What is interesting to me also is that these accounts show just how
interwoven the histories of the various Lowlands areas are (areas that are
now in different countries) and how much they and their cultures share.

It is interesting also that in many or most, if not all, scenarios there are
or seem to be Frisian links. This should really not come as a huge surprise
considering that the Frisians have been the people of the North Sea shore,
and the North Sea has been playing a pivotal role in our ancestral focus
area. (Expansion to the Baltic Sea shore is a much more recent development.)
It is only that in some cases Frisian roles have been traditionally
underestimated, if not ignored. Perhaps this is because Frisians tended to
go about their business stalwartly but quietly, not to be ones to toot their
own horn a lot. Germanic colonization of Britain is a glaring example of
this.

As for the mentioned *Slacht*, I'd like to suggest the English equivalent
"kinship (group)" or, better still, "clan".

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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