'Ostsiedlung' (), also known as 'German eastward expansion', refers to the medieval eastward migration and mainly peaceful settlement of
Germans from modern day Western and Central Germany into less-populated regions like the Baltic and modern day Poland. These areas had been left by their ancestors, the
Germanic tribes, in the
Migration Period partly due to incursions by the
Huns, and since had been settled by
Baltic peoples, and, since about the 8th century, the
Slavs.
[1]
Even though first settlements led by Franks and Bavarii followed the defeat of the
Avars in the early 9th century, and other campaigns by
Holy Roman Emperors allowed migration, the beginning of a continuous ''Ostsiedlung'' is mainly dated to around the 12th century. In
German scholarship, it refers especially to the reassertion of
Saxon authority over
Sorbian or
Wendish areas, especially
Brandenburg by
Albert the Bear in the 1150s. The advent of the crusading
Teutonic Order[2], which had been invited in the 1220s to support the conquest of pagans like
Old Prussians, accelerated settlement along the Baltic coast.
The
High Middle Ages saw a
rapidly increasing population of Europe which could not be fed by "great clearances" of forests and marshes alone. During the ''Ostsiedlung'', Germans settled east of the
Elbe and
Saale rivers, regions largely inhabited by
Polabian Slavs. Likewise, in
Styria and
Carinthia, German communities took form in areas inhabited by
Slovenians. The emigration of the inhabitants from the
Valais valley in
Switzerland to the areas that had been settled before by the
Romans had to some extent the same preconditions as the colonisation of the East, for example,
Romania.
In the middle of the
14th century, the settling progress slowed as a result of the
Black Death; in addition, the most arable and promising regions were largely occupied. Local Slavic leaders in late Medieval
Pomerania and
Silesia continued inviting German settlers to their territories. As late as the 18th century, well after the
Thirty Years War had reduced Germany's population by a third,
some Germans followed invitations to settle as far away as the
Volga River.
In the 19th century, recognition of this complex phenomenon coupled with the rise of
nationalism in Germany led to the concepts of
Pan-Germanism and
Drang nach Osten, which in part gave rise to the concept of
Lebensraum. During and after
World War II, Germans were
expelled east of the
Oder-Neisse line, leaving the current German linguistic border smaller than that of the 10th century. Thus Slav and Stalin-enforced ethnic cleansing after the second World War largely reverted the settlement of Slavic or Baltic territory by Germanic people, as it had taken place during Ostsiedlung. However, some of the areas that saw resettlement were not as far eastward and as such, they are a part of the current German state.
Background
Aside from the more obvious reasons for necessary resettlement, ''Ostsiedlung'' also grew out of political considerations. Early eastern borders were exposed to the pressures of neighbouring peoples, such as
Danes (or
Normans), various
Slavic people (
Obotrites,
Wends,
Sorbs,
Bohemians,
Moravians), and
Hungarians, in the 9th and the 10th centuries. Such conditions led to the expansion of
Charlemagne's
Carolingian Empire, motivated by the wish to safeguard the empire's borders with
marches. Also, under the rule of King
Louis the German of
East Francia and of
Arnulf of Carinthia, the first waves of settlement were led by
Franks and
Bavarii, and reached the area of present-day
Slovakia and what was then
Pannonia (present-day
Burgenland,
Hungary, and
Slovenia). The pioneers were accompanied by
missionaries who brought with them
Roman Catholicism and German culture, albeit with varying influence.
In order to safeguard their unstable eastern borders, the
Ottonians and
Salians commenced short military campaigns against their neighbors and established defensive
marches under allied or trusted princes. These princes settled their new territories with settlers (usually Germans or
Dutch) from the
Holy Roman Empire, and granted them estates and privileges (such as the inheritable position of village elder). Settlement was usually organised by so-called
lessors. The advanced agricultural, legal, administrative, and technical methods of the immigrants, as well as their successful
proselytising of the native inhabitants, led to a gradual transformation of the marches. At the same time, linguistically and culturally Slavic areas became affiliated with the Empire as German lands and the original princes of such territories became princes of the Empire.
Beside the marches which were adjacent to the Empire, German settlement occurred in areas farther away, such as the
Carpathians,
Transylvania, and along the
Gulf of Riga. German cultural and linguistic influence lasted in some of these areas right up to the present day. The East colonisation was predominantly a peaceful process; the rulers of
Hungary,
Bohemia,
Silesia,
Pomerania,
Mecklenburg, and
Poland encouraged German settlement to promote the development of the less populated portions of the land, and promote the motivated populations who wished to till it. The
Transylvanian Saxons and
Baltic Germans were corporately combined and privileged. In Silesia the Germans, without receiving special privileges as a group, became integral parts of both state and society.
The people in the regions at the east of the
Holy Roman Empire of German Nation were still pagan (at least at the beginning), so that German settlers frequently accompanied monks as missionaries.
Historical development of a few marches and regions
In northern Germany the Ostsiedlung led to conflicts between the pagan Saxons and Charlemagne as he secured the borders of his empire. The Obotrites, who entered into various coalitions and after 800 fought against the Empire, stood in Charlemagne's way at that time; the Saxons could trust the support of the ''Borussen'' (
Old Prussians) and the Danes. In 804, it was decided that the zones to the west of the Elbe river became parts of the Carolingian Empire. For the time being, the land to the east of the Elbe river stayed outside the boundaries of the later
Holy Roman Empire (''see
Limes Saxoniae'').
Harald Bluetooth, who at that time was a seignory of Otto I, took shelter from his son by the Baltic Sea near to the Oder river in the zone, which, as from 1050, has been called Pomerania. The dioceses of Brandenburg and Havelburg were destroyed in the rebellion of Slavic peoples in 983.
Nordalbingen
The
Nordalbingen March, occupying the territory between
Hedeby and the
Danish fortress of
Dannevirke in the north and the
Eider River in the south, was part of the Empire during the reign of
Charlemagne. The border was later fixed at the Eider River.
March of the Billungs and the Brandenburg March
The March of the
Billungs and the North March were still not parts of the Empire under the
Salians and the
Ottonians.
At the time of
Albert I, Margrave of Brandenburg (Albrecht "the Bear" von Ballenstedt), the North March stretched from the territory of the
Askanier (Ascanians, see also
Anhalt) to the Markgrafschaft
Brandenburg and therefore became part of the Empire. In 1147,
Heinrich the Lion conquered the ''March of the Billungs'', the later
Mecklenburg as a
seignory and in 1164
Pomerania, that lay further to the east of the
Baltic Sea. In 1181, Mecklenburg and Pomerania officially became parts of the Roman-German Empire.
Other parts of Poland, which were adjacent to Silesia, remained for the time, strong enough to repell any further eastward expansion of the Empire.
Saxony
In the later duchy of
Saxony, several
Markgrafschaften (
Lausitz,
Meißen,
Thuringian Markgrafschaft,
Zeitz) were established at first.
Silesia
As of 1138, after the death of
Bolesław III Wrymouth, Silesia became part of the Polish feudal fragmentation as the state of Poland declined into many autonomous ''partial duchies''. The Silesian province in 1202 was divided into two independent duchies. Since the beginning of the 13th century, the reinforced Polish-Silesian
Piast dynasty kept German settlers in the land, who in decades had founded more than 100 new towns and over 1200 villages under German law, particularly under
Magdeburg law (the real numbers may be lower since German historians usually count also existing towns which simply received a new set of privileges). Many churches and hospitals came into being. For the most part, the original Slavic settlements also suited the German settlements legally, socially and linguistically. Most immigrants came from the Middle-Frankish language area (from the environment of
Mainz), from
Hesse and from
Thuringia. Accordingly, the dialect of the Low Silesian people changed into another form, in which the Middle-Frankish, Hessian, Thuringian and Slavic features are united.
The population grew at least fivefold. The German settlement was initiated substantially by Duke
Henry the I of Silesia and his wife
Hedwig of Andechs (
1201-
1238). This settlement also attempted to merge the duchy of
Oppeln as well as the regions
Greater and
Lesser Poland. However, he died in 1238 and because of the Mongolian invasions from
1241 in which his successor
Henry II the Pious also lost, his plan failed.
From 1249, the duchy Silesia and from 1281 the duchy of Oppeln declined temporarily into more than a dozen smaller Piastian duchies that were rivalled with each other. The Bohemian and later also Poland, that has been united since 1306, attempted to go into this vacuum of power. From 1289 to 1292, the earldom of
Glatz was already brought under control of the Bohemian.
Eventually, the Piast dynasty took shelter under the duchies of Silesia and of Oppeln individually or in groups as vassals of the fiefdom of the Bohemian kings. In 1353, the Bohemians won the duchy of
Herzogtum Schweidnitz-Jauer through the third marriage of
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, with the heiress Anna. With the Treaty of
Visegrád (1333), in comparison to
Trencin (1335) as well as in the Treaty of
Namslau, 1348), the Polish kings had to recognize the Bohemian power and the affiliation with the
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The most important detail in those treaties is the agreement of Trencin, that was confirmed in 1339.
On that account, king
Casimir III of Poland stopped claiming Silesia. In 1348, Emperor Charles IV integrated Bohemia into the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In the period following, Lower Silesia became part of the German speaking area, while Upper Silesia, comparably to the settlement of the Sorbs, remained a German – Polish mixed area.
Lesser Poland
Since the beginning of the 14/15th centuries, the Polish-Silesian
Piast dynasty – (
Ladislaus of Oppeln), reinforced German settlers on the land, who in decades founded more than 150 towns and villages under German town law, particularly under the law of the town
Magdeburg (
Magdeburg law). Ethnic Germans, along with German-speaking
Ashkenazi Jews from the Rhineland, also formed a large part of the town population of
Cracow.
Literature
★ Prof.
Kazimierz Tymieniecki - "''Niemcy w Polsce''", Poznań 1934
★ Prof.
Barbara Czopek-Kopciuch - "''Adaptacje niemieckich nazw miejscowych w języku polskim''", Kraków 1995, ISBN 83-85579-33-8
★ Prof.
Aleksandra Cieślikowa (Cieślik) - "''Nazwy osobowe pochodzenia niemieckiego''", Kraków 1997, ISBN 83-85579-63-X
Bohemia and Moravia
The decline of the Great Moravia
After the decline of the
Great Moravia in 900, whose founder
Rastislaw (also:
Rastislav) wanted to submit the land to the Eastern Church with the help of the missionaries
Kyrill and
Methodius, who were summoned from
Constantinople, Bohemian princes appeared in the Parliament, including the Přemyslidian
Spitignew who came to
Regensburg. They built a new following of the East Carolingian Empire that was however still highly controversial between the members of the Bohemian (Czech) aristocracy: in
929, the Premyslidian
Boleslaw murdered his brother, the duke
Wenceslas who was still in charge, because of his following and his Christianity supported by German missionaries. The German king
Henry I, the Fowler, led his army to Prague the same year to repress the rebellion against the Empire. In
950, Duke
Boleslaw realized the cruelty of the German fiefdom and organized a secession in the army, in the
955 battle on
Lechfeld. In 973, the Prague diocese was founded under the aegis of
Wolfgang, bishop of Regensburg. The first bishop of this diocese became the Saxon benedictine monk
Thietmar. After that Bohemia was subordinated to the archbishopric Mainz. In
983,
Adalbert, a Slav who founded the benedictine monastery
St. Margaret in
Brewnow, became successor of Thietmar. In 997, Adalbert was killed by pagan Prussian people.
Henry II, who was emperor from 1014 until 1024, dislodged the Polish duke (and later king)
Bolesław Chrobry who had conquered large parts of Bohemia as well as Moravia and Silesia. Bohemia became dependent on Germany; the Bohemian dukes were obliged to visit the hostage drama and to take part in national wars.
A monk of the benedictine monastery Altaich of princely background, called Günter "the Blessed", became a recluse in the
Bohemian Forest. The foundation of the benedictine monastery Raigern goes back to Günter. New trading paths connecting Bohemia and Bavaria through the virgin forest were built, with the (Golden Path) as the most important trade path between Bohemia and Moravia. Along those paths, a number of new places emerged on both sides of the Bohemian forest. The city
Prachatice (German: Prachatitz) owes its foundation and its time of prosperity in the 14th century to the Golden Path.
In 1030,
Bretislaus united Bohemia and Moravia after those regions had come under control of Poland. Both lands were fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1038, duke Bretislaus conquered further parts of Poland and attempted to secede from the Empire that brought about preconditions with the German emperor Henry II.
In 1063, duke
Vratislaus founded the ; in 1085 he was coronated by Henry IV in Mainz to be King of Bohemia.
In 1142, the monastery
Strahov opposite the
Hradčany, was founded by the monks of the
Premonstratensian monastery near
Kall, Germany. The "white monks" advanced to the position of the most important German mission foundations in Bohemia and Moravia. In 1117, duchess
Richsa summoned benedictine monks from (in
Württemberg) to
Kladrau.
See also
★
Drang nach Osten
★
German exonyms
★
Germanisation of Poles during Partitions
References
★
Charles Higounet (1911–1988) "''Les allemands en Europe centrale et oriental au moyen age''"
[1]
★
★
German translation: "''Die deutsche Ostsiedlung im Mittelalter''"
[2]
★
★
Japanese translation: "''ドイツ植民と東欧世界の形成''", , by
Naoki Miyajima
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
