Holsten (ethnic group)

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The Holsten were a Germanic tribe .

Settlement area

The Holsten were a Saxon sub-tribe based in northern Albingia. Their settlement area - the Holstengau -, the extent of which was subject to changes over the centuries, consisted roughly of the region, the cornerstones of which are today's cities of Rendsburg , Kiel , Bad Bramstedt and Wilster .

Origin of name

The name Holsten is derived from the older form Holsaten , which in turn is interpreted as a variant of Holtsassen (literally wood dwellers ). This term describes people who lived near or in forests and refers to the extensive forest areas that shaped large parts of Holstein until the Middle Ages .

history

The origin of the Holsten is just as obscure as most of their history. It was probably first mentioned by name in 1076 by Adam von Bremen in the history of the Archdiocese of Hamburg : There are three Saxon tribes in the north of the Elbe: (...) Second, the Holsten: They are named after the logs near which they are located; The Stör flows through its Gau ; their church is Schenefeld .

What role the Holsten played during the subjugation of northern Albingia by Charlemagne and then in the incorporation of the northern Elbe territory into the Franconian Empire is not known due to a lack of tradition. However, there are no signs of resistance to the Frankish rule that was permanently established after 809 and the Christianization that went with it . In later conflicts - for example at the Battle of Schmilau in 1093 - the Holsten were mentioned quite naturally on the Saxon-German side.

After the 12th century, the Holsten lost their tribal identity until they were no longer perceptible to contemporaries as an independent group and their name was generally transferred to all residents of the former tribal area and the adjacent areas and, as Holstein, to the region itself.

The culture and society of the Holsten do not seem to have any distinctive peculiarities that set them apart from other Saxons in northern Albingia. It is therefore hardly possible to clearly determine their presence archaeologically or to clearly assign artefacts to them.

literature

  • Johannes Hugo Koch: Schleswig-Holstein - Between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea: culture, history, landscape . DuMont, 1977; ISBN 9783770109364
  • Christian Degn: Schleswig-Holstein - A State History . Wachholtz, 1994; ISBN 9783529052156
  • Jürgen Bähr / Gerhard Kortum / Hermann Achenbach: Schleswig-Holstein. Volume 15 of the Collection of Geographic Guides . G. Borntraeger, 1987; ISBN 9783443160111
  • J. Fr. Dücker: The Elbe Duchies in historical pictures . School bookstore Dr. C. Fr. Heiberg, Schleswig 1866