Liubusua
In the chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg, a Slavic castle is described as Liubusua , in which up to ten thousand residents are said to have found space. In 932 this castle is said to have been destroyed for the first time by the Germans under King Heinrich I. Henry II had the complex rebuilt in 1012 before it was finally destroyed by Bolesław Chrobry in August of the same year . The lack of an exact description of the place in Thietmar's chronicle caused the place to be located in different places in the past. Only the name of the place and a brief description of the area are given there and have presented various approaches to localization to this day. Due to modern research, however, recently (as of 2015) it is no longer assumed that there is a central Slavic castle in Lusatia .
Notes in the chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg
A first reference to Liubusua can be found in the first book of the chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg and describes the destruction of the place in the year 932. Various German translations exist for the work, which was written in Latin. Since the original of the chronicle was almost completely destroyed during the air raids on Dresden , only a copy from 1905 is available today.
Quote: … He (Heinrich I) built a mountain on the Elbe, which at that time was densely covered with trees, and founded a castle there, which he named Misni (Meißen) after a brook that flows north of it and with one Occupation and fortifications, as they are now customary, provided. From there he subjugated the Milzener in 932 and forced them to pay him interest. He also besieged Liubusua Castle, about which I will speak in detail later, for a long time and brought the inhabitants to surrender after they had fled from him to a small fortress below the castle. But the castle was not inhabited again from the day on which it was deservedly destroyed by fire. If during his reign, as many claim, Heinrich took possession of illegal property, may God forgive him in his grace.
Since Thietmar did not experience this period himself, he refers to the sources he used, such as Widukind's Saxony history , the Quedlinburg annals and private notes of Widukind von Corvey.
In his chronicle, Thietmar von Merseburg mentions Liubusua again in the sixth book in two further passages.
Text 39
Quote: After the king, (Heinrich II.) Afterwards relieved many needs of the oppressed fatherland, he visited (1011) again the western lands, and with the reins of his wisdom guiding and taming the minds of the inhabitants, surging to and fro like the floods of water he celebrated the birth of the Lord at Palithi (Pölde) with festive joy. Then (1012) he returned to Merseburg, which he loved very much, and after having had peace sworn there for five years, he began, after the advice of a few, to have Liubusua Castle expanded and fortified. About this, however, some said in advance what was unfortunately confirmed in the same year. We came there at the end of January (1012), celebrated the purification of the Holy Mother of God with due devotion, and completed the task in a fortnight, after which we returned home with a crew. Next to Liubusua on the north side is a castle, which is only separated from it by a valley. It has twelve goals. When I looked carefully at it I recognized in it, through memory of Lucan, a work of Julius Caesar and a great Roman building. This castle would have accommodated more than ten thousand people. The smaller castle that we restored, however, stood empty from King Henry I until that time, and what a miserable end it sank soon afterwards, I will describe when I have told you something in between.
Text 48
Quote: Meanwhile, Duke Bodeslav (of Poland), gathering his army on the news of the Archbishop's death, attacked Liubusua, whom I mentioned above, and because he knew that because we had crossed the Elbe, no one would help the besieged could come, he pitched his camp there. His warriors advanced encouraged to fight, and the garrison offered only moderate resistance. For this great castle protected no more than a thousand men, although three times as many would hardly have been enough. Bolizlav was sitting at the morning and was delighted to see his men enter the castle as victor. The gate was opened and much blood was shed. Captured by them were the distinguished men Guncelin and Wiso and the unfortunate commander of the castle, Scih, who was wounded. Whenever this deplorable man had a castle to guard, he always lost it, not out of cowardice but through a pathetic mishap. They were all presented to the proud victor and, at his command, were immediately brought back to prison. Of the duke's companions in war, however, no fewer than five hundred remained in the same fight. This pathetic bloodbath was wrought on August 20th (1012). The immense booty was then divided, the castle set alight, and the victorious crowd went home happily with their master.
Previous location assignments / localization attempts
Bad Liebenwerda
Bad Liebenwerda to be seen as a possible location of the Slavic castle Liubusua came up for discussion in 1957 by Rudolf Lehmann in his work Zum Liubusua Problem , published in: Excavations and Funde , Berlin, No. 4/1954, pp. 197-202. With the geographical location of the city in the valley of the Black Elster, the adjacent plateaus including the adjacent Lausitz border wall , the descriptions also fit Thietmar's chronicle. At the same time there is a former hill fort on the outskirts and a medieval manor castle north of the city. In 1964, these assumptions were used by Fitzkow, a local researcher from Bad Liebenwerda, for another publication in the local calendar for the Liebenwerda district. He refers to the special location at the intersection of four Slavic districts, but also to the geographical features. According to him, the Luckauer Tor and Luckauer Gasse were old ways to Liubusua. The former Rossmarkt is also said to be in the shape of a shallow depression, and in its vicinity individual elevations indicate a prehistoric hill fort. At the same time there was a place called Ruckow , first mentioned in 1441 , which existed in the northwest as an independent place until 1873. He interpreted an arm of water existing between these systems as the valley between large and small castle described in the chronicle. At the same time, however, Fitzkow also refers to the so far missing archaeological evidence of the location of such a large Slavic castle complex as Thietmar describes for Liubusua. The assumption that the elevations near the Roßmarkt could have been a hill fort is now considered to be refuted.
Freesdorf
In the 1970s, some attention was paid to the castle wall on the Freesdorf-Goßmar road. This is a low wall with a "Vorburgbefestigung" in the valley of the river Berste . The system has an extension of 175 meters with wall heights of up to 7 meters. The finds from the castle wall that are stored in Berlin and Luckau today consist of Slavic vessels, shards and unfired clay stones. However, since the information in Thietmar's Chronicle deviates significantly from the geographical conditions in Freesdorf, this location was questioned at an early stage and is no longer considered today.
Hohenleipisch
This place, about eight kilometers northeast of Elsterwerda , was selected for a possible Liubusua location due to the partly existing name relationship, but mainly due to a legend according to which a submerged city should have been in today's nature reserve Der Loben . A castle is said to have stood on a hill north of this city. However, since no evidence of the existence of such a facility could be produced so far (2014), the place is no longer associated with Liubusua.
Consilience
In 1994, R. Spehr brought a castle wall in the Ziegram , about 500 meters east of the village, into the Liubusua discussion. At the Early Churches plant in Saxony. Results of archaeological and architectural studies , it is assumed that the formerly 180 × 130 meter ramparts could have been the old Liubusua and today's neighboring village Kröbeln could have been the small castle of Thietmar von Merseburg. The time of origin of the castle ramparts is dated to the Bronze or Early Iron Age. Previous finds come only from the surface of the facility and are in museums in Bad Liebenwerda, Berlin, Dresden and Zossen.
Lebus
The place north of Frankfurt (Oder) attracted the interest of Liubusua research mainly because of its identical name. In 1753, Jacob Paul Freiherr von Gundling describes in History of Chur-Mark-Brandenburg from the earliest times to the death of Albrecht the Other, Marggraves of Brandenburg, From the house of Ascharien and Ballenstädt Lebus as the location for the historical Liubusua. On the left side of the Oder there is a castle complex that is now overbuilt, the time of which is dated to the Bronze Age. Archaeological excavations also confirm a use by Slavs and the repeated destruction of the facility. But this location was also excluded in 1844 by Karl Benjamin Preusker due to the finds made here and the fact that facts in the chronicle did not match. Modern research does not see any correspondence with the historical Liubusua either.
Lebusa
For a long time, this place was regarded by the Liubusua researchers as the location for the historical Liubusua, not only because of the similarity in names. As early as 1780, Johann Daniel Ritter in Aelteste Meissnische Geschichte, with the exception of Heinrich the Illustrious Lebusa, regarded it as the historically traditional place. Ludwig Giesebrecht then took a closer look at the place in 1843. In his three volumes of Wendish stories from the years 780 to 1182 , he provided the basis for the long-standing doctrine that Lebusa should be equated with Liubusua. Lebusa lies in a basin and is surrounded on three sides by the foothills of the Lusatian border wall. For those in favor of this location variant, the entire "Lebusa Basin" with the surrounding mountain ranges is identical to the place mentioned by Thietmar von Merseburg. South of Lebusa on the 147 meter high Grunichsberg there is a castle hill with an associated moat system. The land weirs running around the Lebusa Basin and old road systems are said to have been a fortification system more than 16 kilometers long. To the north of the village, in Schöna, there is a former water castle, which was also used during the Slavic settlement period. The course of the Schweinitzer Fließ is located between Lebusa and Schöna .
Malitschkendorf
The castle wall located here was explored between 1826 and 1833 by Friedrich August Wagner . He was of the opinion that the sacred grove of the Semnones could have been at this point. The castle wall of Malitschkendorf was examined in more detail in 1965. The field name "Libischen" common for this place was supposed to make a reference to Liubusua. The conditions in the area were also the subject of this consideration. The hill marked there with height 85.5 could have been the "Great Castle" mentioned in Thietmar's chronicle. This hill is located north of the Malitschkendorfer castle wall. Due to excavations that have not yet been carried out, this elevation could also be an alluvial sand hill. As early as 1986, the assumption that it was the Liubusua Castle in Malitschkendorf was revoked, as it was originally supposed to be a complex from the Young Bronze Age.
Löbsal
Today this place near Meißen with the castle wall in Löbsal itself, as well as the castle wall Goldkuppe and the castle wall Göhrisch on the left side of the Elbe, is considered the most probable place for Liubusua from a scientific point of view. On the grounds that there could not have been a main castle of the Lusici, Ralf and Kerstin Gebuhr no longer looked for Liubusua in Lusatia, but near the Slavengau Daleminzien . In this experiment, applications from archeology, linguistics and topography came into play for the first time. The ramparts at the "Rauhen Furt", which are located north of Meißen, aroused their interest.
The castle hill of Löbsal itself originally comes from the Billendorfer culture , i.e. around 1700 to 500 BC. Grave fields from this period can also be found in the vicinity of the mountain. The facility was used again between the 9th and 10th centuries by Slavic settlers. These extended the castle wall. However, there are hardly any burial sites from this time of settlement. The facility was then used by early German settlers until the 13th century. However, no excavations have been carried out on the approximately three hectare inner area.
The Goldkuppe rampart with a total size of around 18 hectares dates from around 1800 to 700 BC. It is an oval ring wall, which was partially destroyed by a quarry built in modern times on the slope of the Elbe. A Slavic settlement or use could not be proven here so far. A tower hill from the Middle Ages, the so-called "Heinrichsburg", is located on the northeast side of the complex.
Opposite Löbsal, on the left bank of the Elbe, is the Görisch castle wall. This is also partially destroyed by a former quarry. The construction of the complex is dated between 1700 and 800 BC. When comparing the description of Liubusua in Thietmar's Chronicle, the Görisch castle wall is not considered.
The researchers found correspondences with the information in Thietmar's Chronicle in a two-part castle complex. According to the chronicle, the large settlement, the Goldkuppe, which is no longer inhabited, is the area to the northwest of the Löbsal castle ramparts, the lower-lying small part of the castle. The slight slope at this point is said to have been an earlier wall. The surface finds from these facilities are in museums in Riesa and Dresden .
In 1123 a Libuze castle, commanded by Heinrich Haupt , was mentioned. In 1116 he was burgrave of the nearby castle of Meißen . In older research, the identification of Liubusua Castle with Libuze Castle failed because of the old idea that Liubusa was in Lusatia. In 1985, for example, it was argued that Libuze could not be Liubusua because the Luckau-Freesdorf castle wall in Niederlausitz was in the 7th / 8th - 10th. Century and not later. Due to the recent identification of Liubusua with the ramparts on the Rauhen Furt near Meißen, which were inhabited by Early German until the 13th century, the identity with Libuze Castle, mentioned in 1123, is very likely. Another indication is the similarity of Liubusua with the first form of the name of Löbsal, which was given to Seusslitz Monastery by King Heinrich the Illustrious in 1277 under the name “Lubesowe”. In 1378 the place was still called Lobesowe.
Other location variants
The places Altenburg , Battin , Burg , Kolochau , Leubus / Schlesien , Löbau , Lübben , Lübbenau and Schlieben were also considered in the past as a location variant for Liubusua. On the one hand due to the fact that some names are related, on the other hand also due to the fact that there are castle walls from Slavic or pre-Slavic times in these places. Unscientific and curious justifications were also sometimes used. Ultimately, however, no conclusive evidence could be produced for these locations either.
Under the title "The Poles in Altenburg" a publication appeared in 1941, according to which Liubusua is said to have been in Altenburg. The author at the time proves that this assumption is rather unscientific by trying to establish a reference to Liubusua with the restaurant "Stadt Leipzig" located in Altenburg. The publication, which was advocated by the Reich Chamber of Culture at the time, was then confiscated by the security service of the Third Reich.
Due to the presence of a rampart north of Battin, this place also came under consideration by Liubusua research. The castle wall here consists of an oval ring wall with a rampart in the east. Fragments from the early German and Yaroslav times of the complex are now in Zossen, Halle and Bad Liebenwerda.
Due to the size of the castle ramparts, the city was examined as a possible location for Liubusua. The complex dates from around 800 BC. d. Z. and was also used by the Slavs around the year 1000. However, an actual Slavic settlement was located outside the approximately five hectare castle wall area.
The misinterpretation of the word coloci in the text of the chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg also brought this place into the possible discussion of the location for Liubusua. As early as 1780, JD Ritter mentioned present-day Kolochau in connection with the chronicle in Aelteste Meissnische Geschichte, with the exception of Heinrich the Illustrious . In the chronicle of the town of Schlieben from 1897, the author refers to coloci in connection with the spelling eo loci , which means "in the same place". Although there is also a Slavic rampart near the place, a lack of agreement with the geographical conditions described in the Merseburg Chronicle made the place ruled out from further considerations on the subject.
In the case of Leubus, it is self-explanatory that this place is far too far from the Slawengau described above. In the vicinity of the village of Löbau there is a ring wall with the Schafberg, but this dates from the Bronze Age and has no finds from the Slavic period. Further counter-arguments include the location in Upper Lusatia and the lack of strategic importance of the location.
In Lübben there is still a clearly recognizable castle wall in the southern part of the town by the Ragower receiving water. However, the corresponding archaeological finds and the terrain profile described in the chronicle are missing for the entire area.
In Lübbenau there is a Slavic castle wall with early German overbuilding on the site of today's castle with castle park. The finds made here during excavations come from the Yugoslav and early German times, as well as from medieval ceramics. The terrain features described in the chronicle cannot be found here either.
Schlieben was first brought in connection with Liubusua in 1931. It is true that finds from the Old Slavic and Yaroslav times were made here, too, but the fortification was only carried out between the 11th and 12th centuries. The existing buildings on the mountain make further archaeological excavations difficult.
Criticism of the Löbsal location
The location Löbsal and its definition as the location for the historical Liubusua also called the critics back on the scene. So they refer to the question of why this facility should have been rebuilt when a significantly better variant was available for defense against the Slavs with the Meißen Castle just a few kilometers to the south . The available area of only about 36,000 m² for the 1000 defenders of the rebuilt castle is cited by the critics as an argument. Another point of criticism is Thietmar's statement that he “looked closely” or “carefully inspected” the facility. Here he mentions twelve gates of the castle complex, which cannot be found in Löbsal. Thietmar also writes that the castles were only separated by a valley. The castle mountains Löbsal and Goldkuppe are separated by two valleys and a ridge.
On the other hand, it is again suggested that the numbers used by Thietmar can be symbolic. So the number twelve (gates) is associated with something overwhelming like the twelve gates of the heavenly Jerusalem or the twelve gates of heaven. The number ten thousand (inhabitants) also has a symbolic character and is to be seen as an enlargement of the one thousand, as the number of infinity.
Summary
In the course of the past centuries there have been repeated attempts to locate the historical Liubusua. The beginning of the 19th century marked a high point with the emergence of the local history movement. However, the speculations about the location that have continued to this day were contrasted for the first time with scientific research. Because of this work, Liubusua is no longer seen as the location of a large central Slavic castle in Lusatia. With the more recent work, current science has committed itself to Löbsal as the historical Liubusua.
Web links
Translation of the Chronicle of Thietmar von Merseburg in MGH Library, accessed on December 21, 2013
Individual evidence
- ^ F. Huf (ed.), Thietmar von Merseburg: Chronik. Phaidon Verlag Kettewig, 1990, ISBN 3-88851-092-9
- ↑ Joachim Herrmann : Settlement, economy and social conditions of the Slavic tribes between Oder / Neisse and Elbe. German Academy of Sciences of the GDR, Section for Prehistory and Protohistory, Berlin 1968.
- ^ Rudolf Lehmann : On the Liubusua problem. In: excavations and finds . Berlin, issue 4/1957, pp. 197-202.
- ^ R. Spehr in: Early Churches in Saxony. Results of archaeological and architectural studies. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8062-1094-2 , pp. 8-63.
- ↑ P. Frhr. v. Gundling: History of the Chur-Mark-Brandenburg from the ancient times to the death of Albrecht the Other, Marggrave of Brandenburg. From the house of Ascharien and Ballenstädt
- ^ KB Preusker: Looks into the patriotic prehistory. Volume 3, Verlag der JC Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1844.
- ↑ JD Ritter: Aelteste Meissniche history up to Heinrich the illustrious. Wichmann's heirs and Reich, Leipzig 1780.
- ^ Ludwig Giesebrecht: Wendish stories from the years 780–1182. Volume 1–3, Berlin 1843.
- ^ A. Meissner: Status of the Liubusua question and ways of solving it. In: Research and Progress. News sheet for German science and technology. Berlin 1965, pp. 208-211.
- ↑ Friedrich August Wagner: The temples and pyramids of the original inhabitants on the right bank of the Elbe, not far from the outflow of the black Elster. CHF Hartmann, Leipzig 1828.
- ^ Friedrich August Wagner: Egypt in Germany or the Germanic-Slavic where not purely Germanic antiquities on the black Elster. CHF Hartmann, Leipzig 1833.
- ^ W. Wenzel, A. Kunze: Liubusua und he Schliebener Burgwall. In: Scientific journal of the Karl Marx University Leipzig. Social and Linguistic Series, Issue 1/1965, pp. 143–149.
- ^ J. Hermann: Settlement, economy and social conditions of the Slavic tribes between Oder / Neisse and Elbe. German Academy of Sciences of the GDR, Section for Prehistory and Protohistory, Berlin 1968.
- ^ Felix Biermann : Slavic settlement between Elbe, Neisse and Lubsza. Archaeological studies on settlement and material culture in the early and high Middle Ages. Results and materials for the DFG project "Teutons - Slavs - Germans". Habelt, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-7749-2988-2 .
- ↑ R. and K. fee, F. Biermann: Liubusua, ways to solve an old problem under study. In: Yearbook for Brandenburg State History. Volume 54, 2003, pp. 7-50.
- ↑ R. Gebuhr: The cult place in the scientific landscape . To search for the Liubusua Castle. In: settlement research, archeology-history-geography. Bonn, special print 20/2002, pp. 79–92.
- ↑ Annales Patherbrunnenses to 1123, In: Paul Scheffer-Boichorst : A lost source writing of the XII. Century, restored from fragments. Innsbruck 1870, p. 144: Dux autem Liutgerus Libuze obsidione vallat acceptoque obside filio Heinrici cum Capite, qui castello praeerat, victor uti semper consuevit rediit.
- ↑ Annalista Saxo to 1116, MGH SS 6 p. 753
- ↑ Werner Coblenz , E. Faust, Eike Gringmuth-Dallmer et al. (Arr.): Corpus of archaeological sources on early history in the area of the German Democratic Republic (7th to 12th centuries). 4. Delivery. Districts Cottbus, Dresden, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Leipzig. Berlin (-Ost) 1985, p. 42 No. 93/46
- ↑ Ralf fee: Jarina and Liubusua. Cultural-historical study on the archeology of prehistoric castles in the Elbe-Elster area. Results and materials for the DFG project "Teutons - Slavs - Germans". Habelt, Bonn 2007, ISBN 978-3-7749-3459-7 .
- ↑ R. Krieg: Chronicle of the city of Schlieben. M. Urban, Schlieben 1897.
- ^ W. Radig: King Heinrich I and East German archeology. In: Mannuns. Journal of Prehistory. Supplementary volume VIII: 1930. Leipzig 1931, p. 60 ff.
- ↑ a b G. Wille, H.-D. Lehmann, M. Schmidt, H. Widmer: Liubusua. The millennial secret of Germans and Wends. Regia Verlag, Cottbus 2011, ISBN 978-3-86929-073-7 .
- ↑ R. and K. fee, F. Biermann: Liubusua. Ways to Solve an Old Research Problem. In: Yearbook for Brandenburg State History. Volume 54, 2003, p. 45.
- ↑ R. and K. fee, F. Biermann: Liubusua. Ways to Solve an Old Research Problem. In: Yearbook for Brandenburg State History. Volume 54, 2003, pp. 7-50.