Polaben
The Polabians were a West Slavic tribe in northern Germany in the 11th and 12th centuries. They were part of the Abodrite Association .
Until the 18th century, Slavic-speaking Dravenopolis lived in the Wendland east of Lüneburg . A few words have been handed down from their language .
Surname
The name was formed from the Slavic po (an, bei) and Labe (Elbe). Such names were also those of the Pomorans or Posavina .
Settlement area
The Polabian settlement area extended between the Trave and Elbe and along the Jeetzel . Today the area roughly corresponds to the districts of the Duchy of Lauenburg ( Schleswig-Holstein ), Lüchow-Dannenberg ( Lower Saxony ), Northwest Mecklenburg and Ludwigslust ( Mecklenburg ) as well as parts of the Altmark district of Salzwedel ( Saxony-Anhalt ) and the district of Prignitz ( Brandenburg ).
The main castle of the Polabians was probably first in Hammer , later in Ratzeburg .
history
middle Ages
From around 700 Slavic settlers came to the largely uninhabited region.
In 1043 the Polabian prince Ratibor was the velvet ruler of the Abodrite Association. From 1093 the Polabians were mentioned as part of the Abodrites under Heinrich and Pribislaw .
In 1142, the Saxon Duke Heinrich the Lion gave the Gau Polabi and the newly created County of Ratzeburg as a fief to his follower Heinrich von Bathide . His descendants ruled as Counts of Ratzeburg until 1199.
The eastern parts of the Polabian settlement area remained under the rule of the Abodritic and Mecklenburg princes.
Early modern age
The Polish language can be traced back to the 18th century, most recently in the Hanoverian Wendland. There the Polabians assimilated the Lower Saxony linguistically, which led to the extinction of the Polabian language.
Relics
To this day there are relics of the Lower Saxony Polabia. This includes a large number of geographical names such as Wustrow, Drawehn or Lüchow, as well as the many round villages in the region.
Place names
- Bergen polab .: Djörska
- Clenze: Kloncka
- Hitzacker: Ljauci
- Lüchow: Ljauchüw
- Wustrow: Wôstrüw
- Dannenberg: Wajdars