• Allgäu
• Ammerland
• Artland
• Bauland
• Bergisches Land
• Black Forest
• Breisgau
• Eifel
• Emsland
• Erzgebirge
• Filder
• Harz
• Hohenloher Ebene
• Hunsrück
• Klettgau
• Kraichgau
• Markgräfler Land
• Nordgau
• Ochsenfurter Gäu
• Odenwald
• Oldenburger Münsterland
• Ortenau
• Ries
• Saterland
• Sauerland
• Schwarzwald
• Schwarzwälder Hochwald
• Schwäbisch Alb
• Spessart
• Strohgäu
• Sundgau
• Teutoburger Wald
• Thüringer Wald
• Vogtland
• Vorderösterreich
• Wasgau
• Westerwald
• Windecker Ländchen
• Windsheimer Bucht
• Zabergäu

Allgäu

• Description:
  Countryside of the northern Alps and the so-called "Alpenvorland" (lands on the German side of the Alps), between Lake Constance and the river Lech. From north to south divided into the Alpenvorland, the Allgäuer Voralpen (Allgäu "Pre-alps") and the Allgäuer Alpen (Allgäu Alps). The Allgäu parts of the Alpenvorland consist of the hilly country of the Adelegg with altitudes above 1100 metres and the young-moraine countryside at the rivers Iller, Lech and Wertach. The Allgäuer Voralpen are at the mountains Fellhorn (2037 metres), the Hohen Ifen (2230 metres), and the Gottesacker (2017 metres). The highest mountains of the "Allgäuer Alpen" are the Mädelegabel (2645 metres), the Hochvogel (2563 metres) and the Nebelhorn (2224 metres). The Allgäu receives 1000-2000 milimetres of rain per year; the tree line is at an altitude of 1600 metres while the snow line lies at 2500 metres (in the summer). The most important rivers are the Iller and the Lech.
• History:
  In its earliest written history, the area saw systematic colonisation in the time of the Alemanic settlement of the 6th century. The countryside was decisively changed by a process of "Vereinödung", which arose with the convent of Kempten. "Vereinödung" means that many small fields were grouped together, and distributed out as fewer, but larger grounds to the former owners. This was the assumption for monocultural meadows-managment. From the 9th to the 13th century called the "Albgau", the Allgäu was originally the country between the Alps in the south and the upper Argen and Wertach Rivers in the north. The concept of the Allgäu was expanded to the north and the east up until the 16th century . In the age of Napoleon I the Allgäu was divided -- the eastern part going to Bavaria and the western part to Württemberg. Today, based on cattle-breeding, the dairy industry plays a large role. Kempten is the main source for butter and cheese of all of southern Germany. In decline is the clothing industry. Connected with the lumber economy is the paper industry. Other important industries are precision engineering and jewelry production.
• Today:
  See Bavaria and Württemberg.

(Please send comments and additions for this section to leiprecht@okay.net)

[Top of Page]

Ammerland

• Description:
  This area is thought to be the origin of the Oldenburger line of nobility. It was Count Huno, while serving as the representative of the Dukes of Billung and the Counts of Staden, who declared the independence of his people, the Egilmaren, in the 11th century. Today it is the towns of Westerstede, Rastede, Wiefelstede, Apen, Bad Zwischenahn and Edelwecht which make up this region.
  It was also here, in the Lustschloß zu Rastede, that the last of the original Oldenburger ruling line died in June of 1667. This caused the Danish crown to come into possession of Oldenburg.
  The Ammerland can be imagined as a huge park because of the number of nurseries who raise all manner of trees and bushes there. All this started over 200 years ago under Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig who needed lots of trees and flowering bushes for his estates. The number of variants of Azaleas and Rhodedendrons are hard to be matched anywhere in Europe and a visit during April and May is well worth the trip. The Oldenburger Landesmuseum contains many of the original treasures of the churches in the region some of which date back to early in the 11th century. Another must-see is the Ammerländer Freilichtmuseum where old local farmhouses can be seen as they were 2 and 3 hundred years ago. This is in Bad Zwischenahn.
  The southern part of the Ammerland borders on the Oldenburger-Münsterland via Barßel and Altenoyte.
  
• History:
  The history is identical to that of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg as the Ammerland has always been a part of it.
  
• Today:
  See Niedersachsen and Oldenburg.

(Please send comments and additions for this section to fred@k2nesoft.com)

[Top of Page]

Artland (aka Osnabrücker Nordkreis)

• Description:
  In the strictest terms this region is a small area between Quakenbrück, the Hahnenmoor and Badbergen in northern Germany (Lower Saxony). Yet, often the land all the way north to Bramsche is also included as part of the Artland. A synonym for this rich farming region is the Nordkreis from when it was part of the Osnabrück/Hannover political domain in the Altkreis Bersenbrück.
  Artland immediately brings to mind wealthy and large farms with their associated Fachwerkhäuser (houses built with straw roofs out of interlaced oak beams). While wealth is in the eye of the beholder, it can be said that the ground is unusually rich and that food export has brought a certain style to the region. The richness of the soil, as compared to other nearby regions can be attributed to two things.
  One, is that the Hase river produced rich sediments in its delta just before it ran into the Ems river. From time immemorial farm animals were raised here. Two, is that over the many centuries the spreading of manure and humus into the ground actually elevated the ground from 3 to 4 feet while producing the richest of possible garden loam (black earth) in the process.
  There could also be other reasons. The Artland was culturally insular and kept the fruits of its soild in the area. The neighboring people were all Roman Catholic and while the Peace of Westphalia permitted the Artland farmers to retain their Lutheran faith, it also isolated them. A Lutheran Island in the midst of the Roman Catholic Niederstift Münster and other Catholic parishes of the Fürstbistum Osnabrück (also known as the Hochstift Osnabrück). It is for this reason that Quakenbrück, Fürstenau, Badbergen and Bersenbrück were Lutheran in a sea of Catholic surroundings. Other town in this region include Wulften, Wehdel, Boerstel, Hekese and, in the south, Rieste.
  The Wehlburg, which was a large farm complex in Wulften, now sits in the Museum village in Cloppenburg along with other Artland and Oldenburger Münsterland structures from the past. It is well worth a visit to simply walk the Lange Straße and see how our ancestors lived in both small Heuerhäuser and in big farm houses. The city of Quakenbrück is also a very idyllic place to simply walk the streets and see the old merchant houses.
  Historical Kirchspiele, or parishes, in the Artland are Gehrde, Menslage and Badbergen.
• History:
  As mentioned, the Artland became caught up in the Thirty Years War. It is probably due to Hermann Bonnus (1504-48), who was a son of the city of Quakenbrück, that the counter-reformation did not succeed here. Bonnus was an acquaintance of Luther and Melanchthon and had studied in Wittenberg. His Plattdeutsche Bibel was one of the first low German translations of the bible. It was printed in 1534 by Ludwig Dietz in Luebeck and a copy is still in the possession of his home parish at St. Sylvester's.
  The Peace of Luneville in 1801 created a situation which had France take control of all lands west of the Rhine. The Regensburger Reichdeputationshauptschluß then decreed the secularization of the various religious states and properties. This was how Osnabrück became a part of Hannover under the English King George III in the late fall of 1802. But France decided to punish England and did so by occupying Hannover in 1803. Two years later France traded Hannover to Prussia for a neutrality agreement. Prussia then was defeated anyway by France and they took Hannover back in 1807.
  From 1807 to 1810, the Artland was part of the French Weser-Departement in the French Kingdom of Westphalia. In a reorganization and expansion of the French Empire the area then became part of the Oberems-Departement from 1811 to 1813.
  After the defeat of Hannover in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) by Prussia, it became the Province of Hannover in the Kingdom of Prussia.
• Today:
  See Niedersachsen and thereby also, historically, Fürstbistum Osnabrück, Hannover and Prussia (Kingdom).

(Please send comments and additions for this section to fred@k2nesoft.com)

[Top of Page]

Bauland

• Description:
  Geographical region between Odenwald and Tauberland.
• History:
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg

[Top of Page]

Bergisches Land

(Note: description still under construction. Can you help?)

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  

[Top of Page]

Breisgau

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg (Kreis Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald) and historically Baden.

[Top of Page]

Eifel

• Description:
  Eifel is the name of a plateau which is bordered on the southeast by the Moselle (Mosel) River, on the west by the Ardennes and Belgium, on the northeast by the Rhine River. It is a largely barren upland covered by moors. The highest point is the Hohe Acht at 2447 feet (746 meters). Volcanic cones and craters are to be found, as were once lead and iron ores. Some towns in this region are Bad Münstereifel and Blankenheim.
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.

[Top of Page]

Emsland

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  

[Top of Page]

Erzgebirge

(Note: description still under construction. Can you help?)

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  • Regionaler Fremdenverkehrsverband Erzgebirge
    (http://www.tira.de/FV/default.htm)
  • Arbeitskreis Erzgebirge der AMF
    (http://www.genealogy.net/vereine/AMF/)

[Top of Page]

Filder

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg
  

[Top of Page]

Der Harz

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
• Other Internet Resources:
  Kulturlandschaft Harz

[Top of Page]

Hohenloher Ebene

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg and Bayern.

[Top of Page]

Hunsrück

• Description:
  Hidden in one of the largest forested areas remaining in Germany lies the Hunsrück, a beautiful region of rolling hills and dense forests, old villages and farms, trout streams and stone walls, suspended in time. Situated between the old Roman town of Trier and the great Rhine River towns of Mainz and Wiesbaden, this area was used in the film Heimat [Homeland] because it retains the feeling of Germany a hundred or more years ago (filmed in the village of Woppenroth). Still perched on hilltops, with little villages at the base are old castles complete with cannons. The region is watered by the Rhine and Mosel. The Ehrbach, Nahe and Hahnenbach offer scenic valleys. Some popular attractions in the area are the Church of St. Johannisberg, Idar-Oberstein (gem center), the Felsenkirche, the Lorelei Rock, the castle midriver at Kaub, the fairytale Eltz Castle, Roman ruins at Trier and a reconstructed Celtic village. The area is also known for its views, hiking and wine.
• History:
  (Note: still under construction. Can you help?)
• Today:
  See Rhineland-Palatinate

[Top of Page]

Klettgau

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland.

[Top of Page]

Kraichgau

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg.

[Top of Page]

Markgräfler Land

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg.

[Top of Page]

Nordgau

• Description:
  The Nordgau referred to lands north of the Danube River between the Bohemian Forest and the Upper Main River around Bamberg.
• History:
  The Nordgau was created by German Emperors Otto I and Otto II from land separated from the duchy of Bavaria between 938 and 976 and assimilated to the duchy of Franconia, as a way for the German Emperor to help keep the duke of Bavaria in check.

  In 1007, Emperor Henry II destroyed the old margraviate of Nordgau to instead set up the bishopric of Bamberg. This bishop was appointed by the emperor and directly answerable to him, which made for a stronger defense against the Slavic groups to the east, as well as a strong island in the center of the empire with which to discourage rebellion, especially by the dukes.

• Today:
  See Bavaria.

[Top of Page]

Ochsenfurter Gäu

• Description:
  We find the Ochsenfurter Gäu below Würzburg and the Main River but north of Bad Mergentheim. It is called the Ochsenfurter Gäu because it is near Ochsenfurt and because the area is particularly fruitful as an agricultural zone. Other Gäu areas in the general Franken region are Schweinfurt, Kitzingen, Uffenheim, Gerolzhofen and Bad Königshofen/Grabfeld.

  Ochsenfurt has a Trachtenmuseum (traditional costume museum) which features the festival clothing which has traditionally been worn by the people of the Ochsenfurt Gäu.

• History:
  The region has been under continuous farming for at least 3000 years.
• Today:
  The area is mostly in Unterfranken (Lower Franconia), (cf. Franconia) specifically the old Fürstbistum of Würzburg (Prince-bishopric of Wuerzburg) and lies in today's Bayern (Bavaria). A smaller southern part is in Baden-Württemberg

contributed by W. Fred Rump

[Top of Page]

Odenwald

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg and Hessen.

[Top of Page]

Oldenburger Münsterland (aka Niederstift Münster or Südoldenburg)

• Description:
  The name of this region can instantly create confusion as to its geographic location. Is it a part of the Münsterland or a part of the old Grand Duchy of Oldenburg? Its borders are best described along present diocesan lines which include the Deaconates of Cloppenburg (founded 1628), Vechta (1628), Löningen (Cloppenburg until 1954), Friesoyte (Cloppenburg until 1927) and Damme (Vechta until 1927). It becomes clear then that Cloppenburg and Vechta were the basic "religious" territories which make up this region. The dioceses of Hildesheim and Osnabrück surround the region.
  Until the post WWII era, when refugees from the east came to settle here, this was a veritable diaspora of Catholicism in northern Germany. It all goes back a long way.
• History:
  Since religion has set the borders and cultural background, it is also religion which for the most part makes up its history. All this goes back to the powerful Count-Bishops who ruled both Münster and Osnabrück as both lay and spiritual fiefs. In 1532 Franz von Waldeck started to change his domains to the Lutheran faith. The Cathedral Chapters of both cities resisted the loss of their powerbase but the Hochstift Osnabrück to which the area belonged began to wane and Protestantism had arrived. When the Count Electors of Cologne and Bishops of Münster and a few other places started to attempt to bring the church back to Catholicism, they found little enthusiasm to go back. The priests had by now married their concubines and the concept of inheriting and passing the goods of the church on to the family had made strong inroads. The bishops did not like this idea at all but did not quite know what to do with the wives of the priests. Basically there were only three unmarried and Catholic priests in the area of discussion. Other promised to change to keep their jobs but as soon as the administrators left they resumed their old ways. In order to facilitate some local control the Count-Bishop of Osnabrück split up his diocese into 13 diaconates. By this time the area had come under the civil control of the Count-Bishops of Münster.
  

  It just so happened that a vigorous re-catholization campaign had created a nominal catholic population which thus became frozen with the Treaty of Münster and Osnabrück of 1648 (Treaty of Westphalia) which advised via 'cuius regio eius religio' to the status of 1624 as the permanent religious faith of an area. Actually it took until 1682 when the last bunch of recalcitrant priests was fired to complete the Roman Catholic reconversion of the Oldenburger Münsterland.
  

  The Münster Count-Bishop Christoph Bernard von Galen started to make waves about getting the spiritual side of his territory to match the civil administration part of his principality in the mid 1660s. In 1667 he was able to purchase the Ämter Vechta, Cloppenburg, Meppen and Bevergern from Osnabrück. Pope Clemens IX approved the deal the next year. Thus ended a 100 year battle for religious-civil control of the Hochstift Osnabrück which from now on became known as the Niederstift Münster.
  Not much changed until the advent of the French Revolution. The general rearrangement of the balance of power in Germany came to the larger and powerful states as Prussia started to make its influence known. Prussia had already occupied the city of Münster in 1802. The Reichsdeputationhauptschluß of 1803 in Regensburg sealed the fate of the religious principalities in Germany. The eastern part of the Fürstentum Münster, the Niederstift, was given to the Duke of Oldenburg and the western part, the Amt Meppen, to the Duke of Arensberg. The people rejoiced that they did not wind us as a part of Prussia. The last Count-Bishop of Münster, Max Franz, had died in 1801 and the suspense as to his successor was now over. The area has stayed in the Münster Diocese to this day even though it is not physically connected to it and is surrounded by other dioceses.

• Today:
  See Oldenburg and Niedersachsen. See also the historical Fürstbistum Osnabrück and Munster.

(Please send comments and additions for this section to fred@k2nesoft.com)

[Return to Top of Page]

Ortenau

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg (Ortenaukreis) and historically Baden.

[Top of Page]

Ries

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg.

[Top of Page]

Saterland

• Description:
  This part of Germany stood unique in its isolation for hundreds of years because of its location in the midst of several moors. In the east lies the Ostermoor bordered by the Soeste river. In the north it was the Bar-Feller Tief and various smaller moors bordered by the Leda river; the west had the Westermoor with subsidiaries to the Leda as a border and in the south there were the Marka-Lahe river systems with all the moors around Friesoythe providing protection from the outside world.
  An earlier Westphalian population became dominated by Frisians in the 11th and 12th centuries and took on a separate cultural and linguistic identity similar to old East Frisian. This language became known as Seltersk and it is estimated that fewer than 1000 people in the world can still speak this language.
  Until modern times there were no roads, only secretive paths which only the locals could traverse without sinking into the quicksand and treacherous moorland. Boats were the normal mode of transportation and early canals helped bring the region into modern times. One of these canals was constructed in 1855, but it had to stay within the boundaries of the Grandduchy of Oldenburg because Prussia did not permit its construction on its territory. It was not until 1921 when, under the leadership of German nation, this project became fully realized as the Hunte-Ems-Kanal which today is simply known as the Küstenkanal. The construction of the north-south Highway 72 and the east-west Route 401 finally made the area accessible to the world by motorized vehicle and ended the uniqueness of the Saterland which had withstood every other invasion attempt made against it.
• History:
  The three Kirchspiele (parishes) of Ramsloh, Scharrel and Utende-Struecklingen are the historical basis for the settlement of people in the area. Initially these were part of the land of the counts of Tecklenburg under the name Herrschaft Sögel auf dem Hümmling also known as the Comitia Sygeltra. This came to the Fürstbistum Münster in 1400, but just like the East Frisians the people demanded to retain special rights for themselves which had been originally granted to them by Charlemagne. Fierce independence was at the root of this until the 16th century that a "Committee of 12" (Zwölverrat) decided the local laws. This type of "democracy" included the free election of each parish pastor until the 17th century. The Frisian culture acknowledged no other masters except themselves via free election. There were no lordly manors and structured society. Only freemen existing on equal footing to one another.
  The Saterland, via its being a part of the Count-Bishopric of Münster since 1400, became part of the Grafschaft and later Landkreis Cloppenburg.
  This did not mean that it also was in the diocese of Münster from a religious or parish subdivision standpoint. The Saterland was part of the archdeaconate of Merzen in the Diocese of Osnabrück until religious overlordship was given to Münster in 1803; the secular part went to the Dukes of Oldenburg.
• Today:
  See Oldenburg and Niedersachsen.

(Please send comments and additions for this section to fred@k2nesoft.com)

[Top of Page]

Sauerland

• Description:
  The Sauerland includes richly forested highlands in southern Westphalia and the northeastern part of the Rhenish Schiefer Mountains between the Moehne and Sieg Rivers. Included are the Arnsberger Woods, the Ebbe and Lenne Mountains, the high plains of Winterberg and the Rothaar Mountains. Its highest point is the mountain, Kahle Asten, at 841 meters. There are numerous reservoirs and forest-related industries as well as tourism and small ironworks in the valleys. The chief cities are Iserlohn, Luedenscheid and Hagen.
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Nordrhein-Westfalen (D)

Thanks to Frank Gareis

[Top of Page]

Schwäbisch Alb

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg.

[Top of Page]

Schwarzwald=Black Forest

• Description:
  A region in southwestern Germany roughly 100 miles long from north to south and only about 37 miles wide at its widest point. It is made up of the northern, central and southern forests each each exhibiting their own cultural and physical uniqueness.
  The name, Schwarzwald, evokes darkness and mystery coming from the romantic German concept of Waldeinsamkeit or forest-loneliness. The northern part makes for what is the typical dense conifer forest which gives the region its name. Karlsruhe, Pforzheim and Baden-Baden (the city) are situated in the northern half with Freiburg being in the south.
  The Schwarzwald is well known for its Black Forest cake, cuckoo clocks and the red puff balls on the hats of the native customs. Some of the grand old farm houses of the region are preserved in Bernau where the most handsome is the 18th century Resenhof where one can see how the Eindachhof kept the entire farm under one roof.
• History:
  The Black Forest area is one of the most invaded and destroyed regions of Germany as it incurred repeated attacks from the French who pretty much destroyed almost everything at one time or another. WWII added to this destruction by obliterating most of its beautiful cities. Medieval castle and cloister ruins remain scattered about the region. One of significant size is the former Benedictine Abbey at Hirsau which was once part of the Cluny Benedictine order. It was destroyed by the French army in 1693 as they also levelled the nearby ducal castle. The abbey's Eulenturm (1120) still stands along with the walls of the cloister itself (1494).
  It might be mentioned that the original Dr. Faustus of Goethe's famed Faust died in Staufen in the Gasthof zum Loewen (Room 5, 3rd floor). A sign at the door says in translation: "In the year 1539, Doctor Faustus, a wondrous necromancer, came to The Lion at Staufen and died a miserable death." And the story tells how one of the supreme devils, Mephistopheles, who in his lifetime he just called his brother-in-law, did, after the pact of 24 years had run out, break his neck and deliver his poor soul to eternal damnation.
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg and, historically, Baden.

[Top of Page]

Schwarzwälder Hochwald

• Description:
  The Schwarzwaelder Hochwald is located west of Idar-Oberstein, north of Losheim, Wadern, Nonnweiler, and Nohfelden in the present-day Land of Rheinland-Pfalz. This is separate from the Schwarzwald (Black Forest).
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Rheinland-Pfalz.

[Top of Page]

Spessart

(Note: description still under construction. Can you help?)

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  

[Top of Page]

Strohgäu

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg.

[Top of Page]

Sundgau

• Description:
  The Sundgau is the name for the hilly region between Mulhouse in Haut-Rhin (formerly Upper Alsace) and the Swiss border, i.e. the areas around Altkirch, Ferrette and Saint-Louis.
• History:
  Sundgau was a political region during the Carolingian time. (Sund = south, Gau = political region in the early Middle Ages. The word gau was, in Merovingian times, go(u), from the reconstructed Old Germanic *gaawja which meant "land near the water".).

  In those days, Charlemagne and his successors sent out an official to record what was going on in an outlying area and to represent the king there. This person was known in Latin as a graphio, based on the Latin word for "to write", which actually stemmed from the Greek graphein. The term was used, for example, by the Byzantine Empire in a similar way. The title eventually came to be known as gograf and finally just Graf, which translates in English to Count or Earl.

  The Grafschaft or Countship of Sundgau is first mentioned in history around 900 AD. The ancestors of the Counts of Habsburg took possession of this Landgrafschaft in 1135. In 1648 it fell to France, where it remains today.

  Since then, Sundgau has come to represent only a geographical concept.

• Today:
  See Alsace.

[Top of Page]

Teutoburger Wald=Teutoburg Forest

• Description:
  This region of low forested mountains of less than 1500 feet in height is delineated by an escarpment somewhat between the Ems and Weser Rivers within North Rhine-Westphalia, a region of 47,447 square kilometers. The highest point is the Dörenberg between Bad Iburg and Georgsmarienhütte at 311 meters. Loess soil generally overlays Cretaceous limestone formations. Weather is dominated by western maritime air systems resulting in mean January temperatures above freezing, temperatures in July average in the low 60's F.

  Detmold, Lemgo, Versmold, Lienen Tecklenburg and Bielefeld (which is situated on an important pass through the hills and is famous for its linen textiles) are towns associated with the region. The Piesberg, just north of Osnabrück, is the most northerly occurrence of hard coal (anthracite) in the Westphalian coal fields. This mining facility provided work and coal for the city of Osnabrück from the 16th century onwards and also provided for a thriving metal working industry in Beckenrode bei Hagen and Georgsmarienhütte. The ore came from the Hüggelberg. These resources had been exhausted by modern times.

  Traditionally the region has been subject to rural overpopulation. The presence of cheap labor led to development of a "cottage" weaving industry during the 1600-1800's. Farming was a leading activity. The people of the region have contributed significantly to many advancements in society, past and present.

• History:
  Signs of cultural and agricultural stability are recognized from about 5000 B.C. Of Nordic extraction, these Germans are credited as tall, with long massive heads, fair hair, blue eyes and possessed with a remarkable degree of energy and restlessness. Arminius, a German chief of the Cherusci tribe, allied with other tribes, defeated three legions of Romans led by Varus in 9 A.D. in the Teutoburg Forest. (Historians are still in doubt whether the area we today call the Teutoburg Forest was the actual site of the battle.) The resulting failure of the Romans to influence this region has led historians to designate this battle as one of the fifteen most decisive in world history. Today, a colossal 186-foot monument to Arminius may be viewed at the Grotenburg, southwest of Detmold. Arminius (transliterated "Hermann") has been long associated with strong individualism and independence as a national heroic figure.

  The Teutoburg Forest has been an important crossing point for traders who wanted to go from Münster and Cologne to Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck in the north-south direction and in the east-west direction from Braunschweig to Holland and beyond. This was true even in the period before the cities had much significance. The route was travelled by Romans and they were stopped in these crucial passes in the hills.

  Charlemagne arrived in the area 783, outpacing the Saxons. He immediately set up a mission station in the area and Osnbrück was born. Clan life continued into the Middle Ages with about 100 clan families overseen by a headman. Kinship was loosely knit, probably traced along matriarchal lines and not monogamous. Village law, or weistumer, was in the oral tradition. Use of a surname for church records was encouraged by the 1100's, but was not essential until 1811 when the Kaiser mandated that all Germans establish permanent surnames. Previously, many would change their surnames to correspond to the name of the farm, or other property they purchased or acquired via of marriage. Political affairs reflect a staunch independence as illustrated in the mini-state of Lippe.

  Farming techniques as well as living conditions gradually improved by clearing land and draining marshes from the 7th through the 9th centuries. Several centuries later, marling was introduced, but famine and disease in the midst of expanding human populations were major concerns to rural and village peasants well into the 1800's. Infant death exceeded 25 percent of births and were often rationalized on eugenic and Malthusian bases. Death at childbirth, from disease and injury resulted in multiple marriages for survivors. About two-thirds of the population lived in small hamlets or villages as serfs, peasants or farm laborers under the rule of clergy, nobles or burgers who resided in more substantial accommodations. Churches served as the main avenue for education and social advancement, although many were self-proclaimed "free-thinkers" without political or religious unity into the 1800's. Most historical scholars consider the region to have been slow in developing socially and commercially.

  This region is now known for modern light and heavy manufacturing industries, including textiles as an extension of the cottage weaving industry. The agricultural countryside is described as hilly and wooded, gentle and picturesque, blending with the towns and cities. Most cities offer unique tourist attractions; Lemgo is noted for its oriel windows, arches and uniquely carved gables; Tecklenburg, on the crest of Teutoburg Forest, for its half timbered houses; Lürdissen, for a Romanesque church altered in the Gothic style in 1290 and Bielefeld, for its museum displaying some of the best works of the Expressionist Period.

  Excellent ethnohistorical references include by W. D. Kamphoefner, The Westfalians - from Germany to Missouri (1987, Princeton University Press) and Westfalen in der Neuen Welt: Eine Socialgeschichte der Auswanderung im 19. Jahrundert (1982, Münster) and are recommended to genealogists studying this region.

• Today:
  See sections on Nordrhein-Westfalen/North Rhine-Westphalia and Lippe

This original version of this section contributed by Lowell M. Schake, Ph.D. (lschake@caller.infi.net). W. Fred Rump has contributed to this section.

[Top of Page]

Thüringer Wald

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  

[Top of Page]

Vogtland

• Description:
  Vogtland, also sometimes called Pleissnerland, can be found south of the city of Leipzig, east of the Saale River, north of the city of Altenburg and west of the Elbe River, with the Mulde River bisecting the region from north to south. The region lies to the north of the Egerland and Meissen.
• History:
  The Vogtland was a possession of the imperial lands (demesne) from the reign of Frederick I Barbarossa (1152).
• Today:
  See Saxony (Sachsen), Thuringia (Thüringen), and Bavaria (Bayern).

[Top of Page]

Vorderösterreich

• Description:
  Vorderösterreich has been variously translated as "The Austrian Forelands", "Hither Austria", "Nearer Austria" or even (incorrectly) "Further Austria".
• History:
  The duchy of Swabia was absorbed into Habsburg ownership in 1268 which gave rise to a southwest German, Habsburg group of lands. In the 14th and 15th centuries the area was fragmented and known as the "vorderen Lande" or in contracted form, "Vorlande". From the 16th century onward it was known as "Vorderösterreich".

  It consisted of the county of Sundgau in Upper Alsace the imperial lands of the league of ten cites in Alsace known as the "Dekapolis", Ortenau, the Breisgau, the southern part of the Black Forest, the "forest-cities" of the upper Rhine River as well as "Swabian Austria" which included Burggau, Hohenberg, Nellenburg [=Stockach], the Imperial lands of Upper and Lower Swabia along with cities on the Danube River.

  Vorarlberg was politically affiliated only during the period 1752-1782.

  In 1648 the area and title in Alsace fell to France. In 1801-1805 the rest of Vorderösterreich became parts of Bavaria, Wurttemberg and Baden.

• Today:
  See Alsace, Austria, Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Sundgau, Swabia.

[Top of Page]

Wasgau

• Description:
  Wasgau in modern-day Rheinland-Pfalz includes the villages Herzalben, Hinterweidenthal, Hauenstein, Busenberg, Gossersweiler-Stein, Nothweiler, Schoenau, Fischbach, Ludwigswinkel, Lemberg, Birkenhoerdt, and lots of castles and ruins such as those at Löwenburg, Hohenburg, Wegelnburg, Berwartstein, Fleckenstein, Froensbourg, Wasigenstein, Blumenstein, Langenburg, Vogelsburg, Guttenberg, Drachenfels, Lindelbrunn, Grafendahn, Altdahn, Falkenburg and Trifels. As a central city there is "Dahn".
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Rhineland-Palatinate.

Thanks to Bernd Scheerer.

[Top of Page]

Windecker Ländchen

(Note: description still under construction. Can you help?)

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  

[Top of Page]

Windsheimer Bucht

• Description:
  The Windsheimer Bucht lies within the larger Aischgrund in Franken's gemütliche Ecke around the city of Bad Windsheim on the Aisch river. The Naturpark Steigerwald lies to the north and the Naturpark Frankenhöhe to the south.

  Bad Windsheim is one of the best known and finest salt spring spas in Europe. The number of historical sites and monuments in and around Bad Windsheim illustrates the traditional and centuries old german culture. The outdoor museum in the city / illustrates the varying architectual styles of farm and city building of the Franconian landscape.

  The city reminds one of the nearby Rothenburg ob der Tauber with its many baroque patrician houses and other Fachwerkhäuser which show a city as it used to be centuries ago. The imposing city hall dates to 1713. The "Ochsenhof" (1537) contains a Heimatmuseum of local history. The Stadtpfarrkirche (originally of St. Killian) was built in 1400 and enlarged in 1730.

• History:
  The city itself had its beginnings in 731 when it was just a royal farm. In 1200 the city was laid out in quadratic form but with a three-cornered town center. The city was officially founded in 1280 and became a free Reichstadt in 1433.
• Today:
  See Franconia.

contributed by W. Fred Rump

[Top of Page]

Zabergäu

• Description:
  
• History:
  
• Today:
  See Baden-Württemberg.
  

[Top of Page]

Jim Eggert, Frank Gareis, Rick Heli, Étienne Herrbach, Reinhold F. Herrmann, Volker Milbrandt, W. Fred Rump, Lowell M. Schake, Bernd Scheerer have contributed to this page.