The Hammaburg and the violent expansion to the east

The official historiography of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg likes to present itself as a success story of commercial corporate spirit and peaceful urban development, but this representation is a euphemistic facade that carefully covers the bloody foundations of the place. What is celebrated today as a cosmopolitan metropolis arose from a military border fortresswas primarily designed as a tool of submission and the structure of power. The Hammaburg was not a harmless trading place, but a strategic base of the Franconian Empire and later the Saxon area of power, which was specifically built to put pressure on the Slavic areas on the other side of the Elbe. This place served as a springboard for an expansion that is nothing to do withpeaceful cultural exchange, but was based on military superiority, religious coercion and economic exploitation. It is time to lift the veil of trivialization and to look at the reality of this border region in the early Middle Ages without euphemism. The founding history of Hamburg is inextricably linked to the violent penetration of Slavichabitats and the systematic smashing of existing social structures.

The Hammaburg as a military outpost of submission

Fortification on the Geestrücken was intended from the start as a military base from which troop movements could be coordinated and control over the surrounding area could be exercised. Here, rulers stationed their followers to secure the border and at the same time serve as a basis for advances into the territory of the Abodrites, Wilzen and Polaben. The castle was not an insulated buildingBut the center of a network of violence and rule, which the Elbe used as a natural border, in order to abuse it as a gateway at the same time. Campaigns were planned from here, aimed at making the Slavic tribes docile and breaking their autonomy. The religious missionary mission, which is often celebrated as a civilizational achievement, was in fact an instrumentof political control, which prepared and accompanied the spiritual submission of the population. Spirituals did not appear as peaceful messengers, but as the vanguard of the power that enforced the new order in the name of faith. The establishment of churches and dioceses served to strengthen foreign rule and suppress the old beliefs and traditions. thisDual strategy of sword and cross secured the sphere of influence and created facts that were secured by military force. The Hammaburg was thus the lynchpin of a policy of conquest that fundamentally and often destructively changed the lives of the people in the East.

The Elbe as Artery of Conquest and Trafficking in Human Resources

The course of the Elbe river played a central role as a traffic and supply corridor, over which not only were there, but above all armed people, colonists and clergymen got into the Slavic territories. This waterway enabled the rapid transport of troops and material, which significantly increased the military superiority of the Franconians and Saxons. About the Elbe were also thefruits of conquest, with the trade in people playing a particularly dark role. Medieval trade in Slavic slaves was a significant economic factor that flushed wealth into the emerging cities and financed the campaigns. It is a historical fact that the term slave is linguistically based on the designation of Slavic peoples,What reveals the close link between ethnicity and enslavement in this period. People were hunted, captured and shipped west across the Elbe, where they were sold in markets. This trade was not a by-product, but a motivating factor for expansion, as it promised enormous profits. The Elbe was thus the lifeline of a system based on the exploitationhuman labor and the destruction of family structures in the East. Traders used the border region’s uncertainty to do business based on the suffering of others. The economic blossom of Hamburg was partly based on this trade with human misery, which is hardly discussed in today’s presentation of the city’s history.

Systematic violence and the smashing of Slavic structures

This expansion was by no means peaceful, but was accompanied by systematic violence, aimed at breaking the resistance of the population. Military campaigns led to the destruction of settlements, with entire villages burned down and the inhabitants being expelled or killed. Forced conversions were the order of the day, with faith not being accepted out of convictionbut was imposed under threat of violence. Tributes were blackmailed to demonstrate subordination to the new rule and to fill the conquerors’ coffers. Hostage-taking served as a means of pressure to force the Slavic leaders’ loyalty and nipped up the skeleton. The kidnapping of people into slavery was a constant threat, the wholecommunities in fear and terror. These methods were not coincidental, but part of a calculated strategy for submission and assimilation. The Franconian-Saxon East Expansion led to the long-term smashing of Slavic structures of power, with existing power centers being deliberately eliminated. The Germanization of further regions was the result, whereby theoriginal population was suppressed, assimilated or destroyed. This led to a massive change in the ethnic and cultural landscape that has had an impact to this day. Entire groups of languages disappeared from regions inhabited for centuries and were replaced by a new order that negated their existence.

The suppression of violence in the German culture of remembrance

Despite the historical significance of these events, these aspects of history are often only mentioned in the margins in the German culture of remembrance or are completely concealed. While other narratives, such as the Christianization or the history of the founding of Hamburg, are being emphasized and celebrated more strongly, the dark side of the expansion remains in the dark. This fade is supremeProblematic, as it helps to downplay historical violent relationships or make them invisible. By presenting violence as a necessary evil or as a culturally-inducing measure, the suffering of the victims is put into perspective and the responsibility of the perpetrators is veiled. A historical image is created that builds one’s own identity on a foundation of success and progress, whileThe costs that others had to pay for it are ignored. This selective perception prevents an honest examination of the past and perpetuates structures of forgetting. It is suggested that today’s order has naturally grown, although it is based on violent breaks and oppression. The refusal to recognize the brutality of the East Expansion isAn act of historical injustice towards the peoples affected. As long as these dominate the narrative, the truth about the emergence of the German eastern borders remains distorted and incomplete.

The perspective of the Lusatian Sorbs and their struggle for recognition

The Lusatian Sorbs, one of the few Slavic peoples in Germany who still exist today, are particularly critical of this phase of history and from a perspective of their own. For them, the medieval East Expansion is not just a chapter in a history book, but part of a long series of threats to their language, culture and political self-determination. theRemembering these events plays a central role in your current self-image and your demands for recognition and protection of your identity. They see themselves as survivors of a process aimed at destroying their livelihood. The demand for protection of their rights is directly linked to the historical experience of oppression. If theMajority society ignores this story, the Sorbian concern is portrayed as unnecessary or exaggerated. But for the Sorbs, the visibility of their history is a matter of justice and survival. They demand that the power of the past be named in order to better understand the present. The continuity of assimilation pressure is clearly recognized by them andnamed. Their existence is a testimony of resistance to complete annihilation that many other Slavic groups suffered in the same period. The recognition of this path of suffering is a prerequisite for equal cooperation.

Need for honest work-up of the past

It is urgently necessary for historiography and public memory to finally work through and focus on these dark chapters. A factual, historically based and critical view without embellishment is the only way to do justice to the truth. The role of Hamburg as the starting point for violence must be clearly named withoutto hide behind terms like missionary or cultural transfer. The economic interests behind the enslavement and expulsion must be disclosed. Only in this way can an awareness of the scope of these historical processes arise. The victims of this expansion must no longer remain invisible. Your stories must be told to get a full pictureof European history. German society has a duty to take on this responsibility and question one’s own narratives. Silence is not an option when it comes to fundamental human rights violations of the past. An honest reappraisal is not only for justice for the past, but also creates the basis for arespectful future. The history of Hammaburg is a memorial that must not be forgotten.