Germanien 1933 Issue 1
1933 January / Dortmund Issue 1
Germanien
Monthly Issues for Prehistory for the Understanding of German Essence
1933 January / Dortmund Issue 1
To the Year 1933
Dedicated to the Year 1933
In the sign of the deepest distress of the German people, "Germania" transforms in its fifth year of existence into a monthly journal, is overseen by the A.F. Roehler publishing house, and thereby gains a special face outwardly. However, the essential reasons that ultimately convinced all involved to immediately carry out this transformation into a monthly journal, in other words, to give the periodical a broader basis and greater mobility, are decisive.
It is certain that the broad circles of the educated today more than ever feel the need to understand the German way and essence, that they feel a desire to form a judgment about the root values of their people - in order to be all the more intellectually armed against the turmoil of the times and the already unprecedented decline in essential cultural matters.
For the German who values themselves, the imperishable words of the old Jacob Grimm appear with compelling and striking force: "Because I learned that no language, no law, and no antiquity should be placed too low, I wanted to elevate my fatherland." This unmistakably means that knowledge about the now greatly expanded prehistory should become the prelude to a refined life, a pronounced sense of community, and an enhanced feeling of responsibility towards the people and the homeland.
Therefore, we also deliberately speak of "Monthly Issues for Prehistory for the Recognition of German Essence." Fulfillment and assertion of German essence do not lie solely in the recognition of what was, what well-known paths and fateful courses of history have bestowed upon us, which, however, remained alive within us and now only need to be awakened. We want nothing else. We want to let what has long been buried speak to us vividly, we want to bring it into the present, we want to once again give the forgotten and concealed the glow of the sun, we want to entrust it to the secret chambers of the German soul, from which it was born in gray prehistoric times.
Knowledge about the customs and cults, the active and intellectual life of our ancestors should again be a model for us today, and therefore we follow all those places, structures, and images, burial mounds, and the like, which evidently demonstrate where the Germanic spirit once was active. We further uncover treasures that have partly remained hidden to German prehistory research or try to free them from the trappings that later periods, alien in nature, added for disguise. We provide reading samples from works of those who have already been pioneering in this sense for years. We do not stop at actual excavation research, but also try to sharpen the eye for the hand of a truly authentic Germanic work revealing itself in the German landscape. We pursue everything in accordance with what Wilhelm Teudt comprehensively presented in guidelines. We place special value on giving a monthly overview of the literature concerning Germanic research.
Thus, we aim for much and show great courage. We also know that we will prepare much that is still little known in research, but we have the satisfaction that outstanding representatives of the humanities warmly welcome our goals and actively contribute. The unwavering certainty that the performance capability and educational urge of the German people are based on prehistoric values justifies our courage and strengthens our belief in the lines of the wise man of Weimar:
"He who cannot give an account of three thousand years,
remains in the dark,
inexperienced,
and lives from day to day."
...to elevate to a fateful, necessary meaning. We no longer have time to lose, to remain in the dark, as far as our German prehistory and past are concerned. We wish and hope that our journal, brought to life a few years ago by the "Association of Friends of Germanic Prehistory", will make a good way, that further related associations will make use of it, and that it will find numerous new friends beyond that. To all these goes not least the request to help shape the work by sacrificially recommending "Germania", which should benefit large parts of our people.
For the Recognition of Germanic Spirit and Belief
By Wilhelm Teudt
(Fundamental Principles)
Based on our extremely deficient and often likely erroneous knowledge of Germanic life or even inner life, we can by no means yet arrive at a representation of the Germanic spirit and belief in gods that would be somewhat rounded and satisfactory. But the beginning and preparation are here; this essay is meant to be nothing more and nothing less than a preparatory contribution to rediscovering the Germanic essence, over which our historical oblivion has laid a thick veil - unlike the Mediterranean and Oriental peoples with their own rich written traditions.
The religious-scientific views and textbooks on Germanic gods, cult practices, and myths, as far as they originate from the largely materially determined modern era, indeed gather a lot of material but are of little use for penetrating our subject, whether they are written from historical or theological perspectives, whether their judgment is determined by the factual thought-world taught to us or whether they seek to find access to understanding through other Indo-Germanic or Oriental expressions. They do not resonate with kindred spirits within us; the clear feeling remains untouched, as if no inner bridge led from us to the spirit of our ancestors.
Since our kinship with the Germanic forefathers has become a certainty for us, the strongest doubts arise whether all this has been written from a true understanding of the subject. Do the confused god-figures, fragmented ideas, and colorful spirit groups, as well as the clumsy descriptions of gods, truly correspond to historical truth? We are particularly sensitive when we read the condescending attempts that seem to let some feeble lights fall on the Germanic god-figures to bring some sense into this confused world.
In contrast, the progress of recent decades, in which we have been granted the latest saga and Edda research, is highly gratifying. It also means, in essential points, a confirmation of the inner truth of numerous writings of a more popular nature, from which the love for the matter and the effort to do justice to the Germanic soul speak, even if the richly conveyed material has often experienced an imprudent, fantastical interpretation, which we must see not as a promotion but as a burden. However, this is the reaction to the indifferent and loveless treatment of a subject that naturally demands the highest interest and warmest love.
If I see it correctly, and if conclusions may be drawn from a very rich correspondence at all, then a correct, goal-oriented path has been taken by the "Friends of Germanic Prehistory" for the present task: on the one hand, the scientific method must be mastered and visibly maintained, and on the other hand, the courage to err must not be lacking. Our confidence is based not only on the external success so far with a steadily growing number of "friends" in scientific circles, scientifically minded individuals, and those directions that strive for an inner renewal of the German people, but also on the conscientious care and caution that we demand from ourselves and our collaborators. Even the so-called bold attempts into unknown territory, without which there is no progress, I have always undertaken with a cool head, always considering the limits imposed on us by undeniable historical facts, psychological demands, and otherwise historically justified combinations.
The dampening of the courage to err and the rejection of new ideas play an understandable role for all those who do not believe in the possibility of significant errors in the prevailing doctrine and their own research. There may also be those who avoid contradicting authorities to not jeopardize their own scientific recognition. In any case, isolated indications of this have come to my attention several times. These are considerations from which we feel free.
This all applies to the entire scope of questions about the Germanic past. The progress of knowledge is easiest when it concerns real culture, the use of clay, wood, stone, and metals, craftsmanship and defensiveness, nutrition, housing, and settlement. But it is more difficult and important for understanding Germanic essence and our inner relationship to it when our questions relate to art and science, folk life, customs, and beliefs. If we do not succeed in reconnecting with the spiritual life of our ancestors, then our people will continue to remain at an alarming distance from the roots of their own essence—a distance that has been imposed on us through the destruction and then the belittlement of Germanic culture in the Middle Ages up to our present time. Kossinna's wish that archaeology should become a national science can only be fulfilled if our people are once again allowed to look up and thus the possibility of an inner connection to the spiritual life of the ancestors is opened.
We thus see the significance, strength, and justified future hope of the movement of the Friends of Germanic Prehistory in seeking and finding means and ways to penetrate Germanic spiritual life.
This also includes the view of the landscape as the main stage of our ancestors' lives. In this landscape, which in its natural features is still the same as it was twelve hundred and more years ago, our ancestors sought out their settlement sites, built their houses, cultivated their fields, leveled their assembly and combat game places, chose their cult places and court sites, consecrated their graves and burial grounds, set up their forests for the division of years and days. Should there really be no more traces from which conclusions can be drawn?
We pay attention to the viewpoints under which they did their work. We recognize what was significant to them, what gave them joy, what aroused their reverence, and attuned their soul to thoughts of the deity. Everywhere we find connections to our own feelings and aspirations.
We hear and read the place and field names; what was an empty sound to us now becomes a guidepost and often also makes personal certainty of what scientific investigation might still leave undecided. If a mistake sometimes creeps in, we see it as less regrettable and harmful than the previous dullness with which the average German walks through the landscape of his ancestors.
We become aware of symbols, signs, and emblems that have survived unnoticed into our time (on stones or houses or elsewhere) and are captivated by the profound meaning they embody. We get a sense of the lofty nature, the fine structure of the Germanic spirit, from which the thinkers and philosophers, poets and artists, philosophers and theologians emerged as intellectual representatives of a people that can no longer be labeled as barbaric. And what about religion, the innermost life of the ancients?
Anyone who asks about the value and nature of any religion, including the Germanic belief, must first be clear that among the followers of major comprehensive religious communities, distinctions must be made, which we can refer to as three superimposed layers. The upper layer of the religious adherents is where thinkers and seekers of God, with a pure, truth-oriented pursuit, recognize and acknowledge the fundamental ideas of a religion and where they feel the burden of the always pressing, coarsening, and distorting demands of practical religious life - whether these demands are real or perceived - as human imperfection or as degeneration. It is fair and necessary to understand the value of every religion whose followers ultimately receive their genuine thoughts and impulses from this upper layer, also in their sense, and to evaluate their worth. It is unfair and leads to misjudgment and errors if the assessment is based on the state of the middle layer or even with regard to the lower layer.
This middle layer often deals, without sufficient understanding of the fundamental ideas of its own confession and cult, with the forms in which the religious life, based on the ideas, practically expresses itself and should, in their opinion, uniformly manifest. This layer is the representative of what we now call churchdom, the officially recognized opinion. It lives and is pious primarily in forms. It is often entirely caught up in them. It fosters beliefs in itself and others that lead to superstition.
The lower layer looks up to and listens to the middle layer, where vulgarity and spiritually devoid religious pretense spread, often in ideas of astonishing childishness and inadequacy - without implying that no ethical and uplifting forces could arise from this religious domain.
The lower layer of religious essence, found in the broadest extent in all religions, and even among some Christian peoples, seems almost to represent the normal state, does not solely involve the so-called uneducated part of a people. The layering is rather conditioned by intellectual and spiritual dispositions that can be found in all social classes. These considerations as prerequisites for an appropriate assessment of all religions should no longer be neglected by us, as has often been the case, especially concerning Germanic belief. This is all the more necessary because our knowledge of the Germanic essence comes so largely from foreign sources.
It is natural that foreigners who report on the religious life of a people primarily or exclusively notice and report the outer forms and the most frequently occurring, to them incomprehensible, distortions of the forms. This applies to all reports about our ancestors by Roman writers. Certain parts of Tacitus's "Germania" make an exception, as it is evident that he sought to obtain his knowledge not only from superficial observers of the visible religious activities but also through thorough investigation.
The understanding of true Germanic thinking and belief has received a strong impetus through the careful study of Nordic literature, especially the sagas and the Edda by Kurt Redel, Sommer, Reuter, and others. Of significant importance is also the indication of a degeneration of Germanic religious life that took place in the last centuries before the introduction of Christianity and which also had its consequences on the moral realm. The cause of the degeneration is recognized as the intrusion of foreign influences. The gradual appearance of god images, similar to those in Rome, can be seen as an external sign of this.
The increasing contacts during the high Germanic period, from the Cimbrian invasion to the Gothic rule in Italy, with the in many respects alluring and superior Roman culture must have had a disturbing influence on the culture and also on the religious thinking and life of the Germans. The splendor of the Roman worship with high temple buildings, magnificent god images, and the intoxicating festivals aimed at the spectacle and pleasure of the masses could only exert a disturbing influence on the fundamental idea of Germanic belief in gods reported to us by Tacitus, namely, that the inscrutable deity was to be worshipped under its various names and manifestations without images and temples. The correctness of this Tacitean report is further confirmed by the fact that it similarly appears concerning other peoples whose dependence, if not descent, from the Germanic people has become likely.
Also, the Oriental and Mediterranean concept of sacrifice as a gift desired or even needed by the gods for their own benefit has overshadowed and confused the old concept of sacrifice, according to which the sacrifice was celebrated as a solemn meal in memory of the ancestors and the gods behind them.
Alongside the influence of Roman paganism, the infiltration of Christian ideas and Christian morality began from the early Christian times, and indeed from the outset with Judaistic and Mediterranean burdens. If the original Christian ideas had numerous important points of contact with Germanic belief, the foreign burden could only act in the direction of a religious-moral upheaval, which robbed the old faith of its character and strength.
We have Christian testimonies about the existence of god images, which had a similar significance as images of saints and talismans as good household spirits, only from the last pagan centuries of the Germanic north. In Germania, things are, as it seems, somewhat different. The new finds in the Trier temple district tell us too little because it is a matter of a distinctly Roman-Germanic mixed culture and, before that, of Celtic influences. Furthermore, the few and mostly meager artifacts suspected to be god images can, with greater likelihood, be considered as ornaments and creations of pastime or exercises by lovers of fine arts, to which the paintings in the Jordan mill also belong. Speaking of "fetishes" in such findings is modern arrogance.
However, a serious testimony to what existed in Germania in our sense, and what was, at least, an object of reverence or hope for our ancestors, has now, it seems, been found in the "Wänndhen von Dedsen." It is presented to the public in this issue by Will Besper. In any case, we are dealing with a highly interesting testimony of the fine arts of our ancestors, through which they sought to depict a being from their mythological world. We place the "good household spirit" in the high status of the images of school patrons in Catholic regions.
But we have no serious evidence of statues that played a role in public worship, as was the case in the temples of Oriental and Mediterranean countries, which the people were to revere as representations of the deity. However, some occurrences of this or that type, as evidenced by the northern literature, cannot be denied for Germania; they are often associated with the worship of Wodan by some scholars.
In all these considerations, we must not close our eyes to the fact that, in the first part of the conversion period, the foreign missions still faced an inner religious resistance, which exerted resistance not only in the old Saxon land but throughout Germania and about two centuries later in the northern countries, reaching everywhere into the high Middle Ages.
This resistance, along with all other references of the old faith to the new faith, especially the strong influences of the old on the new, its surviving customs, and the tangible remnants in and on the old Christian churches, belong to the valuable sources of its significance, its essence, and its forms, insofar as such a recognition has remained possible for us at all.
Most monastic literature of the transitional centuries is insignificant, entirely internally deficient, and often also not very credible. How much can still be extracted from this literature with a scrutinizing eye in our sense remains to be seen until scientific research has sufficiently addressed the task. But even now, we have the certainty that valuable stone monuments from that time are still present and await discovery. The commendable work of Erich Jung, "Germanic Gods and Heroes in Christian Times," already mentioned several times in these pages, has pioneered this direction and focused attention on the main discovery sites, the old Christian churches.
On the Cultic Practices in Germania
By University Professor Dr. Gustav Nedel, Berlin
Wilhelm Teudt has the undeniable merit of having shown a new way in his book "Germanic Sanctuaries," through which we can hope to penetrate the darkness of pre-Christian Germanic conditions.
He does not proceed, as previous research beginning in the 16th century did, from the languages and Christian monuments, nor from the prehistoric finds, the evaluation of which by prehistorians he criticizes, but from the image of the local landscape and the map, which reveals to him consistent distances and other proportions, sacred lines, and sites of celestial observation and worship.
His approach has found followers: even outside the Teutoburg Forest, enthusiastic local friends have tried to determine corresponding findings with maps and surveying sheets, and it seems they have indeed established some, insofar as the recurring distances, about 4090 meters, between some significant points, appear to actually exist.
The significance of these and other findings is questionable and is notoriously disputed by many, not just because the whole Teutonic perspective is new and new viewpoints are always met with resistance, whether they are right or wrong, but also because what the mere investigation of the landscape shows must necessarily remain ambiguous in a cultural-historical sense.
Teudt's method requires supplementation and confirmation with other means.
In the section about the racecourse in Langelau in "Germanic Sanctuaries," p. 130ff., it says: "The entire finding suggests in detail that we have before us a combat, game, or racecourse belonging to the Germanic cult, which was found necessary to be separated with a strong enclosure... The length marker 'stadion' has given the racecourses of Greece their name or vice versa. Why should the concept of length not also be applied to racecourses in Germania? ... These games were included and interwoven with the religious cult. This is evident in the Olympian, Isthmian, and Nemean games of the Greeks and elsewhere among Mediterranean peoples. In particular, there were funeral games at the burial of highly esteemed persons. This is evidenced from India, and recently we have also learned that the game was part of their worship among the Mayas in Central America, whose belonging to the Germanic tribe is hardly in doubt (?). When all of Rome trembled before the expected invasion of the Germans into Italy after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Emperor Augustus promised the almighty Jupiter solemn games to avert the impending danger. -- May we say: those were other peoples, but the Germans in Germania did not have such organized games and places for them?"
Certainly, we will avoid saying this: it would not only go against probability but above all against well-documented facts.
As for the cultic processions at the funeral of highly esteemed persons, they are clearly evidenced for Germania in two places, by Jordanes (Getica Rap. 49) and in Beowulf (verses 3138ff.). There it is a burial, here a cremation.
In both cases, selected warriors (twelve in the epic) ride around the displayed corpse or the burial mound, praising the deeds of the deceased in song. Just as here princes are honored by their followers upon their departure to the afterlife, elsewhere a prince honors the supernatural powers by riding around their sanctuary.
The Ynglinga saga reports about the Swedish king Adils, that he met his end during the Disablot sacrifice: he rode around the temple of these goddesses (the disarsalr) and became the victim of a hostile demon, which caused him to fall from his horse and spill his brains on a stone.
Such customs survived the conversion and have continued in various places up to the present. Just as Adils rode around the Disarsal, so do the farmers ride three times around the church at dawn during the Leonhards pilgrimage to Harbach in Bavaria; the Leonhards church in Bad Aibling (Upper Bavaria) is also circled three times on November 5th, and at the church of Ettendorf near Traunstein, which rises like a pagan sanctuary on a high hill, the so-called Georgiritt takes place annually.
At several of the Bavarian Leonhards churches that are circled, another circumstance points to the pagan past, namely traditions that they were once adorned or surrounded with rods, like the pagan temple in Old Uppsala, as described by Adam of Bremen.
Also, the "Staffansritt," which has remained alive in certain areas of Sweden until the end of the 19th century, probably belongs in this context. At least, it took place in Holland in the direction of a prehistoric cult site. There it is called "Staffans fiede," i.e., "Stephen's race or riding competition," and it is part of this custom that the farm boys race each other (i napp) home.
Thus, place names like Skeið, Skeidarakr, which are not uncommon in Scandinavia, may also be related. They immediately bring to mind the stadium, the racecourse, and thus also serve to confirm Teudt's finding of the racecourse in Langelau.
The Rock Grave at the Externsteine
By Professor Dr. Hermann Wirth
“As we already reported in issue 3, 1932 of 'Germania,' significant new discoveries were made at the Externsteine last summer. Dr. H. Hofmeister, known for his investigations of fortifications in Pomerania, noticed in July that the 'rock coffin' represents a much larger monument than previously thought. A test excavation revealed several 'steps' below the 'coffin.' Pastor Bruyer-Braunschweig, inspired by W. Teudt's book 'Germanic Sanctuaries,' removed the dense moss covering the 'inscriptions' (Fig. 6a) and found additional important signs that will be discussed later. Dr. Reiser then excavated a further large part of the site (we will bring a detailed report on the excavation soon). In the spring, another test excavation was carried out near the rock block, but it yielded no results. On October 26th, Prof. Dr. H. Wirth spent a few hours at the stones to examine the new findings on-site. On this occasion, he pointed out a previously known sign, which had not been given any particular importance until then, and connected it with the other findings (Fig. 4 in the text). We asked Prof. Dr. Wirth to report his impression. He responded to our request in a detailed letter dated November 13, 1932, for which we are especially grateful.” Editorial Office.
In fulfillment of my promise, I have the honor to send you my impression of the excavation of the rock grave at the foot of the Externsteine grotto and the additional details that have come to light. The bustle of moving to Mecklenburg for a new work assignment and my not yet unpacked own work materials prevent me from providing an exhaustive treatment at this time. This must be reserved for my later work, "The Mystery of the Palestinian Megalithic Culture," within the scope of the overall investigation.
It is becoming increasingly evident that the "rediscovery" of the Externsteine and their surroundings as a central ancient Germanic cult site is the main achievement of Teudt and his collaborators. And it is increasingly clear that the lower part of this cultic monument, the winter solstice cult site, shows a much older, unbroken tradition than the upper, summer solstice part, which, due to its significant incorporation into Christian design, has lost much more of its original state.
The main motif in this "mother cave," in the winter solstice cult site of the "mother" or "mother night" of the ancient Germanic sun year, is where the hieroglyph emerges (Fig. 1). I first discussed this motif in my essay in "Germania" (issue 1, 1929). It is extensively presented in the 28th chapter of the "Sacred Script" ("The Duality"): I particularly refer to plates 285-289.
The downward-pointing arm pair symbol, with the figurative three-part hand ᛦᛦ as the sign of "Man," the "Earth Augmenter," as explained in the old Icelandic rune poem, is fully understandable in its meaning from the comparative juxtaposition of monument materials. It is the sign of the pre-winter solstice savior and son of God, who descends into the winter night, the winter and mother night of the year, into the mother's womb of the earth, the "mother cave" ᚢ, the "Ur," as ᛦᛦ or ⅄⅄, to be reborn after the winter solstice as ᛉ or ᛉᛉ, rising again from the ᚢ.
Fig. 1: The hieroglyph of the son of God lowering his arms in the cave of Externsteine.
Fig. 2: Engraved rune calendar staff from the late 17th century (Collection of German Folk Research, Berlin).
Fig. 3: a. Calendar staff: Depiction in rock engraving from Fossum, Bohuslän, southern Sweden. b. Rock engraving from Santa Barbara County, California. c. South America, Brazil, rock engraving from Mpio Calaryslaupés, Panarete-Cadyocira. d. Egypt, inscription on grave vessels from Abydos (before and during the early dynastic period). e. Older Yule symbols from the calendar panel of Oslo (1550) under 25. I and 2. II.
The downward-pointing arm-pair symbol ᛦᛦ, with the symbolic three-part hand ᛉ as the sign of "Man," the moldar auki "the Earth Enricher," as the symbol is still explained in the old Icelandic Rune Song, is comprehensible in its meaning from the comparative juxtaposition of monument material. It is the symbol of the pre-winter solstice savior and god-son, who, in the winter night, the mother's and maternal night of the year, descends into the womb of the Earth, the "Mother Cave" ᚢ, the "Ur," as a ᛉᛉ or YY, to be reborn after the winter solstice as ᛉ or ᛉᛉ from the ᚢ.
Also, the completely obscured Eddic tradition, especially the much older and more reliable tradition of the old Scandinavian, peasant calendar cult symbolism of the "Kunststäbe" or rune staffs, still knew this tradition, as figure 2 can illustrate. The relevant Swedish calendar staff still shows as an entry symbol for the New Year (originally pre-Christian - winter solstice) the linear symbol of the god-son raising his arms (figure 2a, above) and for the summer solstice, before July 1st, the sign of the god-son lowering his arms again (figure 2b, below), as symbols of the ascending and descending sunlight in the two halves (missari) of the old Nordic year.
While the god-son shows in a) the "ka-hand" ᛉ and the "ka"-body Y and ⅄ = ᚷ (borrowed from ᚼ), he appears in b) with the Y and ᛉ hand and the Y-body (B), i.e., in both cases as the "Year"-God. The older, more northern form of the year ideogram is the ᚼ symbol, divided into south and north at the solstice points.
Furthermore, the Scandinavian humanists of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Bure and Stjernhelm, could report from the old peasant tradition that this ⦶ or "Year"-symbol of the Germanic runic script of the migration period and the widespread peasant rune-staff calendars had the meaning "Bale-bound Thor, Thor bound in the 'Bale' (= womb)." The Eddic tradition also still knows that Thor, the Germanic peasant god and savior, the conqueror of the dark winter nights, was "Allfather and the Earth's Son" (son of aldaföðr and jarðar son), just as the Earth was also called Odin's wife (Odins hustru).
The resurrection of the god-son and savior from the "mother's" or "mothers' night" (Old English modranect), the midnight of the year ⦶, where he turns from ᛦᛦ or ⅄⅄ to ᛉᛉ or YY, is also conveyed to us through his Neolithic calendar disc representation (figure za, b) from Fosseum, Tanum, Province of Bohuslän, Southern Sweden (plate 285-286 in my "Holy Script of Humanity"). (For more details, see there).
As further evidence for the age and spread of this Yule symbol of the North Atlantic calendar cult symbolism, compare the symbols from figure 3, to the continuous tradition in the Scandinavian runic calendar from figure 3. Another beautiful example of this continuous tradition in the cult practice of Germanic-Christian syncretism is the occurrence of this hieroglyph of downward-pointing arms on an execution sword in Lüneburg. For the execution sword sent the condemned to the death night and reformation to "Hel," in the sense of the old pre-Christian belief.
As I have previously suggested, that further down at the foot of the cave lies a rock, which in an ᚢ arc is carved into an open rock tomb with a human outline, indicating a cultic relation with the cave. In "The Rise of Humanity" (Illustration XV, No. 3, Sacred Scripture, Plate 283, No. 8a-c), I have pointed out the baptismal font from Selde, Amt Viborg, Jutland, Denmark (Fig. 4, page 12), which displays four fields with symbolic representations on its base. The first field shows the empty ᚢ arc, the second a vegetal ᛉ motif, the third the ᛉᛉ sign with the sunflower inside, the fourth a vegetal ᛏ motif: the annual cycle of the son of God, the Y in the ascending and the ᛏ in the descending half of the year, which then reenters the ᚢ, the smallest or winter solstice solar arc, the mother cave, etc., cosmically viewed in the womb of Mother Earth and the mother water. This "water" meaning is still preserved for the Germanic ᚢ rune of the Migration Period.
The significance of this ᚢ sign as the beginning and end of the older Germanic rune series of 16 signs, the calendar signs of the ᚼ-fold year division (dagsmark), has been thoroughly investigated by me in "Sacred Scripture" (Chapter 9). Thus, the ᚢ rune still appears in the rune sequence of the Maeshowe chamber tomb, Orkney, as a grave inscription. As the 16th and final or winter solstice rune, the original A with the ablaut value yr appears, which - according to the St. Gallen manuscript - "encompasses everything within itself." The Anglo-Saxon rune series then shows the yr rune also as ᚢ, in which water W, the year X, or the son of God as the "ka" ᛉ with the sun O, the "light of the land," is contained.
That man enters his own life at the winter solstice and is reborn from it. This is the great cosmic certainty of "Die and Become" of the North, from the Megalithic or Great-Stone-Grave period. This is echoed in the burial symbolism of Irish-Scottish as well as Germanic-Christian syncretism: see "Holy Script," plates 74-75. And consistently, the enduring tradition is that "Man" ᛉ or Y is found in ᚢ (H. U., plates 76-79).
The excavation of the rock grave in the ᚢ "lr" arc (Fig. 5) has revealed two important facts: firstly, that a stone staircase carved into the rock must have led up from there to the cave, the lowest part of which has now become visible and whose continuation under the retaining wall of the earth embankment in front of the Externsteine cave is still hidden. Secondly, the double P-rune (Fig. 6a) placed in an X-shape on top of the rock slab of the grave.
This binding rune is known to us from the Neolithic period from a vessel from Groß-Gartach (Fig. 6b) and still played an important role in the house and farm marks of the Germanic lands in the Middle Ages.
As I have detailed in the 11th chapter of the "Sacred Script," the meaning "water" (lagu) of the P- or l-rune is derived from the M-, later Ms or water-ideogram. In the Codex Vaticanus Urbin. 290 from the monastery of Prüm near Cologne (9th century), the M-sign still carries this meaning, which is otherwise inherent to the l-rune l or l as a split form of the M. It is explained in the St. Gall manuscript as "the shining lake" (lagu tho loohto), a depiction of the world's circumscribing ocean into which the "southern sinking sun" entered in the third or autumn-winter quarter (cardinal direction) of the year, along with the son of God, the ᛏ or ᛉ, lowering his arms. And thus, this third or autumn-winter part of the 3 ættir of the early Nordic runic row also appears on that vessel from Orchomenos from the pre-Mycenaean cultural circle (Fig. 7), also in the form of binding runes, whose resolution would be M by the way, 11 XR DI (Sacred Script, Plate 205, No. 4). The X-sign is the upright form of the 3x by the way, in its original writing xx-rune, the sign of the connection between "Heaven and Earth," the "sacred marriage" (hieros gamos) at Yule time. As the 22nd rune of the long Germanic runic row, thus the pre-Yule rune, or calendar sign of the second half of our November month, the xx-rune has the sound value ing, which as a derivative suffix in our family and place names, etc., still means "descended from." For the history of this X or X-rune, see "Sacred Script," Chapter 19: The Sign "Heaven and Earth."
The p-sign of the inscription on the vessel from Orchomenos is the split form of or the 24th, last or winter solstice rune of the long runic row: a very sacred symbol of Mother Earth, also in the pre-Mycenaean cultural circle, whose cult symbolism also traces back to the Nordic megalithic culture (Sacred Script, Chapter 24: The Sign of "Duality" D4). As the Germanic rune of the year's and light's turning point, the sign is called "day" (Old Norse dagr, Anglo-Saxon dæg), i.e., the dawn of the new light, the rise of light again after the winter solstice.
The symbol of Mother Earth is also the sign of the three dots "•", which is still preserved in the Scandinavian rune calendar and simultaneously of Neolithic-Nordic origin. For the Odil-ᛟ, the "Life of God" rune, the 23rd of the long rune row, see our Fig. 3, No. 1 (Sacred Script, Chapter 22: The Younger Sign "Life" 2). It has been preserved to this day as a symbolic Yule pastry in Sweden.
For the age and reliability of the epigraphic tradition in the Germanic rune row, a comparison of the inscription on the vessel from Orchomenos and the 3rd ætt of the long rune row is indicative (see Sacred Script, p. 316, Text Fig. 52):
Orchomenos: ᛏ ᛖ ᛐᛚᛝᛟ
Long Rune Row: ᛏ ᛒᛖ ᛚ XX ᛟᛞ
where the young, late ᛗ-rune, formed from M and ᛞ, has been omitted by me. For the relation of ᛒ or (ᛒ rotated 45*, pointing upwards) to the M-rune, see Sacred Script, Chapter 11.
So the connection becomes more striking when one considers that at the right bottom of the left of the two front entrances to the Externsteine cave, the ᛚᛞ-sign appears as a binding rune, i.e., ᛚ and ᛞ, the 21st and 22nd runes of the long rune row, lagu and ing. The sign combination is deeply carved and shows the same weathering of the surface as the overall rock surface. It is the same heavy and massive technique as that of the ᛦᛦ-sign in the cave.
Fig. 7. Vessel from Orchomenos (2nd millennium B.C.), the "Child of Water," also called the "Child of Grain."
When one passes by the ᛚᛞ-sign into the cave, one reaches the water basin carved into the rock floor. That it is the winter solstice son of God who, with the "Light of the Land," entered the "shining lake" where the new conception, his rebirth, the ing, occurred in the xx, in the union of Heaven and Earth, in the midwinter and Mother Night, is also taught by the Vedic tradition of the Aryan Indians. Agni, the son of God, is called the "Child of the Waters," as the "Newborn Child" is still called in Germanic-Christian syncretism.
The cross-laid double-ᛚ, the ᛚ-ᛚ, is both in the cultic symbolic runic inscriptions and in the accompanying coins (bracteates) of the migration period up to the Edda period a highly cultic formula: Kina) Kaukar), the "Linens and Leek" formula, which originally referred to the burial of the son of God. In the Völsi stanzas (Volsa pattr), "linen and leek" is still mentioned in Lappo-Finnish borrowing as a means of preserving the ritual horse phallus: "wrapped in linen and protected with leek" (lini gæddr en laukum studdr).
Thus, the people of the megalithic grave period of the northern cultural circle, like the son of God, may have been laid in the clan stone grave "wrapped in linen and strengthened with leek." And with the "people of the West," the northern Amurru (Amorites) and their megalithic graves, this religion, its symbolism, and its cultic practice reached Amurru-Canaan. From the dolmen area of Galilee, the faith renewal of Jesus of Nazareth emerged, who himself as the "cross"-God (+ = "year"-God), marked with the spear in his side, according to the old myth, died, was wrapped in linen with spices, laid in the rock grave, and remained there for three days until his resurrection. I will treat these connections in detail in my mentioned Palestine book.
The purpose of these few lines is only to point out the significance of the binding runes discovered at the rock grave and the cave in the overall context.
The cross on the lower right leg of the X-crossed double l rune is the designation + "year" (Anglo-Saxon gear, etc., rune row of the Thames knife), both for summer and winter solstice, also in the Scandinavian rune staff calendars. It always denotes "mid-year" or "half-year."
The connections of the cult sites and the cult symbolism at the foot of the Externsteine are becoming increasingly clear. From the winter solstice cult cave with its same entrance, the water basin, and the ᛦᛦ-sign, the rock staircase leads to the rock grave in the ᚢ, on whose surface the cross-laid l-rune, the lina laukar formula ("linen-leek") of the burial of the son of God and savior, the + or year-god, appears.
Ancient mystery plays must have taken place at this sacred site on the "holy night," which, in Christian guise, transferred to Christ, the son of God, and to the Easter season in the Middle Ages, probably continued for a long time before they completely disappeared.
As for the age of the rock grave and its rune, it should be considered younger in age than the cult cave and its runes.
I hope that these lines may contribute to highlighting the great spiritual-historical significance of our "Externsteine" and remain with the warmest wishes for your work there and the prosperity of your publication in this new chapter of life.
Yours sincerely,
Herman Wirth.
Bad Doberan i. M., November 13, 1932.
Editorial Note: The often-mentioned work "The Sacred Script of Mankind" is currently being published in installments by Roehler & Amelang, Leipzig. By the end of November, the ninth installment was available.
"According to Goethe's famous saying, 'the best we get from history is the enthusiasm it excites.' Now, in the certainty that this work will always inspire and easily instill into the hearts and minds of its eager disciples, its historical discipline can be measured with our Germanic prehistory. 'He who calls a great past to life enjoys the joy of his own creation': thus reads the proud confession of a famous explorer of Greek antiquity. But how much stronger must be the noble feeling that swells the breast of him who, not for some foreign people long gone, but for his own people, in whose eternity he, like Ernst Moritz Arndt, believes firmly and joyfully, finds means and ways, in hard but victorious struggle with the adversities of tradition, to bring forth anew his own people's long-forgotten heroic prehistory in ever purer form, in ever more convincing clarity!" - Gustaf Kossinna.
The Little Man of Dechsen
By Will Desper
I spent a few weeks this summer in my mother's hometown, in Dechsen, located in the northern Rhön, between Felda and Huldra, the old land of Buchonia. Dechsen is a remarkable village whose history should be researched and written by an experienced historian. I believe that this would be more relevant to us than the excavations of Ur in Chaldea or cities in the Gobi Desert.
The name Dechsen, which also belongs to the mightiest basalt group and the stream of the area, is mentioned as early as the 8th century, in forms such as Uhsena, Uhfeno, Uhfine. The village has retained the character of an old Germanic free-farmer settlement recognizably to the present day. Until the land consolidation shortly before the war, it had a large common land where communal shepherds—one cattle shepherd, two sheep shepherds, one pig shepherd, one goat shepherd, and one goose shepherd—tended the village's livestock. Even today, the large Dechsen community forest borders the forest of distant Geisa. The villages in between are likely later and thus poorer settlements. The old churchyard of Dechsen is a fortress, and the church tower is a sturdy defense tower. Massive floodgates with still clearly recognizable powerful walls and basalt constructions crown the tops of nearby mountains—the Beyer, the Sachsenburg, Diedrichsberg, and the Dewhlen—and prove that the area along the old trade route in the direction of Mainz-Fulda-Erfurt was richly populated from earliest times.
The village, situated between the Hessian to the west, the Franconian to the south, and the Thuringian to the east, still maintains a northern and Low German character and affinity with the people of the lower Werra and upper Weser regions. Ancient customs and traditions, beliefs, and views have been preserved fresh. All the faith and lore still live today.
During my last stay in the village, a teacher from the village school made me aware that there was a remarkable small sculpture in the cellar of an old farmhouse near the church, which he had heard of but had not seen himself. We managed to get permission from the owner, an 87-year-old farmer, to view the sculpture.
In the very back, completely dark part of a long cellar, about chest height, there was a niche in the wall, similar to those often installed in cellar walls for storing and keeping game, butter, etc. The background of this niche was a stone bas-relief of a remarkable kind. It was partly still covered with mortar, which I carefully removed. The relief fills the entire back wall of the niche as if the niche was created solely for it. Teacher Schmidt in Dechsen has taken a fairly clear photograph of the sculpture.
In the middle, under a rounded arch, stands a "little man," primitively but very expressively crafted and posed, with his right arm raised and a large blessing hand spread out, while his left hand is pressed against his hip. This gesture, likely of ritual significance, was undoubtedly the most important element to the creator of the sculpture. It is naively but strongly emphasized and brought out. Above the arch's curve, a head emerges on both the left and right sides, with quite expressive faces despite the primitiveness, presumably bearded male heads. In the middle, at the very top, partly still behind the masonry, an object resembling a horse's head with high ears becomes visible, seen from the front. The niche with the sculpture is exactly below the hearth of the house, which stands in the back of the upper floor.
The reaction of the old farmer, when speaking of the "little man," was immediately striking. He explained that he did not know how it got there but then told of a fire in 1896, after which the farm was rebuilt. At that time, another stone image was also found, depicting a "saint" with "letters" that neither the pastor nor the teacher could read. He confessed that he had it reburied where it was found, stating that it might not be of any use, and it now lies exactly under the main threshing floor of the large barn, buried in the ground. About the "little man" in the cellar, he confessed reluctantly, cautiously, and repeatedly emphasizing only "half-jokingly," that it might be the house spirit watching to ensure nothing was stolen from the house. The old farmer undoubtedly, though smiling about it, was aware of some sort of eerie, "sacred" significance of the image.
Anyone who looks at the "little man" will be struck by the remarkable expressiveness of the simple figure. There is no doubt that the stone image is ancient, and since it has no connections to Christian cult, it is likely a pre-Christian sculpture, which could only be early Germanic at this location. One of the experts, to whom I showed a copy, tried to connect it with late Roman, perhaps Mithras cult images. Another pointed to the Balder cult. These are, for now, speculations. I would like to make the image accessible to a larger public and request a thorough examination.
I may perhaps point out that Dechsen formerly and early on belonged to the Fulda area, and that during the violent Christianization of those areas by Boniface and the Frankish state power, the death penalty was imposed for the possession and veneration of old "pagan idols." Hence, the old sanctuary, which he did not want to expose to destruction by the Frankish conquerors and the Christian converters, might have been hidden in the ground of his house or in a secret niche behind mortar and stone. In any case, we may hope to have before us, in this "little man of Dechsen," an early Germanic sculpture of religious significance.
In the volume "Thuringian Legends" published by Eugen Diederichs, I found on page 17 the only image so far that has some resemblance to the Dechsen "little man," particularly with the expressive gesture. This old depiction explicitly represents a "pagan idol," the "Busirid," which, according to old chronicles, was supposed to have been found "on the abandoned castle of Rothenburg, which stands on a high mountain near the town of Bleicherode." One should compare, and one will undoubtedly have to recognize the kinship of the expressive gestures.
In conclusion, a pressing request or two: please spare the old Dechsen farmer from well-intentioned curiosity! Above all: no one—not even a museum director—should attempt to remove the "little man" from its old place to transport it to some learned repository. I call upon all evil spirits to descend upon anyone who dares to touch it. However, the other, buried sculpture may later be raised and viewed once the old farmer, who would certainly not like to see such an excavation now, has gone to his ancestors. I will certainly keep an eye on this. Perhaps some light will also be shed from there on the "little man of Dechsen."
Caller in the Dispute
Merkwort: "If we do not regard the works of our ancestors with respect, we who hastily and seemingly create all kinds of monuments for eternal duration, can we expect our descendants to be more considerate than we ourselves?" — Ernst Wörner (1877).
Lost treasures of ancient spiritual heritage. "In his remarkable book 'Sword Dance and Sword Play' (1931), Kurt Weckel writes: 'Especially in German studies of antiquity, one cannot escape the sense of great losses that still need to be recovered.' There is still a vast amount of material for German intellectual history in folk customs and traditions, as well as directly in monuments and real antiquities. It is not surprising that this material is largely or entirely unknown and unprocessed; it has only been about a hundred years since the Brothers Grimm gave us back German fairy tales and scientific Germany began to engage more thoroughly with these matters.
Furthermore, these areas of inquiry, especially those concerning ancient pre-Christian folk beliefs, were systematically eradicated by the ruling church, or where that was not possible because they were too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, at least the connections and links to the older past of our folklore were suppressed and concealed as much as possible. The practice of lighting heart-shaped candles at Easter is undoubtedly, as even the very cautious Karl Helm admits in his history of Germanic religion, a pre-Christian reverence for the lights and the spring season. They were also initially combated by the ruling church; how foolish it is, said the missionary Pirmin, to light candles for God, as if He, the source of all light, sat in darkness. But the church later adopted the heart-shaped candle offering with the adaptive ability it has shown, especially in its early days during the mission period, and which Pope Gregory recommended to Abbot Mellitus in his letter in 601...
This should suffice for now; there is still much more ancient spiritual heritage present than we previously knew, and therefore much more of ancient times to recognize than one might initially assume." — According to Professor Dr. Jung-Warburg in the collection "What Does Herman Wirth Mean for Science?" edited by Prof. Dr. A. Bacumier, Dresden, Rochler & Umelang Verlag 1932.
Monument Preservation and Tributes. "Achieving the goal that Denmark safely grants its prehistoric and early historic monuments has never been possible. The tributes imposed on Germany extinguish, as attempts have shown, any hope of supplementing the 1914 Prussian law on excavations with a law that specifically protects prehistoric monuments and sites. Even here, where it is crucial to preserve the vast areas of the fatherland, to provide insight into the hidden connections between generations, to uncover the roots of one's own life, and thus to help create a sense of national consciousness—where science and monument preservation are in direct and tangible connection with the self-aware people in the German nation-state—the necessities of the present dispel the means for a general and satisfactory regulation. Only locally and regionally has it been possible to intervene with care."
— Otto Scheel (Yearbook 1930 for Schleswig-Holstein, Univ. Ges. [Breslau 1931], p. 82).
The Treasure Trove
Still the same old errors! Nowadays, one occasionally hears claims that it is no longer necessary to fight against false notions about the early history of our people because by now, everyone supposedly knows better.
However, these erroneous ideas are extraordinarily persistent. In 1922, the 15th edition of the novel "The Stigmata" was published. The author, Friedrich von Gagern, is a poet of great skill, with an exceptional ability to vividly depict the forces at work within the depths of the people. Therefore, the misunderstanding highlighted below is all the more regrettable. On page 386 of the second volume, it says: "From the conquered coasts of the world seas, one looks over eternity. A single perfect night encompasses the heart of the world; at its spur, Italy guards Rome, the blue harbor of nations. Here, everything is fulfillment and warmth; beyond the borders, there is still cold and chaos.
Caesar Octavian has now been the first man of the world for more than forty years. But he has long since yearned for the end of the Roman peace.
How will his dark stepson, this inscrutable son of an enigmatic woman—how will Tiberius manage the inheritance?
In the north resides a wintry hunter people, formidable in loyalty and strength. What will happen when these untamed warriors grasp the spirit of Rome, organize, and unite!"
A "hunter people" is still understood to be a people primarily dependent on hunting for their livelihood. Shouldn't everyone finally know that in the Nordic cultural circle, settled farmers have been living since the Neolithic era?
G.
The False Image. This illustration comes from this year's promotional leaflet for a very popular youth book that is published annually. It is not clear in which century the story, which the picture aims to illustrate, is set. In any case, the Germans did not look like this during the entire Roman imperial era. They never looked like this at all. Unfortunately, the idea that the image conveys is quite widespread. It would be a wonder if it were otherwise. "From the heights of the Teutoburg Forest, from the gable rocks of Valhalla, from Norway's shores (statue of Frithjof), from the descriptions of poets, and from the stage, we encounter a false image of the Germans over and over again. The artist has the right to freedom; but where he wishes to bring historical figures, even in the form of legend, close to us, he is bound to the costume of a specific time. He may not rummage through collections of Germanic antiquities and simultaneously burden his heroes with the heritage of millennia." (Girle, The Costume of the Germans II.)
The Prignitz: Purely Germanic Settlement Area. At the 1932 annual meeting of the Prignitz Regional Heritage Association in Mittenberge, the archaeologist Dr. Böhm-Berlin, who was commissioned with the prehistoric land survey of the West Prignitz district, gave a report on the results of her research, from which it was concluded that she could not definitively prove a settlement in the Prignitz during the earliest Stone Age.
Numerous finds, such as stone axes, knives, etc., made of flint indicate that the Prignitz was inhabited in the middle Stone Age and that there was a strong population during the later Stone Age. The findings show that despite belonging to the purely northern cultural circle, Central European influences are unmistakable. The well-known dolmen near Mellen is evidence of the later Stone Age. Since the late Bronze Age, a continuous development until the modern era can be observed, and the population since that time has been Germanic.
The Slavs and Wends settled in the Prignitz only in the early historical period. The earliest date for their arrival can be set at the 7th century AD. Even after their arrival, they constituted only a small layer of the population, preferring the lowlands and river valleys because they were primarily fishermen, but not arable farmers or livestock breeders.
It is noteworthy that legends, field names, and place names from Germanic times have been preserved to the present day. An example of this is the legend of the king's grave near Seeblin. Dr. Böhm also provided valuable insights into place and field names, which also indicate that Germanic influence has been unmistakable since prehistoric times. The speaker concluded that the Prignitz is ancient Germanic land, a statement of particular importance considering that Poland is already trying to prove that its territory extends not only to the Oder but to the Elbe, arguing that this is a Slavic-Wendish cultural area. A Polish archaeologist recently visited the Prignitz and also Wittenberge, seeking evidence for this view, albeit unsuccessfully. It turns out that the capital used for the archaeological survey of the Prignitz has not been wasted but has produced results that are fundamentally important not only for local history but also for general scientific research.
From the Landscape
Symbol or Weathering? In the 25th volume of the "Correspondence Sheet of the General Association of German History and Antiquities Societies" (1877), Ernst Wörner, who has greatly contributed to the documentation of such monuments, describes the menhir near Armsheim (Rheinhessen): "It stands 1.80 meters high and 1.20 meters wide on the road from Armsheim to Flonheim. The cross-section generally forms a very irregular ellipse with several strong protrusions. A line drawn across its middle measures 50 centimeters, while the lines drawn across near the ends on both sides measure about 20 centimeters. A hole goes straight through the stone. The stone is made of porphyry, a material that only occurs further west in the mountains near Wonsheim and Giefersheim."
The description does not mention two things that, according to the accompanying drawing, are present: the splitting of the upper edge of the stone and the figurative depiction in the middle of one of the broad sides. The significance of the stone splitting has already been pointed out earlier in "Germanien" (3rd series, p. 15/16 and 4th series, p. 86). The entire context in which the figure stands reminds one of the "wish stone" mentioned by Wirth (Sacred Script, p. 320, Plate 99, Fig. 3). However, to say more, it is first necessary to verify the description of the stone on site and provide good photographs. Which of our readers is capable of undertaking this? (Hopefully, the stone is still there!) How does the stone align with the cardinal directions? Please provide the location information according to the map! Are there any legends and folk customs associated with the stone?
S.
Menhirs and Boundary Stones.
Already in the 4th issue of our journal, we have brought various reports about these monuments from German history. In the future, we will also devote our special attention to them. Submissions from our long-standing readership show that the mysterious stones, such as the stone with a four-spoked wheel near Baugen, are being given greater attention, which is encouraging. They are still mysterious, despite all that has already been published about them; and we are far from being as informed about their occurrences as would be desirable. Both tasks—delineating their distribution and determining their original significance—can only be approached if everyone contributes to the effort. One person might make an observation along the way, another might find a report or a picture in a newspaper, and a third might search systematically. The illustrations in this and the following issue, which we take from the beautiful book by Aufstahl, are initially meant to encourage you to find something yourself. This is the first step to attuning oneself internally to this task in the service of landscape research. Instructions for systematic work will follow! Early literary sources (documents, boundary descriptions, etc.) of all kinds, in which these monuments are occasionally mentioned, are also important.
Stone Cross near Birna a. b. Elbe with two eight-spoked wheels
"A brief overview of the number and location of all known sites leads to the certain realization that we encounter the stone cross in Central and Northern Europe wherever Germanic tribes once constituted the main part of the population or at least were once settled in large numbers. The stone cross thus appears as a common Germanic heritage in the truest sense of the word and stands as one of the few well-preserved relics from German history still present everywhere in the landscape." (Aufstahl, The Old Stone Crosses in Saxony.)
Treasures of the Soil
A Early Bronze Age Burial Mound near Boiken, At. Zeven. By Hans Wüller-Brauel, Zeven.
On the heathland in the triangle where the field marks of Wense, Stebbdorf, and Boiken converge, along an ancient military road (which was expanded to the Zeven-Stade road in Napoleonic times), lies a larger barrow cemetery.
It comprises two types of mounds: medium-sized mounds, usually low, without any stone constructions inside, and on the surface either slightly flattened or slightly sunken. What I observed from these mounds over the years (before I had any excavation permits), and what I heard about finds from such mounds, all clearly indicated that they were Late Neolithic burial mounds of the Corded Ware people migrating from Thuringia to our region. The second type includes mounds of large, almost gigantic dimensions; the largest remaining mound, at the highest point of the entire area, is approximately 30 meters in diameter and 3 meters high. Another, which the local community of Stebbdorf removed along with five others for road improvements, had (the excavated area is still there and ungreened) exactly 20 meters in diameter and 2.60 meters high.
During repeated visits, I have been able to identify numerous wooden posts within. As far as I know, this mound did not yield any finds, but there is no doubt that it belonged to the Early Bronze Age; whenever such mounds produced finds, these indicated that they belonged to this period.
Most of them are without finds, which can be explained by the fact that these large mounds, as I have been able to demonstrate with great certainty in several cases, originally contained a hollow space for the deceased or the family members buried within - thus a kind of family crypt and in this sense, successors of the megalithic tombs, which were proven to be early Germanic family graves or the graves of chieftains or nobles. In such cellar-like hollow spaces, as Professor Hans Hahne once explained to me, any bronze items placed within would have disintegrated over time, which would explain the often observed absence of finds. These large mounds of the Bronze Age belong to the same people; they are the descendants of the Corded Ware immigrants.
The barrow cemetery in question (located immediately next to the demonstrably ancient Giebelung Brake, which belongs to the village of Boiken) comprised a total of 43 mounds about 30 years ago, according to my count. Today, the majority of the remaining mounds, approximately 30, are preserved for the future, as the area on which they lie, about 10 acres, has been leased by the county thanks to my efforts as a heritage caretaker.
Around the core of this cemetery, there are still several isolated burial mounds that could not be leased because they belong to various owners; these are now being leveled for farmland or have already been partially leveled. At the northernmost part of the cemetery, a mound was excavated, revealing the cross-section of a wooden construction ring around its middle.
In the southern part of this field, a landowner leveled a mound adjacent to the Brake. During an inspection trip, I saw the beginning of this work and noted a series of wooden posts on the northwest side of the mound in the cross-section. The owner and I then agreed to halt further work, leaving the entire mound's center intact for examination.
The mound had a diameter of 15.30 meters in the north-south direction and 16.50 meters in the east-west direction. Decades of observations have shown me that the grave is always oriented along the longest diameter, and further observations indicated that the graves with an east-west orientation are the older ones. Therefore, a burial site from the outgoing Neolithic or the emerging Bronze Age could be expected. As far as my observations go, the old east-west orientation line is abandoned in the second part of the early Bronze Age.
The mound was not circular, as is often stated in excavation descriptions. Incidentally, I have never encountered a perfectly circular mound in real life, as they are often depicted in ground plans. The height of the mound was determined to be 1.35 to 1.40 meters during the excavation. It should be noted that it lay on slightly sloping terrain towards the south; this fact will occupy us further.
The Interior of the Mound. At an equal distance from the outer edge, about 2.50 to 3 meters, a loose stone circle, mostly made of smaller stones, surrounded the interior. It was not uniformly closed; starting at the east side, it extended about 1 meter beyond the burial site's boundary and ended between the west and northwest, continuing for a few meters in a row of wooden posts before forming a small circular end with another short section of stone circle. The entire remaining stretch from northwest to east had no stones, leaving the entire north side without any stone cover, while the side oriented exactly south showed the best stone setting, sometimes arranged in two adjoining rows of stones.
The southern side of the mound was the slightly sloping side, and it was important to note that the larger stones of the entire encirclement lay along this stretch, with the double row always having the smaller stones on the outer side.
Based on my many similar observations, I believe that the smaller stones originally lay at the top, within the gaps of the larger stones, and only sank over time as the mound settled. This is consistent with the fact that the southern and southeastern sides of the mound are now quite flat, while the northern side (never warmed by the sun) has retained almost its original shape. According to my long-term observations, there has been no displacement of the mound's soil to the west or northwest, as Professor van Giffen assumes, but rather a settling towards the south. The opposite side of the mound is higher today because it retains nearly its original height.
In burial mounds of Corded Ware settlers, which are of older origin and do not have stones at the edge but instead only rows of wooden posts, the rows of posts are driven in two to three times deeper, while there are none on the north side. It is clear that there is a purposeful thought behind this. Our ancestors knew from experience that the north side, not warmed by the sun, naturally held up better than the south side, which therefore had to be secured against slippage and displacement. The interior of the mound enclosed by this stone circle measured exactly 10 meters in diameter.
It was clearly visible how the interior surface was leveled during the construction of the burial mound, as the mound's soil lay on the light yellow sand of the subsoil without any discernible separating line of humus. In other burial mounds of this area, I have also observed a burning of the ground surface. On a few millimeters thick red burn line lay a fine white layer, which was decidedly ashy, upon which the mound's construction soil was then piled. Such observations should not be considered unimportant. They show that our ancestors placed special value on preparing a grave in pure earth for their dead. This is part of certain pious practices in the burial customs of our ancestors, such as sprinkling blooming flowers, which were found in the tree-coffin grave of a Germanic nobleman in Denmark. Putting together such small details gives us a completely different picture than what has often been taught up until now. It wasn't fear of the dead and therefore binding the dead, or covering the grave with massive stones to keep the "revenant dead" in their graves, but rather respect and pious preparation of the grave, the "house of the dead," that were characteristic traits of our ancestors.
The grave of the mound. Exactly in the center of the mound lay the grave. The inner filling, often observed by me to consist of a 10-15 centimeter thick layer of pure, fine sand, was absent here; instead, the grave itself was found to be dug into the subsoil until the white subsoil was reached. This was the case at a grave depth of 55 centimeters. Test pits around the mound showed that the white subsoil lay everywhere at a depth of 60 to 65 centimeters. (Conclusion follows.)
The Bucer Scale
Weber, Edmund, "The Religion of the Ancient Germans," Verlag Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1932, 0.60 Marks.
This thin booklet (40 pages) presents in a clear and concise manner a wealth of valuable material, especially valuable because the author manages to provide an overview of the religious beliefs of our ancestors from the oldest monuments available to us in a skillful selection, concise, easily factual, and generally comprehensible form.
The closer connection between the monuments in the narrower sense and the accounts of antiquity and the Middle Ages, the sagas, the songs and tales of the Edda, the legends and fairy tales, the customs and folk traditions, reveals a lucky hand and a sharp eye for the essential.
For the readers of the first edition, a series of desirable and very important additions will be welcome. These additions are largely based on the author's own research and have also gained recognition from professional scientific circles. Significant among these is Weber's explanation of the sacred grove of an alleged "Goddess Tamfana" mentioned by Tacitus, Annals 1, 50/51. Weber writes on page 19: "In 1929, Wilhelm Teudt (Germanic Sanctuaries) showed that this sanctuary was probably the main sanctuary of the entire Cheruscan tribal alliance. In 1932, I succeeded in proving that 'Tamfana' was not a proper name but a sacred name meaning 'forest sanctuary' (see the journal Anzeiger for A. 1932)."
The author is fortunate in providing his own translations for most of the cited passages from ancient non-Christian writers. He gives the text a version that, fortunately, no longer reads and interprets these accounts through the murky lenses of humanistic prejudices, but rather emphasizes that the German reader, through the German wording, does not repeatedly feel the bitter sense of inferiority of his ancestors compared to other contemporary cultures.
In this regard, particularly noteworthy are the reproductions of Tacitus Annals I. 50/51 (Tamfana) and Histories IV. 61/65 (Veleda). The emphasis that the Germans also had priests (sacerdos-ewart), whose position and duties were naturally different from those of the Celtic Druids, is necessary; as well as the illumination of human sacrifices. It is commendable that Weber not only provides time indications for prehistoric and early historical antiquities but also gives historical dates for all writers; this is something that students and laypeople often forget and would like to know again and again.
New is the inclusion of a whole series of previously little or not at all considered passages from the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, as well as a passage from Beowulf (lines 171-179), whose significance has not been properly appreciated until now. This passage is particularly revealing for the inner piety of our ancestors. Admittedly, even leading clergymen claim they do not know how the Germans prayed. From Weber, they can learn. The Germans did not have temples as houses of the gods, but they did have sacred houses for the religious service tools. To imagine these houses as crude structures is absurd; they have their living, testifying counterparts in the Frisian house and the Northern prince’s hall and fit just as well into the Northern landscape.
The criticism of the prevailing portrayal of Gregory (page 25) could, in my opinion, be a bit stronger. We have the right and the duty to defend ourselves as we have been attacked and insulted for centuries. One can read between the lines how much the author is compelled to bring more such critical remarks to the often foolish accounts of Roman Christian writers that have been accepted uncritically as truth by both researchers and the lay world. Lack of space may have prevented him from doing so. It is regrettable that a few more pages were not available for illustrations. Because in our field, visual representation is necessary. Our eye has been misled by the constant references and teachings about the only true Classical creations. We were and are blind and uncomprehending towards the works of our ancestors. It would be good to create a personal archive of images from this book. There is enough material in the newer works of antiquity studies; only Kossinna, Pastor, Jung, Wirth, Teudt, Redel, Jakob-Friesen should be mentioned. The study of all these works shines through Weber's explanations everywhere, without letting himself be strongly influenced by the sources or the opinions of science in his own critical stance.
How poorly the research in the field of the spiritual heritage of our ancestors has been treated so far, how uncertain the results of this research are, is evidenced by the frequent use of "it seems," "perhaps," "presumably," and similar expressions even in Weber's attentive account.
Weber's writing belongs primarily in the hands of teachers (of history, German, and religion) who have the right attitude towards the culture of our ancestors and are seriously willing to abandon the old and outdated methods and content of previous teaching. But it also belongs in the hands of all "interested laypeople" outside the school who want to gain insight into the spiritual and mental life and work of our ancestors.
— G. Bener
Wirth, Herman, The Sacred Script of Humanity, Text Section 48, Pages 289-336, Notes Pages 3, Plates 271-302. Size 40. Verlag Rochler & Amelang, Leipzig 1932.
The 10th main section (beginning already in installment 6) deals with the extremely striking special development of an originally abstract symbol: the rune, which can be traced as a symbol of the "underworld," "winter," or "winter solstice life" in the symbolic art of Mexico as a concrete, pictorially interpreted symbolic animal, just as it can be traced in the young Paleolithic engravings of the North as an originally abstract symbol.
The Mexican feather mantle, included as an illustration, is very noteworthy; it shows, among other things, a stylized representation of the "blood stream" ending in 5 points, on which a skull is placed. Here we likely have a special case of the hand representation as a solstice sign with the meaning "death and new life." This use of the skull raises the question of whether our commonly used representation of the skull with two crossed bones underneath might originally have been a depiction of the Maltese cross (solstice points of the year) with the annual cycle above it, where the ends of the Maltese cross might be thought of as complemented by the usual solar rings. This would be a typical example of the abstract structure guiding an ornamental symbolic thought.
With the rune, in the same way, the process of the transition of an abstract form principle into a vivid conceptual image has occurred—a process that Wirth actually discovered for the first time and substantiated with a wealth of material, and which we can no longer exclude from the historical study of religion. This development of the rune symbol from the abstract bone notation to the lush southern representation in Mexico, and the parallel development in religiously founded values, proves with a German example the origin of those religious conceptual elements that have so far been considered established by folklore as "totem animals" and similar concepts.
The Toad as a Winter Solstice Symbol, as a dwelling place of the "year god" and the dead, is directly associated with the more widely spread serpent (dragon); like this, it later appears in (now we know, darkened) tradition as a "soul animal." The serpent as a soul animal is very clearly depicted in the Lombard legend; the toad or frog (formula n-I?) still appears in the well-known Grimm fairy tale, where the death of the frog causes the death of the child. Religious science previously asserted that "the soul is perceived as an animal (totem animal)," from which one concludes an allegedly low "primitive stage" of religious thought. Presumably, these interpretations, along with the developmental idea transferred to the history of ideas, which is still unfortunately mixed with the progress dogma, will need to undergo a thorough revision. When, according to South German folk belief, toads are "poor souls," it is an indestructibly persistent image from a distant past, just like the hand as a grave symbol, which repeatedly appears as a motif in grave tales; or like those widely spread legends in which the deceased appears as a fiery wheel. Serpent, toad, and wheel, seemingly without any connection, are ancient symbols of the winter solstice, the underworld, the abode of souls, and ultimately of the souls themselves.
The 11th main section deals with a conceptual image of immense religious historical fertility: the symbol of the "two mountains," which can still be traced back to the rune alphabet as originally a winter solstice symbol and correspondingly appears as the "father’s mountain" in connection with the "sacrificial hill" in a saga. It is the eternal writing for the two "Ur" symbols, which as "columns," "two mountains," or as "gates" relate to an ancient religious historical context.
They are the two stone steles between which, in the south of the stone circle (dagsmark, ektamark), the sun rises at the winter solstice to begin its new annual course in the sky. This symbol also appears in early dynastic Egypt as the symbol of the horizon between the two mountains; similarly, in Sumerian-Babylonian tradition, the god Martu appears between the two "Ur" symbols. A symbolic connection that linguistically expresses "pregnancy, reception," as well as birth and rebirth. This connection also appears in Anglo-Saxon house marks, showing the (god-)rune between the two mountains. These symbols and related concepts are associated in several places with the idea of the "Ram." The immense religious fertility of this concept can be evidenced by numerous examples in both visual and oral traditions. Very early on, the two mountains were interpreted as "mother’s breasts" (as the breasts of Anu or Tanit in Carthaginian depictions); the contextual connection with the Anglo-Saxon Christmas, the "Mother's Night," becomes clear. Thus, grave sites show the sun's annual circle over the two mountains (Wirth, p. 300ff.): the sun rising regularly between the two mountains of the Arctic primal religion. This symbol is as ancient as it is incredibly enduring; it is not only recorded in Egyptian (Wirth, p. 314) as a symbol for Hathor ("House of Horus," the sun god) but appears even today in Catholic symbolism, completely misunderstood, as a symbol for the Virgin Mary, who has taken the place of the ancient goddess and earth mother in this symbolism.
This symbol, interpreted as "Mary," is found as an expression of an unbroken tradition in many Catholic village churches. It is also found on a Hessian pilgrimage cylinder (Plate 99, No. 4) and similarly on a menhir near Obersteigen in Alsace (ibid. No. 3, Wirth, p. 320); the original meaning is the sun rising between the two "U" symbols, still very clearly recognizable in the Mary symbol as the circle rising above the horizon. I can provide a beautiful example from Catholic tradition for the corresponding "literary" transmission. The two mountains or columns, the house of Horus, from which the sun god begins his ascent again, or emerges from the mother's womb back into the world, form the gates of heaven, as the Babylonian "baba" or "Bab-ilu" (gates of God) attests (Wirth, p. 304). As this "gate," which we will hear more about soon, Mary herself appears in Christian tradition, where the Sumerian meaning "UMU" – mother, mother's breast, also "uterus" – might have influenced; "janua coeli," gate of heaven, is her designation, and the original meaning is beautifully expressed in a church hymn: "Holy gate were you to the Word (logos!), when from the throne of eternal power, grace and salvation were brought to mankind."
As an ancient Advent symbolism, this gate of heaven will soon encounter us; the original meaning of the "U" or the two mountains as "uterus," as assumed by Wirth (p. 314), is confirmed by the images from the Marian mysticism of the Middle Ages. For example, in the famous Marian song by Walther von der Vogelweide (Lachmann 3,1): "gotes amme, ez was din wamme ein palas, då daz lamp vil reine lac beslozzen inne" ("God's nurse, your womb was a palace, where the pure lamb lay enclosed inside"). Here we have an ancient cult symbolism as a continuing image: the ram in the subterranean house is the content of the Sumerian hieroglyph LU (UDU), "sheep" (Wirth, p. 296); Marduk is the child of the two Ur (Wirth, p. 297); also in the Anglo-Saxon house mark, the rune "feoh" ("cattle," originally "ram") stands between the two mountains (Wirth, p. 297); the "belly-bound Thor" of the Nordic tradition belongs to the same conceptual series. The "lamb" in the "palace" would thus be an ancient tradition from the time when the winter solstice point was in the sign of Aries; the god in the house of the lamb takes form, becoming the "lamb of God" (the young, newborn ram); he emerges from the two mountains (breasts, uterus; "wamme" means both!) through the "gate of heaven" into his new annual course. The palace from which the son of God emerges corresponds precisely to the Egyptian "Hathor," since the two mountains of Thor in the North pass on the old symbolic connection.
How little these connections are actually sought is proven by the comparison of an ancient Sumerian-Babylonian hymn with a Christian church song, without even the slightest hint of a direct "literary" dependency being traceable. Further details on this and the conclusion of the discussion of the seventh installment will follow in the next issue.
Eremita.
Huth, Otto, "Janus, a Contribution to Ancient Roman Religious History," Bonn, L. Röhrscheid 1932, 80, 95 pages. Price 3.60 RM.
In an introduction about "Italians and Germans," the comparison with ancient Germanic tradition is explained as the basis for the study of ancient Roman religion. The Italians are the closest relatives of the Germans among all Indo-Europeans, as linguistic research has determined (F. Hirt, Fr. Kluge), and symbolic research confirms this.
Janus, the ancient Roman patrician, i.e., god of the ancient farming community, is notably called pater: he is the god of creation (cerus-creator) and the god of beginnings (he was always invoked first). Janus, however, was originally, as shown here for the first time, also a god of the dead (manus). In the Salii's hymn, he was invoked as cerus-manus (synonym of Genita Mana), a double name that designates him as both the god of life and death. This means Janus was a year god; because for the farmer, the year is especially the archetype of primordial polarity (winter/summer). The tradition immediately confirms the close connection of Janus with the year (based on the root i a-, "to give," another extension being germ. nsw. the god, the year rune (-halbierter Kreis) half-circle). The double face of Janus, which still appears today as the year rune (half-circle), is shown above the double face on a Roman coin as a determination. The ancient Roman unification of 12 divisions (months) of the year, together with the year rune as a symbolic connection, is proven by many rock carvings. Later Romans offered a coin and an evergreen branch (strena, hence the French etrennes) on the New Year's Day. The original New Year's celebration of the Romans was at the winter solstice (as with the Germans), and the main celebration of the Romans was at the New Year. In the center of the festival was the renewal of creation. The gate (ianua) symbolizes birth (ritual passage through the gate signifies a journey under the roots, rebirth from death, passage through death as renewal). Janus, therefore, represents the winter sun.
The work is simultaneously a suggestion to connect the traditions of Italians and Germans. (Publisher's advertisement).
Book Review
On the Spiritual Culture of the Germans Walther Saulz, Archaeological Notes on the Worship of Wodan and the Vanir. Wiener Prähistorische Zeitschrift, 19th Year, 1932. The study examines the attitudes of the people towards the older Vanir cult. In the Ynglinga saga, the Wodan cult is associated with body cremation, while the Vanir cult is linked with water burial in mounds. Human sacrifices, especially those submerged in water, belong to the Vanir cult, whose central sanctuary was at Leire on Zealand. Sacrifices and weapon offerings are signs of the Wodan cult, whose main sanctuary was at Uppsala in Sweden. In the old Ingwion territory of the Jutland Peninsula, both cults overlap. Among the Goths, there are ancient indications of Vanir worship.
Walther Schulz, The Lombards as Worshippers of Wodan. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3. The migration saga of the Lombards as a tradition of the transition from Vanir worship to Wodan worship! The old homeland of the Vandals, Rugi, and Lombards on the Kattegat appears as a particularly ancient site of Wodan worship, whose emergence is closely related to the warrior culture of these tribes. In their early historical sites on the Lower Elbe, Lombard culture shows characteristics of the Wodan cult, such as body cremation and weapon offerings, along with a strict separation of men's and women's cemeteries.
William Anderson, The Old Norse Paradise. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3. An investigation into the cultic significance of the heavenly mountains and fortresses in Germanic territory and their possible Bronze Age connections to Iranian Mazdaism, as well as their survival in Christian veneration of Saint Michael.
Lothar F. Zoy, Death Prince and Superstition among the Germans of the Migration Period. Volk und Rasse, Issue 4, 1932. Berlin: Lehmanns-Verlag. Zoy compares the mutilations of bodies in the burial ground of Groß-Sürbing, Ar. Breslau, from the early 5th century AD, with findings in modern rural cemeteries, where similar superstitious practices were found as a defense against plague.
Richard Wolfram-Wien, Christianity and Pagan Tradition in German Folklore. Volk und Rasse, Issue 4, 1932. A refutation of the book "Saint Nicholas Cult and Saint Nicholas Fire in the West" by Karl Meisen, which attempts to trace almost all old German customs back to Christian ideas.
F. Abama van Saveltema, A Germanic Runic Inscription. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3. The brooch from a Frankish grave find in Rehrlich, with a semicircular head plate, animal ornaments, and an animal head at the foot end, dated around 600 AD, has the runic inscription "Wodini hailag" on the back. Its authenticity has been unjustly doubted because the inscription was discovered during cleaning in the museum. The inscription is also of linguistic significance as it represents a previously unattested bridge to Anglo-Saxon.
Max Wilde, A Stone Hammer with a Carving. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3. A broken stone hammer, found near Zeitz, featuring carvings of three figures, including an apparently human figure with raised arms. Although the find belongs to the Bandkeramik culture, it could possibly serve as an early indication of the cultic significance of the hammer.
Culture - Technology - Economy
Josef Strzygowski, The Premises of "Gothic" in Folklore and Prehistory. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3. The author demonstrates the independent character of the Nordic-Germanic architectural style derived from timber construction, which is still often disputed by art history. From Theoderic's tomb and Charlemagne's crypt church, he traces the development back to the vaulted wooden structures of the megalithic tombs in the Zeven district near Bremen. That ancient mast construction on a square foundation has always remained alive and, in conjunction with the longhouse concept of the basilica, is of decisive importance for the emergence of Gothic architecture. While the ancient forms of Nordic timber construction still persist today and extend into Asia, the Nordic megalithic tomb concept has become an inspirer and creator extending far into the southern regions, where the stone structures of pyramids and similar constructions owe their origins to it.
Jens Rusk Jensen, Attempt to Reconstruct Ancient Ships. Mannus, Vol. 24, 1-3. Here, an experienced captain reports on his successful attempts to reconstruct ancient Germanic ship models and finds. Not only have the later wooden ships of the Germans proven to be highly effective, but the Bronze Age models known from rock carvings and bronze drawings have also shown themselves to be quite seaworthy, even with larger crews. These are skin boats with ingenious wooden frameworks, and the much-discussed "galleys" of the rock carving ships find their constructive explanation: the second, freestanding keel was necessary as a protection when running aground for the sensitive hull, possibly also facilitating overland transport in rapids and similar conditions.
MoIf- Stener, Keelboat and Sampan. Mannus 24, 1-3.
The study already indicates the use of movable rudders, swords, and ram spikes during the Bronze Age, demonstrating a highly developed shipbuilding technique. The divine ship "Skidbladnir," mentioned in the Younger Edda, turns out to be a keelboat based on Bronze Age ship technology, as the Edda generally refers to these ancient concepts regarding ships. Previously inexplicable passages in the Younger Edda and the sagas find their explanation through Schulth's assertion that these are not divine epithets but ship names.
W. W. Lienan, Bread Ovens, Mills, and Looms in an Early Imperial Period Burgundian Settlement. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3.
In the Burgundian Sieblungen near Frankfurt, a bread oven and a perforated millstone were found, along with a complete weaving setup. It was located on a clay terrace outdoors and was protected by a windscreen. Weaving scissors, loom weights, spindles, and other items were found there.
Fundnachrichten (Province of Saxony), Nachrichtenblatt für deutsche Vorzeit, Issue 6, 1932.
At the Kleine Klausberg near Halle, fragments of a rotary millstone were found in a Bronze Age settlement layer.
W. Bielstein, Mosaic Fragments in the Study of Dwelling Pits, Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3.
Shows instructive comparisons to prehistoric dwelling finds in modern residential complexes of the Baltic peoples.
Nachrichtenblatt für deutsche Vorzeit, Issue 8, 1932.
Reports the first find of a hall building in East Prussia (Damerau, Kr. Partenstein). The settlement site dates back to the 7th and 6th centuries BC.
J. Grüss, Two Old Germanic Drinking Horns with Beer and Mead Residues. Nachrichten aus Niedersachsens Urgeschichte, Vol. 6, 1932.
The investigation revealed that one horn was used only for mead and the other only for beer. This shows the brewing process of the Germans.
Fundnachrichten (Württemberg), Nachrichtenblatt für deutsche Vorzeit, Issue 9, 1932.
At Hallfingen, D. A. Rottenburg, a cemetery from the 4th to 7th centuries AD was excavated, where, in addition to the exact arrangement of graves by kinship groups, representatives of all handicrafts could be identified from the finds.
D. F. Gandert, Domestic Animal Questions. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3.
Rejection of Menghin's cultural sphere theory regarding the origin of animal husbandry, which is far too complex to be forced into such a scheme. The "culture" does not come into question as the inventor of animal husbandry. Rather, multiple instances of domestication are possible, and especially the independent domestication of the horse must be attributed to the Nordic Neolithic culture, i.e., the Indo-Europeans, as evidenced by the bridle.
Cultural Relations
T. J. Arne, Oriental Animal and Animal Head Images in Sweden. Mannus Vol. 24, 1-3.
Bronze Age animal images in Germanic territory show early connections to Scythian culture.
Karl Spich, The Ring of Strobjehnen and Its Motif Circle. Ibid.
A golden arm ring from the Viking Age (9th-10th centuries), depicting the myth of the water of life. Style and depiction point to Baltic regions, but the content is entirely Aryan common property.
Hertha Sthemel.
Club News
Meeting in Pyrmont: The 5th meeting of the Friends of Germanic Prehistory is scheduled for Whitsun week, from Tuesday, June 6th to Thursday, June 8th, 1933, in Bad Pyrmont. Following the meeting, there will be guided tours to the Germanic sanctuaries identified by Wilhelm Teudt in the Osning region. The agenda will be announced in the March issue. We learn with delight that Dr. (Prof.) Wilhelm Nedel (Berlin) will give a lecture on "The Significance of Old Norse Literature for Understanding Germanic Essence."
Local groups of the Friends of Germanic Prehistory have newly formed in Hannover and Essen. Those interested in exploring their own prehistory can contact: In Hannover: Mr. Regierungsrat Pricze, Falkenstr. 8 In Essen: Mr. Studienrat Ricken, Kortumstr. 35
The local group Bremen (secretary E. Ritter, Kreftingstr. 10, Tel. 27220) of the Friends of Germanic Prehistory is trying to attract a larger audience for our endeavors through lectures. The lectures take place every first Wednesday of the month at 8 PM. On October 5th, the head of the museum "Vaterkunde," Mr. Fararchaeologist Müller-Brauel, spoke about "Pile Dwellings in Graves." The following evenings are scheduled: November: Telegraph Director Dr. S. Reuter, "Edda and Soul." December: Dr. jur. Eggers, "Roland-Irminjul-Wodan." January: Studienrat Siebert, "Rise and Fall of Witgarb." February: Engineer Osthaus, "Tools from Prehistory to the Present." March: Dr. med. Schomburg, "Racial Composition of the Northwestern Germanic Tribes."
The Friends of Germanic Prehistory in Hagen had a well-attended meeting on October 8th, 1932, at the Hagener Hof (Hugo-Preuß-Str. 14). Despite the difficult economic times, which impose great restrictions on individual spending, 55 participants gathered (some from Essen, Dortmund, Hohenlimburg, Schwerte, Hamm, Witten). Stud. Director Schäfer gave a detailed, well-prepared report on "The Religiosity of Pagan North Germans according to Bernhard Rummer's book 'Midgard's Demise'." Then, Spiegel-Schwerte reported on his excavations at the Rafflenberg near Hohenlimburg (castle destroyed in 1288). The foundations were first located with a dowsing rod and then excavated, with the results matching excellently. Mr. Frein from Hohenlimburg pointed out the connections between place names, local legends, and history. The discussion was very lively. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 1933. (Inquiries to Ing. Fr. Rotimann, Hagen, Eppenhaufer Str. 31.)
The Society for Germanic Prehistory (formerly Herman Wirth Society, Berlin) is also organizing a series of lectures this winter. University Professor Dr. Gustav Redel has already spoken about "The Germanic Religion," Dr. Diebow about "Riddles of Germanic Prehistory," and Wilhelm Teudt about "Images from Germanic Prehistory." On December 7th, City Librarian Wolfgang Schöningh gave a lecture on "Ancient Nordic Cult Traditions in Germanic Catholicism." Early in 1933, Privatdozent Dr. Hans Reinerth (Tübingen) will speak on "Nordic-Germanic Cultural Connections." The lectures take place in the large conference room of the Higher Administrative Court in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Hardenbergstr. 31 (near Bahnhof Zoo). Admission 1-2 Marks. Members of the "Association of Friends of Germanic Prehistory" receive discounted prices upon presentation of their membership card.
Netherlands Aryo-Germanic Society. The will to identify the special forces that shaped one's own people in the past and to make them useful again for shaping the present and future is evident everywhere. For Holland, this task will be undertaken by the Nederlandsche Ario-Germanische Genootschap (founded in November 1931 in Utrecht). We do not want to withhold our participation in their work, as the formative forces there come from the same source as ours: the ancient Germanic heritage. Therefore, we comply with the society's request to publish their announcement (excerpt):
"The lively participation, which is also awakening in Holland, for everything concerning the essence of one's own people and its nature, has already led to numerous exciting discoveries about the life of our ancestors and the founding of several leagues and societies dedicated to exploring that fundamental origin, where past and present have their roots. Thus, the N.A.G.G. could also be founded."
It pursues a threefold goal: to illuminate the past, to investigate its connection with the present people, and to contribute to shaping the future (revitalization). The society aims to achieve this goal through various means: it promotes the research and work of its members and collaborators and encourages the exchange of results; it organizes meetings and conferences, lectures, and presentations; it conducts guided tours, undertakes field studies, holds sacred plays and the like, helps old sacred sites gain new recognition or establishes new ones. It forms working groups in the fields of ancient Saxon studies (archaeology), history, folklore, genealogy, racial studies, mythology, comparative religious history, art, language, runic studies, heraldry, etc. It publishes reports on its work in newsletters, brochures, books, and its own journal; it disseminates relevant news and articles in daily newspapers, trade, and other journals. It establishes a central exhibition center and library for the use of its members, collaborators, and friends. It promotes education that aligns with its goals in primary schools, higher education, and universities.
It acquires - if necessary, in collaboration with other associations or authorities - sites, buildings, properties of value for the Germanic past, as long as the state, provinces, and municipalities have not already done so. Further information can be obtained from Secretary F. R. Haan, Amsterdam (Holland), P.O. Box 88.
To all Germans! Recognizing the groundbreaking work of Herman Wirth and its decisive impact on the revival and strengthening of pure German spirituality, the Mecklenburg-Schwerin government has decided to establish a research institute and open-air museum for the history of spirituality in Bad Doberan. Prof. Dr. Herman Wirth has been appointed to carry out and lead this effort. The Mecklenburg-Schwerin government deserves thanks for taking the first real, vigorous step from the state side to create a bulwark against further encroachment by foreign intellectual claims.
For the first time, what has so often been demanded in vain for the entire German people is being realized: to return and build upon the unbroken, but consciously suppressed for centuries, eternal forces of German culture. Since no budget funds are currently available, the entire foundation must be built through the voluntary cooperation and contributions of academic and other youth, as well as voluntary contributions. Therefore, we want to gather all German women and men who want to help ensure that the work of this new stronghold of German spirit in the north receives a more comprehensive foundation for German spiritual renewal and can radiate ever further. Everyone who truly cares about the shared responsibility for the future of Germany can help. Even the smallest contribution is valuable as a building block for the project.
Contributions are currently requested to be sent to: Account Wolfram Sievers, Doberan (for Herman Wirth Foundation) at the Rostock Bank, Doberan branch, or under the same designation to the postal check account Berlin 124313 of the Rostock Bank, Rostock. Further details are gladly provided by the managing director of the research institute and open-air museum for the history of spirituality, as well as the preparatory committee of the Herman Wirth Foundation for promoting the research institute and open-air museum for the history of spirituality. Bad Doberan/Mecklenburg, November 1932.