Polabian Slavs

Quick Facts: Who was Polabian Slavs?

Subject:

Polabian Slavs

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A collective term for West Slavic tribes inhabiting the Elbe River region of modern Germany.

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2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic (West Slavic) tribes who lived along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The approximate territory stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north, the river Saale and the Limes Saxoniae in the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes in the south, and medieval Poland in the east. The Polabian Slavic tribes were initially independent and had their own princes. Since the 7th century, some of them were forced to recognize the supreme royal authority of the neighboring Frankish rulers, but their relations with Merovingian and later Carolingian and Ottonian kings and emperors were marked by frequent frontier conflicts and uprisings. From the 9th century onwards, they were largely conquered by rulers of Eastern Francia and in time integrated into the Holy Roman Empire.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

In the following centuries, the tribes became gradually assimilated through Germanization during the Ostsiedlung. The modern Sorbs are the only descendants of the Polabian Slavs to have retained their identity and culture. The northern Polabian language is now extinct, while the two Sorbian languages are still spoken by approximately 22,000–30,000 inhabitants of the region. The government of Germany regards Upper and Lower Sorbian as official regional languages. The Bavarian Geographer, an anonymous medieval document compiled in Regensburg in 830, lists the Slavic tribes in Central Europe east of the Elbe.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Among others, it mentions the Uuilci (Veleti) with 95 civitates, the Nortabtrezi (Obotrites) with 53 civitates, the Surbi (Sorbs) with 50 civitates, the Milzane (Milceni) with 30 civitates, the Hehfeldi (Hevelli) with 14 civitates, etc. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia classifies the Polabian Slavs into three main tribes: the Obotrites, the Veleti, and the Lusatian Sorbs. The main tribes of the Obotritic confederation were the Obotrites proper (Wismar Bay to the Schweriner See), the Wagrians (eastern Holstein), the Warnabi (Warnower) (the upper Warnow and Mildenitz), and the Polabians proper (between the Trave and the Elbe). Other tribes associated with the confederation included the Linones (Linonen) near Lenzen, the Travnjane near the Trave, and the Drevani in the Hanoverian Wendland and the northern Altmark. The Veleti, also known as the Liutizians or Wilzians, included the Kessinians (Kessiner, Chyzzini) along the lower Warnow and Rostock; the Circipani (Zirzipanen) between the Recknitz, Trebel, and Peene Rivers; the Tollenser east and south of the Peene along the Tollense River; and the Redarier south and east of the Tollensesee on the upper Havel. The Redarier were the most important of the Veleti tribes.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Polabian Slavs

True or False: “The Polabian Slavs were entirely assimilated into German culture without leaving any cultural descendants.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): The modern Sorbs are noted as the only descendants of the Polabian Slavs to have retained their distinct identity and culture.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Polabian Slavs