VilNews is on its way around Europe!
Throughout May-June you are all invited on a
journey from north to south, from east to west.Some
articles will dwell with history.Some with Lithuanian contact
points in various countries. I have travelled across Europe with
camera and notepad for nearly 40 years and hope you will enjoy seeing
and reading about some of my experiences.Today's tour starts in Vienna,
and continues through North Austria to many German sites. Have a nice trip!

Our today’s trip starts in Vienna, home of Sigmund Freud and the Strauss family.
From here we go west, to Linz and Salzburg, then crossing into Bavaria in
Germany. We visit Munich, continue to Schwarzwald’s many small and
picturesque villages, before heading north to the Hanseatic lands.
We end up in towns of great importance for Lithuania...

Authentic Austria

The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria became one of the great powers of Europe and, in response to the coronation of Napoleon I as the Emperor of the French, the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary.

When the Habsburg (Austro-Hungarian) Empire collapsed in 1918 with the end of World War I, Austria used German Austria („Deutschösterreich”, later „Österreich”) as the state name in an attempt for union with Germany but was forbidden due to the Treaty of Saint Germain. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919. In the 1938 Anschluss, Austria was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Nazi Germany was occupied by the Allies and Austria's former democratic constitution was restored. In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral.

Today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $48,350 (2011 est.). The country has developed a high standard of living and in 2011 was ranked 19th in the world for its Human Development Index.

Hallstatt, Austria.

Sigmund Freud was a “Lithuanian Jew”

Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) was an Austrian neurologist who became known as the founding father of psychoanalysis. Freud qualified as a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Vienna in 1881, and then carried out research into cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy at the Vienna General Hospital. He was appointed a University lecturer in neuropathology in 1885 and became a Professor in 1902.

His father, Jacob Freud (1815–1896), was a Lithuanian Jew, from Vilnius. Of his father's family Freud wrote, "I believe they lived a long time in Rhenish territory (Cologne), that during the persecution of Jews in the fourteenth or fifteenth century they fled east, and in the nineteenth century returned from Lithuania, through Galicia, to a German-speaking country, Austria"

Jews lived in Lithuania since the 14th century. They came at the invitation of the Grand Dukes Mindaugas, Augustus II and Augustus III, who had recognized the utility of the merchants, artisans, and traders as an integral component in the development of the nation. Jews also played important roles in diplomatic missions and defense.

Vilnius was the most important Jewish centre, a city that Napoleon in 1812 gave the nickname "Jerusalem of the North". Renowned scientists, teachers, writers, sculptors, and musicians made their homes here. Jewish secular and religious institutions flourished, including “Der Yiddisher Visenshaftlicher Institut” (The Yiddish Scientific Institute) in the 1920s and 1930s, which published countless scientific works. Vilnius was selected to be its headquarters. Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Marc Chagall were honorary members of the board.

If any European capital knows how to enjoy the good life, it’s Vienna. Compared to most modern urban centers, the pace of life here is slow. Locals linger over pastry and coffee at cafés. Concerts and classical music abound. And chatting with friends at a wine garden is not a special event but a way of life.

For many Viennese, the living room is down the street at the neighborhood coffeehouse, which offers light lunches, fresh pastries, a wide selection of newspapers, and “take all the time you want” charm (just beware of the famously grumpy waiters). Each coffeehouse comes with its own individual character. Café Sperl dates from 1880, and is still furnished identically to the day it opened—from the coat tree to the chairs. Café Hawelka has a dark, “brooding Trotsky” atmosphere, paintings by struggling artists (who couldn’t pay for coffee), smoked velvet couches, and a phone that rings for regulars. Mrs. Hawelka died a couple of weeks after Pope John Paul II. Locals suspect the pontiff wanted her much-loved “Buchteln“ (marmalade-filled doughnuts) in heaven.

Make it a point to stop by Demel, the ultimate Viennese chocolate shop, filled with Art Nouveau boxes of choco-dreams come true: “Kandierte Veilchen” (candied violet petals), “Katzenzungen” (cats’ tongues), and much more. An impressive cancan of cakes is displayed to tempt you into springing for the 10-euro cake-and-coffee deal (point to the cake you want). You’ll sure to see Sacher torte, the local specialty. Apart from its apricot filling, the recipe seems pretty simple...chocolate on chocolate. You can sit inside the shop, with a view of the cake-making, or outside, with the street action. Fancy shops like this boast on their sign: “K.u.K.” (meaning good enough for the “König und Kaiser” – king and emperor).

For another royally good experience, head to the wine gardens. Clustered around the edge of town, mostly in the legendary Vienna Woods, wine-garden restaurants feature cold-cut buffets paired with fine Austrian wines in an old-village atmosphere with strolling musicians. If you visit in fall, try Sturm, the semi-fermented new wine made from the season’s first grape harvest and only available in autumn. Many locals claim that it takes several years of practice to distinguish between Sturm wine and vinegar. The red version is so hearty and fruity that locals say “Eat up!” when toasting with it.

The Café-Restaurant Weimar is one of the classic coffee houses of Vienna's 9th District, the area where Sigmund Freud lived and conducted his psychological investigations. Nice, even in rain.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

The golden age of Austrian – Lithuanian relations

15^th – 16^th centuries

The Lithuanian “Jagiellonian Dynasty” and the Austrian “Habsburg Dynasty” ‘united’ in 1454 when Lithuanian Grand Duke Casimir married Austrian Elizabeth von Habsburg

The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas that reigned over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Europe’s largest country in the 14^th-16^th centuries (present day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, parts of Russia (including nowadays Kaliningrad oblast), Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia).

The Habsburg dynasty was another predominant force in Europe for several hundred years. This house ruled over the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Spain and many other realms in Europe. The Habsburgs were especially powerful and played an exceptional role in the history of Central and Eastern Europe.

This Jagiellonian dynasty started with Vladislaus Jagiello, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1377-1401), who later also became King of Poland, marrying Jadvyga,theonly daughter of the last King of Poland of the Andegawen dynasty(1386). In Lithuanian historiography this house is known as Gediminaiciaithat isthe descendants of Gediminas (c.1275-1341), grandfather of Jagiello and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1316-1341).

Over five hundredyears ago dynastic relations were a significant part of European politics. They were used to acquire new landsandcement political alliances. Therefore, dynastic contacts between the two most powerful houses in Central Europe were inevitable.

When Casimir IV Jagiello, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania married Elizabeth of Habsburg in 1454 that became the first Habsburg-Jagiellon marriage ever contracted. The copule was a “Dream Team” of the late Middle Ages. Their wedding in 1454 (she was 17, he was 27) trigged off a historical golden era for Poland and Lithuania, which lasted over 100 years and ended in 1572 with the death of their grand-son Sigismund II Augustus. Those were the glorious days of the Jagiellon dynasty

Elizabeth von Habsburg (Elzbieta Habsburgaite) was called „Mother of the Jagiellons”, as she gave birth to 12 children, whereof six sons, among them the later Polish-Lithuanian King and Grand Duke Sigismund the Old (1467-1548).

The Austro-Lithuanian couple seems to have been successful in practically all their undertakings, not least in politics and in warfare. King Casimir died in 1492, so the marriage lasted for 38 years, which is quite remarkable for those times. In their lifetime and after, Lithuania was the major power in eastern Europe. Historians point out that Casimir and Elizabeth were also renowned for their open-mindedness and tolerance. Cracow was then a rich and splendid royal residence, and its close contacts to Prague and Vienna certainly were of great mutual advantage. The Jagiellon courts were international meeting places of noblemen, intellectuals and artists.

Grand Duke Casimir IV KG (1427 – 1492) of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and also King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He married to Elisabeth of Austria (1436 – 1505) in 1454. She became known as „Mother of the Jagiellons”.

Europe in 1490, when Grand Duke Casimir’s reign was coming to its end and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania was Europe’s largest country.

Two Austrian sisters married Lithuania’s Grand Duke Sigismund Augustus

The older sister is buried in Vilnius

Elisabeth of Austria (1526 – 1545) was the eldest child of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and his wife Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. Elisabeth was a member of the House of Habsburg.

From an early age Elisabeth was being prepared for her marriage to Sigismund II Augustus (1520-1572), Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, grandson of Grand Duke Casimir and Elizabeth of Austria.

Elisabeth's father had attempted to marry his daughter off to the Lithuanian Grand Duke when she was only one year old. In view of the fact that Elisabeth was the granddaughter of Vladislas II of Hungary, uncle of Sigismund, Pope Clement VII had to give a papal dispensation so the wedding could take place. So 16 year old Elisabeth married 22 year old Sigismund, they married on May 6, 1543 in Wawel, Krakow. Elisabeth's mother-in-law Bona Sforza did not want the wedding to take place because she hated the Habsburgs.

The marriage was not happy. Young, inexperienced and shy Elisabeth was not attracted to her husband. The situation deteriorated when Elisabeth was diagnosed with an incurable disease, epilepsy. Throughout the duration of marriage Sigismund betrayed his wife by taking a mistress, Barbora Radvilaitė. At the same time Bona openly showed dislike to Elisabeth. The only person showing sympathy to Elisabeth was her father-in-law Sigismund I the Old. In autumn 1544 the couple moved from Poland to Vilnius, where her husband was heavily involved in an affair with Barbora Radvilaitė.

In the spring 1545 Elisabeth's health deteriorated, tormented by her increasingly frequent seizures of epilepsy. At the beginning of June 1545 Sigismund went to Krakow to receive the dowry of Elisabeth, he left his wife alone in Vilnius. On June 15 the young queen died exhausted by many seizures of epilepsy, she was just 19 years old. She was buried on August 24, 1545 in Vilnius Cathedral next to her husband's uncle, a brother of her grandfather, Alexander the Jagiellonian. Her quarrel with Bona Sforza over the Parmesan cheese was commonly known in both Poland and Lithuania.

Tomb of Elisabeth of Austria in
the Vilnius Cathedral.

The younger sister is buried in Linz

After Elisabeth's death Sigismund remarried to Radvilaitė and after her death he married Elisabeth's younger sister Catherine of Austria (1533 – 1572.. On June 23, 1553, she became the third wife of Sigismund II Augustus. Sigismund had no legitimate children from his three wives

Catherine became pregnant and miscarried in October 1554. After the miscarriage, the Grand Duke decided that his marriage was cursed because Catherine was sister of his first wife. He vainly attempted to have the marriage annulled, and in the autumn of 1566, Catherine left Lithuania and lived until her death in 1572 in Linz.

Catherine of Austria was buried in 1614,
in the Sankt Florian monastery
near Linz in Austria.

Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg – the intellectual Cold War meeting point...

In 1965 the film The Sound of Music, directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews, was produced in Salzburg with the grounds adjacent to those of Schloss Leopoldskron as one of the main locations.

Earlyin the 1980s, I satin a‘bierstub’inSalzburg.Ifell into conversation withan elderlygentleman and asked whathewas workingwith. He then pulled outa 1000-shillingnote fromhis wallet,pointing tothe picture ofa castle, and said thatwas whereheworked, ascastlemanager.The castle,he said, wasnamed afterCount LeopoldAntonEleutherius vonFirmian(1679-1744).

Schloss Leopoldskron is a rococo palace and a national historic monument in a southern district of the city of Salzburg. The palace is located on the lake Leopoldskroner Weiher. Leopoldskron-Moos, an affluent residential area, reaches to the foot of the 1853m high Untersberg and features a number of still working farms as well as a peat-bog. The palace has been home to the Salzburg Global Seminar since 1947.

The Salzburg Global Seminar is an American non-profit organization that holds seminars on economics, politics, and other issues for future political, economic, and business leaders from around the world. Its purpose is to "challenge current and future leaders to develop creative ideas for solving global problems." and to "lead the conversation for global change" through seminars held at the Schloss Leopoldskron.

The organization was founded in 1947 by three men at Harvard University--Clemens Heller, a graduate student originally from Austria, a college senior named Richard Campbell and a young English instructor named Scott Elledge. "We hope to create at least one small centre in which young Europeans from all countries, and of all political convictions, could meet for a month in concrete work under favourable living conditions," Campbell said of their intentions in January 1947, "and to lay the foundation for a possible permanent centre of intellectual discussion in Europe." The Salzburg Seminar, as it came to be called, was created to be a venue to encourage intellectual exchange among Europeans and Americans and to ameliorate rifts created by World War II.

Generous Germany

No big developed country seems to come out of the global recession looking stronger than Germany. Exports are booming and unemployment has fallen to levels last seen in the early 1990s. The government is a stable, though sometimes fractious, coalition of three mainstream parties. Amid the truculence and turmoil around it, Germany appears an oasis of tranquillity.

A recent essay published by Bruegel, a Brussels think-tank, explains “why Germany fell out of love with Europe”. Another, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, alleges that Germany is “going global alone”. Jürgen Habermas, Germany’s most distinguished living philosopher, accuses his country of pursuing an “inward-looking national policy”. “How can you not ask Germany questions about its vision of the future of Europe?” wonders Jacques Delors, who was president of the European Commission when the Berlin Wall fell.

Even a pacific and prosperous Germany causes international angst...

The German question never dies. Instead, like a flu virus, it mutates. On the eve of unification some European leaders worried that it would resume killer form. “We’ve beaten the Germans twice and now they’re back,” said Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s prime minister. Such fears now look comical. But even today’s mild strain causes

The October 1, 1946Süddeutsche Zeitungannounces "The Verdict in Nuremberg." Depicted are (left, from top): Göring, Hess, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick; (second column) Funk, Streicher, Schacht; (third column) Dönitz, Raeder, Schirach; (right, from top) Sauckel, Jodl, Papen, Seyss-Inquart, Speer, Neurath, Fritzsche, Bormann. Image from Topography of Terror Museum, Berlin.

Nuremberg Trials. Defendants in the dock. The main target of the prosecution wasHermann Göring(at the left edge on the first row of benches), considered to be the most important surviving official in theThirdReichafterHitler's death.

We have arrived in Würzburg, capital of the Franconian wines. Founded in the 10th century, Würzburg served as the home of powerful prince-bishops for many centuries. It is renowned for the Residence, regarded as one of the finest palaces in Europe and a high point of Baroque art. Würzburg is also home to one of the oldest churches in Germany, built in the 8th century on top of a former pagan shrine. One of its most famous structures, Festung Marienberg, is a fortress which now surrounds the church. Würzburg was the centre of the kingdom known as Franconia. In the 19th century, Napoleon merged Franconia with Bavaria, by which the city is ruled to this day.

Würzburg experienced heavy demolition during a 20-minute bombing raid in 1945 which destroyed some 80% of its city buildings. Much of the city has since been rebuilt, though not as painstakingly true to its original architecture as some other historic german communities. Anyone eager to visit this town to study its historic architectural structures should be prepared to see its restored buildings placed next to several post-war modernistic houses. Today Würzburg is a beautiful, historic, and lively city that is often overlooked by foreign visitors.

We drive south-west after Würzburg, to Germany’s Black Forest, a truly attractive, romantic area with mountains, hills and endless forests. I love all the small curved roads, the picturesque villages, the cows, the feeling of warm friendliness...

The Black Forest (Schwarzwald) is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft). The region is almost rectangular with a length of 200 km (120 mi) and breadth of 60 km (37 mi). Hence it has an area of approximately 12,000 km2 (4,600 sq mi). The name Schwarzwald, i.e. Black Forest, goes back to the Romans who referred to the thickly forested mountains there as Silva Nigra, i.e. "Black Forest," because the dense growth of conifers in the forest blocked out most of the light inside the forest.

Freiburg – most sunny in Germany

Down to the river Rhine after the mountainous Balck Forest, to Freiburg im Breisgau, a sunny city in Baden-Württemberg in the extreme south-west of the country. It straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain. One of the famous old German university towns, and archiepiscopal seat, Freiburg was incorporated in the early 12th century and developed into a major commercial, intellectual, and ecclesiastical centre of the upper Rhine region. The city is known for its ancient university and its medieval minster, as well as for its high standard of living and advanced environmental practices. The city is situated in the heart of a major wine-growing region and serves as the primary tourist entry point to the scenic beauty of the Black Forest, supposed to be the sunniest and warmest in Germany.

Baden Baden – the spa town loved by Romans

The German word, 'Baden,' translates as 'baths.' The springs of Baden-Baden were known to the Romans, and the foundation of the town refers to the emperor, Hadrian, with an inscription of somewhat doubtful authenticity. The bath-conscious Roman emperor, Caracalla, once came here to ease his arthritic aches. Baden was also known as Aurelia Aquensis, in honour of Aurelius Severus, during whose reign Baden would seem to have been well known. Fragments of its ancient sculptures are still to be seen, and, in 1847, the well preserved remains of Roman vapour baths were discovered just below the New Castle.

Heidelberg – my lively favourite

Heidelberg is a lively city, clearly one of my favourites in Germany. The fifth-largest city in the State of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg is part of the densely-populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. In 2009, over 145,000 people lived in the city. Heidelberg lies on the River Neckar in a steep valley in the Odenwald. A former residence of the Electoral Palatinate, Heidelberg is the location of the University of Heidelberg, well-known far beyond its and Germany's borders. Heidelberg is a popular tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape, including Heidelberg Castle and the baroque style Old Town. Amazing place!

The Lithuanian school in the Rennhof Manor, Lampertheim-Hüttenfeld

By that time, however, it was becoming apparent that Lithuania was likely to remain occupied for the foreseeable future. Lithuanian refugees began to leave war-ravaged Germany. Most emigrated to distant countries—foremost among them the United States, Canada, and Australia. In the wake of their departure, most of these schools were shuttered. But approximately 8,000 Lithuanians chose to remain in Germany.

In 1950, Germany’s Lithuanian Community established a single high school for Lithuanian students. The high school was founded in Diepholz—the site of a displaced persons camp where many Lithuanians had lived since the end of the war. In 1954, the Lithuanian Community acquired Rennhof Manor House with its twelve-acre park in the town of Lampertheim-Hüttenfeld. The school was relocated there.

Throughout Lithuania’s 50-year struggle for independence from Soviet rule, the Lithuanian High School promoted engagement with Lithuania as well as support for dissidents fighting for freedom and human rights behind the Iron Curtain.

With the advent of the reform movement Sąjūdis in the mid-1980s, the Lithuanian High School became an increasingly important conduit for ideas and support for reforms that led to Lithuanian independence in 1990.

Following the reestablishment of independence, the school continued to serve as a cultural center for Lithuanians in Western Europe and a bridge between Lithuania and the West, providing an opportunity for the children of Lithuanian expatriates to integrate without losing their Lithuanian identity.

Receiving full state accreditation in 1999, the Lithuanian High School remains the only full-time Lithuanian educational institution in Western Europe.

The Rennhof Manor in Lampertheim-Hüttenfeld has a unique position for Lithuanians, harbouring numerous Lithuanian organizations, which has figured as the centre of Lithuanian émigré community life in Western Europe since 1953.

Go to the school’s website to learn more about the school: http://gimnazija.de

To learn about other Lithuanian youth activities in Germany, go to: http://www.pljs.org/category/english

Bonn – the post-war capital of West Germany

Bonn was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999. Starting in 1998, many national government institutions were moved from Bonn to Berlin. Roughly half of all government jobs were retained as many government departments remained in Bonn and numerous sub-ministerial level government agencies relocated to the former capital from Berlin and other parts of Germany. Bonn has developed into a hub of international cooperation in particular in the area of environment and sustainable development. Bonn The Poppelsdorfer Schloss (picture), in which there is the “Mineralogisch-Petrologische Museum” today.

Cologne – not only perfume

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city, and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants. Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the city's most famous monument and the Cologne residents' most respected landmark. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880.

Eau de Cologne, “Water of Cologne”, is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne. As of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water. Colognes are used by men and women but are generally marketed to men as an alternative to perfume.

Bremen – go sailing or fishing!

Bremen is a Hanseatic city in north-western Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area (2.4 million people). Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany. With Bremerhaven right on the mouth the two comprise the state of Bremen. The Bremen Ports are among the most important universal harbours of Europe. The air of a seafaring port bursts from every corner of the busy but young seaport, which offers a range of attractions along miles of waterfront promenades, in generous areas of parkland and on the scenic River Geeste.

Hamburg – the cosmopolitan Hansa town

Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe and it is among the twenty largest in the world.

Hamburg's official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. It reflects Hamburg's history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and also the fact that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.

Hamburg is a major transport hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe.

Wehave arrived at Hamburg, the world's leading Hanseaticcity.This is aremarkable, powerful metropolis that alsoclearly display sits traditional past in contact with the North Sea and Baltic Sea. This is also the place to go for tasty North-European seafood...

We leave Hamburg, drive south-east, to Quendlinburg, a small town of about 23,000 inhabitants, near the Harz Mountains in Germany’s western Saxon-Anhalt, virtually the heart of Germany. This town is a treasure which is rapidly evolving into a prime tourist attraction, particularly for non-Germans. And Lithuanians are first in the queue!

A rare combination of ancient, medieval and modern historical and artistic treasures are making it a "must" for visitors, much as Rothenburg, Trier, Lübeck and other German historical gems.

Unlike the others, such as Aachen, where Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse) held sway over the Franks,Quedlinburg

is the birthplace of a Nation. For it was here in 919 A.D. that a Diet of noble ducal peers elected a German King, the Saxon Duke Heinrich, monarch of Germany-everything--, rather than merely a ruler of a local domain such as Bavarian or Rhenish or Hessian lands.

And this first hegemony extended for more than three centuries until Germany dissolved into almost 300 tiny city-states, provinces and squabbling communities, only to be reunited in 1871.

The first written occurrence of the name LITHUANIA has been

traced to the Annals from Quedlinburg Abbey, dated to 9 March year 1009

"Sanctus Bruno, qui cognominatur Bonifacius, archiepiscopus et monachus, XI suae conversionis anno in confinio Ruscia et Litua a paganis capite plexus, cum suis XVIII, VII. Id. Martii petiit coelos."

Quedlinburg Abbey.

The Annals of Quedlinburg were written between 1008 and 1030 in the convent of Quedlinburg Abbey. In recent years a consensus has emerged that the annalist was a woman. The annals are mostly dedicated to the history of the Holy Roman Empire; they also contain the first written mention of the name of Lithuania ("Litua"), dated to 1009. The original document has disappeared, surviving only as a 16th-century copy held in Dresden, but its contents endure as a scholarly resource.

The city of Quedlinburg, Germany, was first mentioned in writing in a document dated to 922. Saint Mathilda founded a religious community for women at its abbey, serving as abbess from 966 to 999. The abbey became a premier educational institution for the female nobles of Saxony, and maintained its mission for nearly 900 years. The city served as an imperial palatinate of the Saxon emperors, where Henry the Fowler, the founder of the Ottonian dynasty, was buried. Quedlinburg was situated not far from Magdeburg, the Royal Assembly of the empire, and its annalists could therefore rely on genuine information from the royal house and obtain eyewitness accounts.The city lost some stature under the rule of Henry II, who broke with the tradition of celebrating Easter there; the Annals portray him unfavorably, and demonstrate the extent to which a royal monastery was entitled to criticize its monarch.

The Annals open with a chronicle of world history from the time of Adam to the Third Council of Constantinople in 680-681, based on chronicles by Jerome, Isidore, and Bede. The narrative is largely borrowed from multiple older sources until the year 1002, although original reports from as early as 852 are present. Beginning in 993, the narrative begins including events which represent the annalist's own eyewitness testimony concerning events at and around Quedlinburg. The amount of detail increases significantly from 1008 onwards, leading some analysts to conclude that 1008 was the actual date that the Annals were first compiled, although Robert Holzman argues for a start date of 1000. It has been suggested that the annalist temporarily abandoned the project between 1016 and 1021. The exact reasons for this suspension of the work are unknown. Work on the project continued between 1021 and 1030, when its authors were able to report a military victory against Mieszko II.

The primary task of the annalists was to record the heritage of the Ottonian dynasty and of Quedlinburg itself. The Annals incorporate the stories of a number of historic and legendary figures such as Attila the Hun, King Dietrich of the Goths, and others. The historian Felice Lifshitz has suggested that amount of saga material integrated into its narrative is without parallel.

The Annals of Quedlinburg became an important research source; during the 12th century they were used at least by five contemporary historians. Felice Lifshitz asserts that the Annals of Quedlinburg played a key role in shaping the ways in which influential Germans of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw their medieval past. They continue to be analyzed in other contexts: by scholars of Beowulf discussing its use of the term Hugones to mean Franks, by climatologists, and in a book discussing fear of the millennium.

The first written occurrence of Lithuania's name has been traced to the Quedlinburg Annals and dated to 9 March 1009.The passage reads:

"Sanctus Bruno, qui cognominatur Bonifacius, archiepiscopus et monachus, XI suae conversionis anno in confinio Ruscia et Litua a paganis capite plexus, cum suis XVIII, VII. Id. Martii petiit coelos."

"[In 1009] St. Bruno, an archbishop and monk, who was called Boniface, was struck in the head by Pagans during the 11th year of this conversion at the Rus and Lithuanian border, and along with 18 of his followers, entered heaven on March 9th."

From other sources that describe Bruno of Querfurt, it is clear that this missionary attempted to Christianize the pagan king Netimer and his subjects. However, Netimer's brother, refusing to accept Christianity, killed Bruno and his followers. The historian Alfredas Bumblauskas has suggested that the story records the first baptismal attempt in the history of Lithuania.

Quedlinburg Abbey was a house of secular canonesses in Quedlinburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of Henry the Fowler, as his memorial. For many centuries it enjoyed great prestige and influence.

Quedlinburg Abbey was founded on the castle hill of Quedlinburg in the present Saxony-Anhalt in 936 by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, at the request of his mother Queen Matilda, later canonised as Saint Matilda, in honour of her late husband, Otto's father, King Henry the Fowler, and as his memorial. Henry was buried here, as was Matilda herself.

The "Kaiserlich freie weltliche Reichsstift Quedlinburg" ("Free secular Imperial abbey of Quedlinburg"), as its full style was until its dissolution in 1802, consisted of a proprietary church of the Imperial family to which was attached a college of secular canonesses (Stiftsdamen), a community of the unmarried daughters of the greater nobility and royalty leading a godly life.

Thanks to its Imperial connections the new foundation attracted rich endowments and was soon a wealthy and thriving community. Ecclesiastically, the abbess was exempt from the jurisdiction of her diocesan, the Bishop of Halberstadt, and subject to no superior except the Pope. The bishops of Halberstadt were constantly engaged in dispute with the abbesses, as they claimed to have spiritual jurisdiction over the abbey in virtue of subjection of women to men. In her political relations, the abbess was a princess of the Holy Roman Empire, entitled to seat in the College of Princes and a vote at the Diets.

During the Reformation the abbey became Protestant, under Abbess Anna II (Countess of Stolberg).

After the German Mediatisation of 1803 the abbey was taken over by the Kingdom of Prussia as the Principality of Quedlinburg.

There is more Lithuanian related history traces here in this area of Germany. We go to Magdeburg, the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe.

Emperor Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor, lived for most of his reign in the town and was buried in the cathedral after his death. Magdeburg's version of German town law, known as Magdeburg rights, spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe. The city is also well known for the 1631 Sack of Magdeburg, which hardened Protestant resistance during the Thirty Years' War.

Nowadays Magdeburg is a traffic junction as well as an industrial and trading centre, with a population more than 230 000. The production of chemical products, steel, paper and textiles are of particular economic significance, along with Mechanical engineering and plant engineering, Ecotechnology and life-cycle management, Health management and Logistics. Along with ten other cities in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia, Magdeburg is a member of the Central German Metropolitan Region.

The town's main symbol –the Cathedral of Magdeburg.
Photo: Prinz Wilbert

Vilnius was granted Magdeburg rights on the 22^nd of March 1387

On February 22nd, he ordered all Lithuanians to accept the Catholic faith. Soon thereafter, he also established the first 7 parishes. The christening of Lithuania proved to be a tremendous social upheaval, even though Lithuania with her Pagan faith already exhibited the most important elements of civilisation, including brick architecture and writing. The Pagan Dukes were as advanced, as to go on military manoeuvres bringing a personal office with them. For example, the travelling bag of Skirgaila, which fell into the hands of the Crusaders in 1385, was found to contain "Ruthenian privileges sealed in lead."

On the 22^nd of March 1387, Jogaila granted Magdeburg Rights to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Kaunas was granted Magdeburg Rights by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great in 1408, Trakai in 1409.

Lithuania’s national painter and composer, Mikolajus K. Čiurlionis,

studied here in Leipzig 1901-1902

Čiurlionis studied composition under Professor Carl Reinecke and counterpoint under Salomon Jadassohn at the Leipzig Conservatoire in 1901-1902. As an external student he attended lectures in aesthetics, history and psychology. He listened to his favourite compositions by Handel, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Liszt at the Gewandhaus and Leipzig Theatre. He studied independently orchestration of Berlioz and R. Strauss compositions at the library of C.F. Peters’ publishing house.

During his Leipzig period, he composed the symphonic overtureKęstutis, a string quartet in four movements, canons and fugues including Sanctus and Kyrie for mixed choir. During his vacations he did some drawing.

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.

Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque and rococo city centre. A controversial Allied aerial bombing towards the end of World War II killed thousands of civilians and destroyed the entire city. The impact of the bombing and 40 years of urban development during the East German communist era have considerably changed the face of the city. Some restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Semper Oper and the Dresdner Frauenkirche. Since the German reunification in 1990, Dresden has regained importance as one of the cultural, educational, political and economic centres of Germany, with a population of more than half a million.

Dresden in the 20th century was a leading European centre of art, classical music, culture and science until its complete destruction on 13 February 1945. Being the capital of the German state of Saxony, Dresden had not only garrisons but a whole military borough, the Albertstadt. This military complex, named after Saxon King Albert, was never targeted in the bombing of Dresden.

During the final months of World War II, Dresden became a safe haven to some 600,000 refugees, including women, children, and wounded soldiers, with a total population of 1.2 million. Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and was occupied by the Red Army after German capitulation.

The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force between 13 February and 15 February 1945 remains one of the more controversial Allied actions of the Western European theatre of war.

The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed by 722 RAF and 527 USAAF bombers that dropped 2431.0 tons of high explosive bombs, and 1475.9 tons of incendiaries.The high explosive bombs damaged buildings and exposed their wooden structure, while the incendiaries ignited it. The bombing raid destroyed the 500 year-old Cathedral, along with almost all of the ancient centre of the city. The German Dresden Historians' Commission, in an official 2010 report published after five years of research, concluded there were up to 25,000 civilian casualties, while right-wing groups claim that up to 500,000 people died.

Lithuanian war refugees in Germany after World War II

In the summer and autumn of 1944 thousands of Lithuanian refugees left their homeland ahead of the advancing Soviet Army and headed West. The overwhelming majority chose to flee not because they had collaborated with the Germans, and thus feared retribution, but because they had directly experienced the horrors of the first Soviet occupation (1940-41) and did not anticipate that the second occupation would be better. They fled, however, with every hope and intention of returning home after the defeat of Nazi Germany, but by 1951 the majority had emigrated to the Anglo-Saxon countries or to Latin America.

At the end of World War II there were approximately 60,000 Lithuanians in Western Europe. From this number nearly 50,000 were refugees who fled in 1944. The remaining 10,000 consisted of individuals who had been liberated from Nazi concentration camps, those who had repatriated to Germany at the beginning of the war, single young men and women who were forcibly taken to Germany for work, and prisoners of war (most were forcibly conscripted into the German Army). Obviously a considerably larger number of Lithuanians left Lithuania in the second half of 1944 than the number mentioned. Many were trapped by the rapidly advancing Red Army in Poland and East Germany. Their actual number and their fate remain unknown.

The end of hostilities brought a sense of relief to most of the Europeans, but not to the Lithuanian and other Baltic refugees. Because of the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union, their political status was not clear, and many Baits feared and suspected that they were in danger of being forcibly repatriated to the Soviet Union. This sense of uncertainty was evident in the Lithuanian refugee publications, as in the following: "The Lithuanians who had suffered so much do not have a free country to return to. Nor is their present position in any way secure, nor is there a guarantee that the Americans and the English will not betray them to a new slavery." Such fears were not unfounded.

Read more at http://www.lituanus.org/1983_2/83_2_03.htm

Here some VilNews stories about Lithuanian refugees in post-war Germany:

Vanda Sliupas

https://vilnews.com/?p=13181

DP Camp brochure

https://vilnews.com/?p=12074

Rimgaudas Vidziunas

https://vilnews.com/?p=13633

Regina Narusiene

https://vilnews.com/?p=762