The Germanic People. Exploring My Heritage.
If you have been following along with me in my blogs, you know I have been exploring my heritage. I do this to discover where I came from to help me understand who I am. Today I take a look at 5% of my ancestry, The Germanic People.
The landscape of Germanic Europe is considered to rise from the Dutch and German lowlands through forested uplands to Austria's Alps in the South.
The ancestors of the modern day inhabitants of Germanic Europe probably started arriving around 500 BC. Nobody is sure why these ancestors migrated South, but they built wooden houses, were farmers, and did not have a written language.
Julius Caesar gave some of the earliest accounts of the Germanic People. The Romans named this land Germania and saw them as being savage and more of a threat than the Celtic Gauls. Even though they were enemies, they also traded with each other. It was the Romans who introduced written language in Germania.
The treaty of Verdun in 843 gave control of most of the area of Germany we see today to Louis the German under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire. Much of this region was divided into small kingdoms. Rudolph of Habsburg became King of Germany and its dynasty ruled Germany for three centuries.
During the reformation, Germany's population doubled in size but religion intervened and led to the thirty years wars from 1618 to 1648. This would end up ravaging Germany with sickness and death.
In 1871 the German States except for Austria joined to form the German empire. Which would bring us to the Germany of the first two world wars and into the modern Era.
Just like all of my other heritages that I am researching, there is so much history to dig into here. To figure out exactly who I am and what part of Germany my ancestors came from will take some time to research.
To me, you simply can't say "I am 5% German". What does that exactly mean? Since I have Scandinavian in me as well, did my ancestors come from Scandinavia into Germany?
Did I have any German ancestors who fought in the first two world wars? Were my ancestors in Germany during the 30 years war and were any of them affected by the sickness and death that occurred?
So many questions, so many things to figure out what makes me. So many things to learn and take away for Ancestral Healing.
Do you have any Germanic ancestry? Have you looked into any of Germanic history? If so, I would like to know what you found out.
We know a good bit about the modern Era Germany. But there are many things to learn about the origins of the Germanic People. It is a mystery. Come journey with me and let's discover the history of the Germanic People together.
Blessings.
By Michael Walters
The Ancestor's Fire
Writing the voices of the unheard
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