The Origins and History of the Polabian Slavs

Not all of history’s tales have a happy ending. In fact, most of them are rife with sad fates and great turmoil, with the ruthless passage of time erasing entire nations.

One of these tales it that of the Polabian Slavs . Westernmost of all Slavic tribes, these warriors and traders struggled for survival through their entire existence.

Known also as the Pomeranians or the Baltic Slavs, they were fundamental in the historical development of western and central Europe, and the emergence of Germany, from whom they suffered centuries of competition.

Join us as we uncovered the history of these diverse Slavic tribes about whose ethnogenesis there is a wealth of information and who remain a subject of active research to this day. What was the fate of these tribes? And, what have they left behind? The truth can be easier to discover than you might think.

Original Article: The Polabian Slavs: A History of a Vanquished People by ALEKSA VUČKOVIĆ

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Facebook Page:

[paulj.elliott]

My great-grandfather’s family emigrated from Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Not only the names of most of the towns Slavic, but also some of the surnames of related families in the Seenplatte.

[vorgotheon]

The legendary Slavic origins of northeast Germany are fascinating. Great video.

[vilisveidis]

Perhaps a similar video on the origins of the Baltic peoples, from Prussia to Latvia, is in order? Would much appreciate it!

[jonasfischer]

I live like 200m away from the river Elbe, right behind the border of Germany/ Czech republic... It is a beautiful place (just Google Saxony Switzerland), I can understand why one would like to settle here, after all we jokingly call ourselves "border slavs" because the Slavic echo in this region is still strong in whole eastern Germany

[karinanalbandyan]

Thank you so much for this educational video. I am half Slavic/Russian on my mother’s side, half Armenian on my father’s side, though I mainly identify with my Slavic heritage due to the fact that I was born and raised in Russia Rostov-on-Don, and I speak the Russian language. So thank you for sharing this. I can learn more about my heritage.

[ing.respekt]

This video is better than I expected. It really warms my heart and touches my soul. Thank you so much for this great video.

[filopuk]

7:12 the colour of the horse was probably related to a worshiped god. The white horses were related to the 'overworld' deities (e.g. Svatevit, who is a god of abundance and war), and the black horses were related to the 'underworld' deities (e.g. Triglav, who by some scholars is associated with Veles, a god of waters, underworld, magic and oaths). The overworld and underworld are not the best terms here, but they are simple enough to get the sense of it. Also, some scholars think the Slavic priests of Arkona were purposefully covering the white stallion's legs with mud every single night, to prove Svatevit was riding his horse and fighting the evil spirits during the night 😄

Thank you for the video, I loved it. It contained a lot of well-researched information. I hope there will be more videos about the early Slavs from you in the future ☺️

[olgased]

Excellent material, hard to find in video format. Thank you very much!

[adamme]

Min 7.30 says it all. After a thousands of years Slavs are still being turn against each other by external powers! Why?
Because they know how powerful they would be if they unite! Sad!

[jonathanlandrey]

I am one quarter Sorb, living in America. It is very difficult to find decent videos on our history. This one is pretty good, though I would appreciate some citations of scholarly and primary sources. Perhaps it is helpful to not that, while the Catholic Church was greatly interested in converting the Slavs in the Northern Crusades (The first of which is the Wendish Crusade of 1147), rank-and-file crusaders and the Saxons and Danes more generally did not care whether or not their neighbors were Christian or Pagan. While Bernard of Clairvaux preached hellfire, those actually on campaign were more interested in territory and tribute. For firsthand accounts of the medieval western Slavs, see Adam of Bremen's History of the Archbishops of Haburg-Bremen, Helmold of Bosau's Chronicle of the Slavs, and Thietmar of Merseburg's Chronicon. All around, a good video. Thank you.

[Rugia-oxhx]

In addition, Dresden and Leipzig were founded by Slavs. Original names were Drezno (people of the forest) and Lipsk (place of linden trees).

[Sixty_Five_Pronghorn]

I'm just starting to research my genealogy, and it turns out my very ancient ancestors were almost all Polabian Slavs, most commonly part of the Obotrite tribes. I wasn't expecting my familiar history to be so rich, yet here I am

[Artur_M.]

Did somebody say Wast Slavic history? Heck yeah!

[niewinnny]

Serbia speaks so for my stepson brother in my Polish language. Serb is simply a brother for us Poles, Croat is also a brother

[joskojansa]

Europe is half slavs people. Not germanic, not frankish, not galic, not latin, and not greek.

Its just we dont press other rases in through history as not today. Its how we are. Dont thread on us.

[masterofreality]

Fun facts:First Rani tribe ruler is name Viseslav. First Serbian ruler in Balkan is also name Viseslav. Radgast or Radgost god is used today in Serbia when you wanna say that someone is who is your guest is your good guest or when your joyful bcs he is your guest(something like that, my english is bad but you get the point)

[xenacv]

Thank you for all of these videos! They really are great!

[salonez]

It would be interesting to study how many Slavs all around the Europe lost their identity and became germanized or madjarized. Most of them had sad fate because didnt unite and had no stomack for conquest like Germans.

[milica]

We have a montain called Rujan (Rigen) in sothern Serbia near city Bujanovac (Bujan- legendary Island near Rujan Island). This city has more Albanians then Slavs today.