•   pagus Ivarus
•   Vindelicia
•   Bavarians, Vends in origin
•   The Christianization

Bavaria, and its origin
between myth and truth
the very relations between Bavaria and Carantania


The shield of Bavaria bearing the inscription Freistaat Bayern (Republic of Bavaria).
•   The arms depict: Bavaria in the fess point, and its provinces:
•   1 Upper Bavaria, 2 Franconia, 3 Lower Bavaria, 4 Swabia.
•   The arms of Lower Bavaria show a Panther due to the dynastic relations with Carantania (12th century AD).
(cf: Heraldry of Carantania/Slovenia, article: Blue Panther and Andechs)

by Dr. Jožko Šavli

With the election of Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, a native of Bavaria, as Pope Benedict XVI, unanswered questions are in the foreground again: firstly , the very origin of the Bavarian people; and secondly, the correct interpretation of the historical relations between Bavaria and Slovenia (Carantania). Until now, the answers to these questions, as interpreted by the pan-Slav and pan-German ideology, were completely misleading. It is time to individuate the historical truth. (author's note).

Until this very day, the origin of Bavarians has not been explained in a satisfactory manner. How and when these people were formed, still remains a mystery. The pan-German movement of the 19th century, it is true, did not leave the mystery unsolved. According to their own theories, the name Bavaria, in the then Celtic mania, was referred to that of Bohemia, and therewith to the Boii, a well-known Celtic tribe. The Boii settled first in the Po Valley (Italy) and gave the name to the city of Bononia (now Bologna). In the 3rd century BC, after having been defeated by the Romans, they moved to Middle Europe and settled present-day Bohemia (Czechia). They left their name to the country. Around 60 BC, the Germanic tribe of  the Marcomanni drove out the Boii, who found shelter in Pannonia and in Gaul.

However, the name Bohemia, or a similar version, should have remained preserved also under the Macomanni. It is said, that at the beginning of the 6th century AD, they penetrated toward the south. Furthermore, they should have settled the plains south of the Danube up to the Alpine mountain chain. Their new name »Baioarii«, in German *Bajawarjoz  (inhabitants of the country of Boii), should still bear witness of their former homeland.

Of course, this is an invented story. The method, through which it has been constructed, is known as »ex silentio« (implicitly). This is, when sources are lacking, the same circumstances are giving evidence of events. If the academic authority is giving such assertions the necessary »scientific« character, and the school apparatus provides the necessary diffusion, then they became generally recognized facts. In this way, the origin of the Bavarians entered the frame of the pan-German ideology, as it was already taken for granted.
  
pagus Ivarus

Prof. Kronsteiner from the University of Salzburg provided another explanation of the name Bavaria. This name arose in the Salzburg area, from where it spread over the entire (Bavarian) people and their lands. It was still in the Roman era, when the city of Salzburg was called Ivavum. In the mother tongue of its Latinized inhabitants (Ladini) it sounded like Ivavo, or Ivaro and also Ivao. Accordingly, the inhabitants of the district (pagus in Latin) of Salzburg, were called pago ivari. Because of the change p > b, which so often appears, the appellate was pronounced as bagoivari, and their country Bagoivaria, reduced later to Bagoaria, Bavaria and Bayern.

Indeed, the document referring to the Christianisation of the people of Bavaria and Carantania still bears the name Conversio Bagoariorum and Carentanorum. (ca. 873 AD). In Prof. Kronsteiner's opinion, at the end of the Roman era the above mentioned people were already Latinized. But the Swabian (German) language was already spreading among the population, and this language gradually prevailed. Such a presumption has not been proven, and it is also not very likely.

I am not a Romanist. Anyway, in my nomenclature research of modern Bavaria, I practically do not meet Roman (Latin) or Celtic names. And neither do they exist in nearby Noricum. On the other hand, besides German names, I encounter numerous »Slav« (in fact Vendic - Slovenian) names in this territory. They bear witness, that at one-time the people, who lived in this country, spoke a language close to Slovenian. Therefore, I cannot consent to Prof. Kronsteiner's opinion, when he, in case of the inhabitants of the Noricum Mediterraneum (today's Austria, south of the Tauern mountain chain), quotes: First they spoke Celtic, then they were Romanized and then they adopted the Slav language... From all this mixture the Slovenian language arose ...  And then: No, I am not interested in Venetic theory...  (cf. Delo, October 11, Lublana 2004)... The same question has to be put forward in the case of Noricum Ripense (Austria, north of the Tauern) and Bavaria.
  
Vindelicia

In the Roman era, the territory of present-day Bavaria was called Vindelicia. The name clearly reminds of the Vends (Veneti), who had their origin in the Lusatian Culture after 1200 BC. They very probably colonized this country during the great migrations. They were the bearers of the Hallstatt Culture (older iron era), after 800 BC.  The Celts, who after 400 BC were the bearers of the La Tène Culture (younger iron era), also settled in this country. Anyway, we cannot find out, to which extent.

By all means, when the Romans occupied the country, in 15 BC, they did not name it after the Celts but they called it Vindelicia after the Vends (Veneti). This means, that the majority of the inhabitants still represented the Vends and not the Celts. But the official German (Bavarian) and Austrian historians speak only about the Celts, which at the end of the Roman era should have been Romanized (Latinized). In this way, they should have become the Ladini, who Prof. Kronsteiner takes into account. The official German and Austrian historiography sees in them the Romanized Celts.

In the area of Vindelicia (the present-day Bavaria), it is true, one has to take the historical presence of the Celts for granted. But it never was a Celtic country. As mentioned above, in the Bavarian nomenclature, a part of Walchensee (Walchen Lake) has no Celtic traces. This name refers to the Celtic tribe called Volcae, from which the words Walcher, Welscher (ancient German name for Romanic speaking people), Lahi (in Slovenian), Vlahi (in the Balcan area) derive. Anyway, where these names appear, no others are found, which would correspond to modern Celtic (Irish, Gaelic…) known precisely as the Insular Celtic language.

Yet, the German linguists also discovered the historical existence of the so-called Continental Celtic language spoken by the Celts on the European continent. At this point, they must have stopped. Thus, it was evident, that Continental Celtic was practically a "Slav" language. In fact, it was nearly the same language as that of the Vends or Veneti, who at that time were not yet individuated as a pre-historic people. The pan-German regimes, which financed the universities, were anti-Slav oriented, and they would not permit, that on German territory, even though only in pre-historic times, the "Slavs" (Vends) have been individuated. In those days. such a statement would have meant humiliation for the German  national pride. In this way, the Celtic-German ideology has been preserved until this very day.

In this connection, one has to wonder and smile, how the academicians artificially try to prove the Celtic presence. First, a reconstruction of a name in its "Celtic" origin is given by an *(asterisk). Then, to such a reconstruction an invented meaning is added. The academic title of the reconstructor (and not his work) gives a guarantee for the "scientific" procedure. In fact, this procedure corresponds to the ideology, which the financiers (the regimes) dictate.   

Such has been the "Celtic" and "Germanic" ideological legacy, which still today completely masters the academic world in the German speaking area. This is happening in modern Germany, too. Truthfully said, Bavaria, Franconia and other lands teem with "Slav" (in fact Vendic) names, but no one dares to perceive them. Otherwise, the imaginary German pride would be hurt, and he would become an outsider in the general current of "scientific" way of thinking.

Vendic names in Bavaria


Wendelstein (1838 m) - this panoramic peak south-east of Munich is very probably named after the Vends.

Here, I gathered a group of Vendic (Slovenian, Slav) names found in Bavaria, the meaning of which I explained with help of the Slovenian (modern Vendic) language. I took only names, where the meaning can be recognized at first sight. Under the different name forms, which were registered in German, a very linguist will discover many other cases of names bequeathed to us by the Vends.

Many names refer to trees and forests, which at one-time existed in the Bavarian territory. The fir-tree forest must have been of great extent. Thus, we find a lot of names referring to jedla (fir-tree, Tanne in German). Today, this Vendic word has the Slovenian form "jelka" (jedla > jedelka > jelka). In German writing, in many cases the corresponding names still appear with the vowel "e", which later was pronounced and also written as "je" (ye), as it is still customary in Russian today. The consonant "d" appears many times as "t", like it was pronounced. Here are some cases:  Etzenhausen, Jetzendorf, Jedenhofen, Jettenhausen, Jedelstetten, Eiting, Ettenstadt... Another tree, which has several names in Bavaria is the jelša (alder-tree, Erle in German). This tree does not form a forest, but it is frequent in certain places. In the corresponding names the vowel "e" was not written as "je", because it is still not pronounced as such. I found the following cases of this name: Eschach, Eschenberg, Eschetshub, Essach, Eschach...

There are many names connected with pole (field), which in modern Slovenian sounds like polje. The dialectal pronunciation (o > u) can be seen in the phonetic development: pole > puole > pule. One can often individuate the 3rd case pl. of this name, this is, "v polah" (in the fields), which in the German written form gets the ending -ach. There also appears the diminutive polce (sing.) and polca (pl.), like in the present-day Slovenian (c as ts). Some examples: Pullach, Pullenhofen, Pulling, Palzing  (o > a), Polzhausen,… The end of a field is reflected in the name konec, abbrev. kon'c. In German writing the change (k > g) and (o > ü) can be seen. Some examples: Günzhofen, Günzenhofen, Günzenried, Günzing, … In connection with the terrain we find also the denotation gol (nude) referring to a superficies without trees and bushes, as for example Gallenberg. Sometimes, the word golina (a nude superficies), in dialectal pronunciation galina (a > a) was understood as the Romanic word gallina (hen, Henne in German), and wrongly translated, like in the case of Hennenkopf (1766 m), east of Füssen.

The end of a field or plain reflects the word rob (meaning edge in Slovenian). It is found in names like Rabbenreuth, Rebendorf, Rapperszell… Note in particular the changes (o > a) and (b > p). In connection with the morphology, we find often the names referred to guga (folding on the superficies, Faltung in German), which appears as guge pl.  Some examples: Gogging, Guggenberg, Göggenhofen... The word dol and the similar dolina, meaning a valley, is recognized in names like Dolling, Dollnstein, Döllnwang, and its diminutive dolec (abbrev. dol'c) in names like Bad Tölz, Tölzkirchen (d > t),...

On the other hand, a plain terrain with some bushes and trees, often found close to rivers, as well as small woods, log in Slovenian, reflects from names like Lochen, Lochschwab, Lengenwang, Lohkirchen… Here, the dialectal form is evident from the changes (g > ch, h). In the case of Lengenwang, the ancient nasal (en) is still preserved. From logje, plural form of log, derives the dialectal form uogje (l > u), abbreviated in voje (like the Voje Valley in Bohin, Slovenia). To the German ear this word sounded like "volje" (deriving from vol, i.e., ox, Ochs). Consequently, it was wrongly translated in several names : Ochsenfeld, Ochsenkopf…

The form brdo (a hillock, Anhöhe in German) is reflecting in names like Wörth, Wertach (in Slovenian »v brdah«, 3rd case pl.), Wetterstein. The word straža (post of guard) appears in names like Straßlach, Strasskirchen, Straßham, Strassmeier…. Several Vendic names are very characteristic, as the case of Stollnkirchen, in Slovenian: stolna cerkev (cathedral) demonstrates. In the case of Sulz and similar names, we discover slatne pl. meaning meadows in Slovenian. In Gars, there appears the well-known Slovenian word grad. In Kraiburg is evident kraj (the end)… The ancient field division, also the lowest feudal entity, called imenje in Slovenian (realty, Gült in German), is evident from names like Immendorf, Immenstadt,… The name of the  Regen River derives from rekina, an older form with a nasal renkina (a medium-sized river), which thereafter was  palatalized in recina (pron. retchina). This word is not used anymore in Slovenian, but it is still found as rjecina in Croatian. In the name of the River Vils, I think, the word bela (a stream with clear water) must be recognized. The river Isar is evidently Izara, meaning a stream with pools. And so on.

The meaning of the above-listed names can be explained on hand of modern Slovenian, which I consider a continuation of the ancient Vendic language. If a similar language was spoken by the continental Celts, then some of these names could also pertain to them. Anyway, their presence in Vindelicia can only be individuated by archaeological finds and other typical Celtic characteristics like the oak, the Celtic (and also Germanic) tree of life. Nevertheless, in the Bavarian popular tradition we find only the linden, the characteristic tree of life of the Vends. The Celtic - German oak is missing.  

I think, Prof. Kronsteiner's ascertainment, that after the decline of the Roman Empire the Swabian (German) language gradually diffused in present-day Bavaria (p. 78) seems to be correct. However, it was not spreading among the previous Celtic and then Romanized people called Ladini, but among the Vends, the ancient inhabitants of the country. The Ladin (Latin) names in Bavaria are practically absent.
  
Bavarians, Vends in origin

It is true, in order to individuate the origin of modern Bavarians, one has to go back into the Roman period. In this connection, the starting point is the province of Noricum. It included present-day Austria. Because the province associated of its own accord with the Roman Empire, it preserved its proper social organization. The latter was expressed in a proper law (constitution), called ius gentium, which assured an administrative autonomy. On the western part, Noricum also included the territory west of Salzburg and around Chiem Lake, up to the river Inn, which later became a part of Bavaria.

After ca. 300 AD, under Emperor Domitian, Noricum was divided into two provinces: Inside Noricum (Noricum mediterraneum), which included the territory south of the Tauern - Ture, and Riverside Noricum  (Noricum Ripense), which extended alongside the Danube, north of the aforesaid mountain chain. As already established, the Norican people like those of Vindelicia (the present-day Bavaria), did not pertain to the Celts, as it is persistently repeated, but to the ancient Vends (Veneti). Thus, the multitude of Vendic names, which I have adduced above, are found all over the area of Noricum (the present-day Austria).

In 476 AD, the Roman Empire declined. The provinces of Noricum were occupied by several foreign peoples: Heruli, Goths, Franks… Anyway, the foreign occupation did not destroy the social organization of the Noricans. After approximately a century, the people of Inside Noricum gained their independence. A duchy was created, which later on was mentioned in the records by the name of Carantania. It was the Medieval State of the Slovenians. And Riverside Noricum? Precise records are not available. Therefore, in sense of the pan-German ideology, the authors adduce the names of Germanic tribes, which after the end of the Roman Empire invaded this province. In this way, they are suggesting that from very early on the province became a German territory. Anyway, such interpretation is completely ideological and not very likely. Why?

Some authors propose, that Bavaria in capacity of the duchy had its first centre exactly in Riverside Noricum. Its capital was Laureacum, today Lorch near Linz (Upper Austria). The territory of the duchy extended alongside the Danube, from the river Traun westwards to the river Lech in Vindelicia (in present-day Bavaria). Around 700 AD, when the Avars ejected the Bavarians entirely from this province, and drove them beyond the river Inn, they were forced to transfer their capital from Lorch to Regensburg (Vindelicia) and they would have annihilated them except for the fact, that the Bavarians obtained help from the Franks. Anyway, the Bavarians had to pay the price for the assistance with the acceptance of the Christian faith. (Zibermayer, 1944).

It has to be taken into consideration that the Bavarian duchy in its origin was not a Germanic founding. It arose, in a similar way like Carantania, from an ancient Norican province, in which the native Norican (Vendic) social structure was still preserved. With regards to the origin of the name Bavaria, as above-mentioned, I agree with Prof. Kronsteiner, that it derives from the bagoivari (pagus Ivari). Anyway, the duchy was not an establishment of the Ladins (Romanized inhabitants), as Prof. Kronsteiner states, but of the Vends. Its supposedly Celtic origin and character exclude the multitude of Vendic names (coinciding with the Slovenian ones). Furthermore, it is well-known that the original social structure of the Celts, as well as those of the Germans was not based on the territorial community, as it was in Vendic villages. It was based on the kinship (Sippen, in German), which meant (idealised) groups of relatives regardless of village area.

Concerning Vindelicia, to which the capital of Bavaria was transferred, it is said, that already in Roman times several Germanic people were settled there (among the native Vendic people, in sense of our ascertainments). We have to suppose that the Germanic language gradually diffused from them. Thus, the inhabitants of Bavaria became more and more a German speaking people. But this does not mean that they were German in their origin.
  
The Christianization

Considering the above-exposed historical circumstances, one must come to the conclusion, that the Bavarians, in spite of Celtic and Germanic influences, are in origin a Vendic (Venetic) people. A fact, which still will not be recognized for a long time by the present-day German (Bavarian) and Austrian historians. I am sure, they continue to be exposed to the ideological pressure carried out by the institutions (Departments), which are financing the universities and academies. So, in the interpretation of history they are constrained to continue the ancient version corresponding to the pan-German ideology. No one among them dares to withstand the ideological current of thinking, which under the pretext of "scientific" discoveries has been extended all over the present-day German speaking area. It is like an order in sense of the national pride: Bavarians must be considered a Germanic tribe. Evidently, the ideology is not a question of ex-Communist regimes only.

In this regard the question arises, how long has the Vendic (Slovenian) language preserved itself in Bavaria? There are no written records. Neither do we have evidence, at what point in time the German language finally prevailed in the country. The early documents are written in Latin.


The historical island Awa (now Herreninsel) in the Chiem Lake (Bavaria). After 745, the Carantanian princes Gorazd and Hotimir visited there the monastic school under the supervision of Lupus, a monk of Salzburg. By all means, in this area the Vendic (Slovenian) language was still spoken at that time.

In Bavaria, from where the Christianization of Carantanians (Slovenians) was carried out, I suppose, the Slovenian language was still alive in that period (after 750 AD). The missionaries, sent from Ivavum (Salzburg), a Bavarian diocese, evidently knew Slovenian. Therefore, they were so very successful in Carantania. In my opinion, the Vendic or Slovenian language was preserved in Bavaria until at least the 11th century. We meet a Slovenian name among the Bavarian nobility perhaps. Here I adduce the name Rapoto, who was still present in Bavaria in the 10th century.

St. Rasso - His full name was Count Rapoto II, son of Count Rapoto I of Andechs. In the vernacular he is known as St. Rasso (Rath). He was born ca. 900 AD. When he grew up, he was a great warrior and he had great success in the battles against the Hungarians (948). Then, he made a pilgrimage to Rome and the holy sites, and he returned home with precious relics. As to give them a proper home, he founded the Benedictine abbey in Werde, on the river Amper (west of Munich). He also entered the abbey as lay-brother, where he died on June 19, 954. Today, the abbey is called Grafrath (Count Rath). His remains have been preserved and are kept in a glass shrine in the abbey church. His remembrance day is the 19th of June. His name is of Slovenian origin: Rapoto or Ratpot, deriving from Ratbod.

As a consequence of political regimes in the 19th century, which involved academic institutions, the territory of ancient Carantania (later Austria) became a battlefield between the pan-German and pan-Slav ideology. In this connection, the regimes gave to Bavaria the first role in the supposed millenary national-German expansionism. Regretfully, such an ideological distortion has been preserved until today. Nevertheless, considering the fact, that both, Bavarians and Slovenians (Carantanians) originated from the ancient Vends (Veneti), and that the Slovenian language also was spread in Bavarian territory, the historical relations between the two neighbouring nations give a completely different historical image as we have been used to until now.

It is true, that the German language was spread, not only in Carantania but also in Central Europe. However, until the 19th century this fact was not considered a symbol of German national identity. Even today, it is not considered a characteristic sign of identity in several other countries, like Switzerland or Alsace. - The relations between Carantania (today's Austria and Slovenia) and Bavaria were friendly. The people of Bavaria and Slovenia produce sufficient evidence of similarities in culture, tradition, experience and sentiment. Said a Slovenian immigrant: After living in America and in Western Europe, I came to Bavaria and felt at home, they were  my people. Indeed, his instinct did not deceive him. In spite of different languages, the people themselves feel close to each other. Still today, in spite of the German and Slav ideology, by which standards the public mind has been trained, the Vendic roots of both nations are perceived easily.


Marktl, the idyllic borough near the confluence of the rivers Inn and Salzach. In this borough Card. Joseph Ratzinger was born, the present-day Pope Benedict XVI.

Considering the above-mentioned facts, we are very pleased, that the new Pope Benedict XVI is a Bavarian, in fact of Vendic origin. Of course, this does not mean "victory" of the Vendic (Venetic) theory. Nevertheless, there are the spiritual values and the inner experience, which are so deeply contained in the tradition of the Vendic people, and so much requisite to the contemporary man. Thus, the Vends are still living, they did not disappear at all.

Some Bibliography:
•   Otto Kronsteiner: Nichts als Namen. KulturwissenschaftlicheWahrnehmungen aus Österreich und Umgebung, Lublana 2003, p. 76
•   Davorin Trstenjak: Slovenske besede v tirolski nemšcini /Slovenian etymons in Tyrolian German/, in Kres, Celovec 1883, p. 112, and Kres, Celovec 1884, pp. 265, 329
•   Henrik Tuma: Slovenska imena v ladinskem in bavarskem narecju /Slovenian names in Tyrolian and Bavarian dialect/, in Planinski vestnik, Lublana 1926, p. 157
•   Ignaz Zibermayer: Noricum, Bayern und Österreich, München - Berlin 1944. p. 67 - 78