Heinz Niederste-Hollenberg - The Great Hollenberg Saga

The Battle nearby at 9 A.D. with the Romans .................................................................................30 The Battle nearby at 9 A.D. with the Romans And now let’s jump into the period when the Roman Empire was at its peak, around the birth of Christ. It was the time when a number of independent Germanic tribes, which had settled in Europe between the Danube in the South and the North- and Baltic- Seas, and between the Rhine in the West and the Vistula (=Weichsel) in the East. It was the time when the transition began from migratory hunting and herding to agriculture and village life. During this period of transformation, the Romans began to expand beyond their historical frontiers into just those core Germanic territories to subdue those traditional “clan” structures and their people there. The only reliable written testimony from this period is made available by Roman writers like Tacitus. In his book “Germania”, he covers land and people of our area with particular details of the “Varus” battle from 9 AD. The actual location of the battle site has been a subject of dispute for several hundred years and was argued by many historians. (fig.: #6) The “blue” line shows the theory of the historian Mommsen from the late 19th century. Others had different ideas, like Klostermeyer-Delbrück, Knocke, etc. However, it took more than 100 years to give proof to Mr. Mommsen, pointing to a place named “Kalkriese” which is only a few miles away from our “Holenberg” site.

The Saxons in Westphalia ................................................................................................................36 The Saxons in Westphalia It is historically proven, that a little later the Germanic tribe of the Saxons settled in our area, covering all the territory of Westphalia, Engern and Holland. Europe during the Migration of Nations ( around 500A.D.) (fig.:#10)

The Long Struggle between the Saxons and the Franks ..................................................................39 Hengist’s son Hadugast, his successor, remained in Saxony and his son Hulderich (also known under the name of Childerich), born 584 AD, fought and protected for the first time the Saxonian territories against the power-ful, aspiring Franconians, another Germanic tribe. This conflict should prove fateful to the Saxons over the next centuries. Around 630 AD, Hulderich’s son Sieghart (also known as Sigismund) reigned over the Saxons. His son Dietrich, in skirmishes with the Franconians, now led by Karl Martell, was captivated and imprisoned. Karl Martell (688 – 741AD), nicknamed the “Hammer”, son of Pipin II, was mayor of the Franconian palace. He managed to bring earlier domains of the Franconian kingdom under his control and fought the aggressive Mos-lems at Tour, pushing eastward towards various Germanic tribes. Under him, the two principal elements of feudalism, the fief and vassalage developed, and the historic alli-ance between the Frankonian Kingdom and the Papacy began. While Dietrich was in captivity, his wife, a duchess from the Wendish country, had two sons: King Edelgard and Duke Warnekin. Edelgard died 753 A.D. in a battle with Pipin the Short, who is the father of Charles the Great (Charlemagne). After this battle, Pipin the Short was the first to march into the heartland of the Saxons, all the way to the fortified castle of Rehme, located direct on the Weser River. The Long Struggle between the Saxons and the Franks (The land of our ancestors) Warnekin, after succeeding his brother as king of the Saxons, had two children (sons) with his wife Kunhilde, a princess from the island of Ruegen: -- Wittekind (also known as Wedekind) and Bruno. In 758 AD Wittekind became Duke of Engern, Westphalia, and Saxony. He spent his childhood between Warnekin`s court at the mountain stronghold “Babilonie” in the Wiehengebirge between Herford and Osnabrück and the ancestral castle in Wigaldishausen (=Wildeshausen) on the Hunte River. His dukedom, the free land of the Saxons, extended from the Lower-Rhine-Valley eastward to the Weser River and all the way to the Wendish (Slavic) territory in the East. (fig.:#11) While Wittekind lived according to the old customs of his ancestors, King Karl, at the same time, tried to spread Christianity. Later in history, King Karl was named “Charlemagne”.

Charlemagne Establishes the Tithe in the Area ...............................................................................45 Charlemagne Establishes the Tithe in the Area When Charlemagne assembled his Court at Lippspringe (around 782 A.D.), he issued harsh statutes against the Saxons: the “Capitulatio de partibus Saxonae”. Only two from 14 laws are quoted here: ---“Everyone is to be doomed (beheaded) who clings to his old believe, and who conspires against Christians, and who persecutes or scoffs at ecclesiastical establishments”. --- --- “The order is, that every parish is to receive 2 “Hufe” (= approx. 50 acres) of land, the services of farm hands and maids, and the tenth (tithe) of any income”. --- Every one of these laws ended with: “morte moriatur” (be doomed). Now, the foundation had been laid, the way was open for the German people to move into the Middle-Ages, a very Christian, but also a very bloody period. On the topic of tithing, even Alconius Alkuin, a prominent friend of and advisor to Charlemagne in all matters of religion, lamented in a letter: “Did the Apostles, when Christ sent them to teach Christianity to the whole world, ask for the tithe? Possibly, the tithe is necessary, how-ever, its forfeiture is insignificant compared to the loss in Faith”. It was Charlemagne policy to divide his conquests into counties, each governed by a bishop or archbishop. The bishopric of Osnabrück with bishop Wiho was the first in the land of the Saxons. It can be assumed that the erection of local chapels outside of Osnabrück was started shortly thereafter: one in the west, the West-Chapel (= Westerkappeln), and one in the east, the East-Chapel (= Osterkappeln). Charlema-gne also issued the Franconian-Land-Order and installed regional administrators, named Gaugrafen = district-counts). He named the place“Ossenbrügge”, where – as the saying goes - the Franconian-Christian army, while struggling with the Saxons, managed to cross the river Hase with the help of an ox which showed them a ford (Furt) to cross the waters. The place was secured with a wall and a ditch and given the Franconian law. That’s how “Ossenbrügge” became modern day “Osnabrück”. He installed a bishop and gave him the tithe on fields, forests and all pastures around. The annual contribution enforced and delivered by all the farms in our territory to the clergy and/or secular ruler

Early Middle-Age Housing Details in the Area ...............................................................................53 Early Middle-Age Housing Details in the Area In the mean time, many things around the house and home had changed: (fig.:#14/15) The older types as shown had developed into various designs of half-timbering structure, characteristically repre-senting even today forms of checker-works of the “Lower-Saxony-Farm-House”. The simplified version shows how the principle of men and live-stock under one roof was kept. (fig.:#14)

The “Befiefing” of Old Farms in the Parish of Cappeln ..................................................................56 The “Befiefing” of Old Farms in the Parish of Cappeln As mentioned before, the Hollenberg property was befiefed on April 14th of the year 1146 A.D. by the Bishop of Osnabrück and the Assembly of the Ecclesiastical Council. This type of “Befiefing” did change in many ways over the centuries, for example: on September 27th, 1350, the place of “Bernhard to Veldeste” (presumably = Feldmann) in the “Parochia Cappeln” is named, where the Bishop of Osnabrück gives the rights of the tithe from B. to Veldeste to an “Arnoldus de Scarghe”: Thus meaning, that the bishop passed-on his rights of the tithe from one party to another third party. Exemplary, at the same year, a certain “Johann Wesselmann” paid 12 Denare to the bishop. During that period, the parish of Cappeln was the only community in the area which produced more grain than needed. This rural prosperity is well documented in the oldest available taxation register of the Count of Tecklen-burg from 1494 A.D. The community of Cappeln shows 42 farm places required to deliver 58 pigs. In contrast, the larger parish of Ibbenbüren with 45 farms owed 39 pigs. The contribution varied over the centuries in details and content as well as the corresponding addressees. The “Befiefing” was the imposition of contributions initially organized by the Church with the backing by the “Fran-conian Law” established by Charlemagne, and lasted throughout the Middle-Ages till modern times; e.g. in parts of Prussia, including the territory of the province of Westphalia. During that period, the tithe holder could change and in fact did change many times, e.g., from ecclesiastical persons or entities to secular parties, or to a combination of both. One example as reported in 1836 for the Niederste-Hollenberg place goes as follows: 1.) Contribution to the King of Prussia in form of taxation: a.) On the basis of a 10 year average b.) Tax on cultivated acreage 2.) Contribution to local clergy: a.) To the First Pastor: i. A sheaf of grain (1 bushel) ii. Sausages and bread iii. One carriage with horses and helper for ½ a day per year b.) To the Young Preacher: i. ½ bushel of grain – rye