The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 06

by Unknown

Next to the Greeks and Romans, the German people are the most important branch of the Indo-Germanic race; for in mediæval and modern times they exercised the same influence on humanity and its civilisation as the Græco-Latin branch did in antiquity.

The name “German,” by which they are designated in the writings of the Romans, cannot be satisfactorily explained with regard to its derivation and significance. Formerly it was thought to be derived partly from the old German word ger—that is, spear—partly from wehre (defence) and partly from the word wirre (disorder), which passed into the French language under the form of guerre, so that on the whole it had much the same signification as warrior; but all these derivations are so opposed to the etymological laws of the language, that they are no longer admitted by any German philologists. Some learned men have tried to connect the name “German” with the old German word erman, hermann, irman, irmin, the true meaning of which can no longer be ascertained; others were of opinion that it was not a native name at all, but given to the Germans by the Romans; for in the Latin language there is a word germanus, which means brother or countryman, which could, it has been thought, be so twisted and turned about that it received the sense of a Roman designation of the German people. Again it was thought to be derived from a Celtic word which designated the Germans as “criers,” on account of the terrifying war cry with which they entered into battle. Scholars do not agree as to the derivation of the name Deutsch which first appeared in the tenth century after Christ, although that it is of Germanic origin is beyond doubt. According to the one conjecture it is derived from the old German word diutan, that is, to point out or to explain, and signifies those who speak the same language; according to another, the Gothic word thiuda, that is, people, is the true root of the word Deutsch, and originally this had the signification of “people of the same nation.”

The term Teuton which is often used in poetry instead of the word Deutsch, was only the name of an individual tribe, and this practice has its origin in the fact that the ancient Romans sometimes applied the name of Teuton to the other German races.

From the earliest times which are open to research, the German peoples already consisted of two principal races—the Scandinavian or northerners, and the true Germans in the strict sense of the word. From the earliest times the former had lived beyond the Baltic, and the latter on the mainland of central Europe. The two races are still distinguishable from each other by their various dialects, those of the peoples of each branch being more closely allied to one another, than to those of the other branch.

Each race was divided into many different tribes, which the Romans designated by special names; the distinction between them was not maintained, but in consequence of the migrations which they undertook during the time of the Roman Empire, the individual nations became separated and by new union formed new nations.

In this manner arose the Alamanni, Franks, Hessians, Thuringians, Bavarians, and others. One of the three races, the Goths, disappeared entirely in these national movements; towards the end of the period of antiquity they went for the most part to Spain and upper Italy, intermingled with the non-Germanic races there, and in consequence assumed Roman characteristics.

Only a very few Germanic people such as the Frisians have remained in their original seats. Therefore it will be more to the purpose to describe the locality of the peoples named when they are mentioned individually in the course of the narrative. In the olden times the frontiers of the German land were the Vistula, the Danube, the North Sea, and the Baltic. Of the external conditions, the character and morals of the Germanic peoples, detailed accounts are given in the works of the Roman historians, of which the following are the most worthy of attention. With regard to their physique the Germans especially astonished the Romans, in that they were very tall and had blue eyes and reddish golden hair. They were also famed for their great physical strength and the endurance with which they were able to bear all exertions and privations, hunger and great cold, although they stood heat badly.

The land was only cultivated in places, the greater part being covered by forests and marshes. The dwellings were isolated so that there were no villages or towns, but each person lived in the centre of his fields. The occupations of the Germans were agriculture, cattle raising, hunting, and war. The two former were carried on by slaves or serfs, who either did the work as menials or were apportioned certain fields which they managed and for which they paid their masters a fixed yearly tribute of corn, cattle, and linen. When he was not at war or hunting, the warrior passed the time in lounging, eating, drinking, and playing; for like all fighting and at the same time uncivilised nations they loved the change from the exertion of strife and hunting to complete inactivity. Banquets and orgies were their favourite entertainments, but nevertheless their food and drink was very simple. As a rule the former consisted of wild fruit, meat, and milk, the latter of a kind of barley beer; only some of the nations living on the frontier had wine which they bought from their neighbours.

The Germans loved drinking to excess. The Roman historian Tacitus says: “To drink night and day continuously is no shame for them, and if one would accede to their desires in this, they would be more easily conquered by this vice than by arms.” It is said that they were so passionately devoted to dice playing that often when all was lost the German staked his own personal liberty. Their clothing was very simple and coarse—a kind of mantle which simply consisted of the fur of some animal killed in hunting was for the most part the only bodily covering.