Czech Sweet Rolls: Buchty, and Buchteln in German

These rolls originally came from the Czech lands of Bohemia, where they are called "buchty."* Very briefly and superficially, Bohemia and the Czechs had a long association with Germans through the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) and the Habsburg family, one of the leading German noble families in Germandom for centuries. Bohemia later was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, led by the Habsburg emperor (Kaiser), who was simultaneously King of Hungary and King of Bohemia, as well as a number of other titles. When that empire dissolved, Bohemia became a part of the newly formed Czechoslovakia and it now is part of the Czech Republic, also known to some as "Czechia." The term "buchty" was borrowed by German as "Buchteln" (German nouns are capitalized), which is what I know them as, but they are also called "Wuchteln," although I have no idea why, unless it simply started out as a mispronunciation (?). There are also a couple of other regional names for these rolls in German. They are well known in Austria, parts of Bavaria (Bayern), Saxony (Sachsen) and the Swabia (Schwaben) region, part of which is in Bavaria, with the rest being a part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

There are variations to Buchteln, which are often, but not always, filled with plum or apricot jam, while others add some grated lemon peel to the batter. Some dust the Buchteln with powdered sugar when they are taken from the oven. "Vanillesoße" (vanilla sauce)** is a common accompaniment to these little sweet rolls. I made the Buchteln straight up, with no filling or lemon peel, but I did have plum jam on the side for serving. I do NOT take responsibility for any desire you have to make these rolls over and over and over. They are delicious! Browned and a "little" firm on top, but just light and airy inside.

Ingredients:

Rolls:

2 1/4 cups flour (a little more, if needed, plus some for when kneading the dough)
1 packet dry yeast (1/4 ounce/7g, and I used quick rise yeast) 
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup lukewarm milk
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons melted butter for coating
(optional) 1 or 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
butter for the baking dish
(optional) powdered sugar for dusting

In a bowl, mix the yeast with about 1/4 cup of lukewarm milk (it cannot be hot, just barely warm), 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Set this aside for about 10 to 15 minutes to let the yeast begin to act. Meanwhile, in a larger bowl, add the flour, the remainder of the sugar, the rest of the lukewarm milk, the egg yolks, the melted butter, the vanilla and the salt (the lemon peel too, if using). When the yeast mixture is frothy and puffy, add it to the other ingredients and mix everything very well. The dough will likely be somewhat sticky, but cover the bowl with a towel or paper towel and put it in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until the dough about doubles in size. Dust your counter or board with some flour and empty the dough out. I use some oil on my hands (not something like extra virgin olive oil, which has a flavor to it). Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour to the counter, as needed (of course if you have a mixer for bread, follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer). Roll the dough into a long "snake." Cut off pieces to roll into golf ball size rounds. Butter a baking dish. Dip each round into the melted butter to lightly coat them, then put the rounds into the buttered dish. The rounds should be "snuggled" into the dish together, not spread out from one another. Cover the dish with a towel again and let it sit in a warm place for about another 10 to 15 minutes to let the rolls rise a little. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for "about" 30 to 40 minutes, or until the rolls are browned. Note: If you want to fill the Buchteln, when you roll the golf ball size rounds out, punch an opening into each round with your thumb, put in a heaping teaspoon of plum or apricot jam, then pull the dough over the opening to close it off. Place this side down in the baking dish. Some people actually roll out the rounds, place the jam in the middle, then pull up the dough all around. Again, place where the opening was facing down in the baking dish.

Buchteln are usually served warm, and you can always pop them into your microwave for just a few seconds if they've cooled, but I like them cooled too. If you'd like vanilla sauce with the Buchteln, see note ** below.   

* Pronounced pretty much like "book-tea" (the "oo" being the pronunciation of "boot," not book), with the singular form being "buchta," with the (singular) meaning being "bread roll, bun." 

** The recipe for vanilla sauce is at this link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/11/vanilla-sauce-vanillesoe.html

2 Buchteln with plum jam and vanilla sauce...

Fresh from the oven...

Unbaked...

WORD HISTORY: 
Leave-English has two forms of this spelling, but this is the noun meaning, "permission, agreement to permit something," most commonly associated with "permission to be away from work or military duty, furlough." It is related to the second part of "belief," and more distantly related to "love," both from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "leub(h)," which had the notion of "care, desire, love, something that pleases." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "leubon/laubon," meaning, "permission" (obviously tied to "something that pleases"). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "leafe" (not related to the foliage of trees and plants, "leaf"), also meaning "permission." This then became "leve," before the modern version. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Urlaub" (military leave, leave from work, but Americans more typically say "vacation"), Erlaubnis (permission, a permit, authorization), Low German borrowed "Urlaub" from standard German, but prior to that, it had "orleve," Dutch has the now antiquated "oorlof" (permission, military or work leave), but Dutch also has "verlof," (vacation, military leave, furlough). Most of the Germanic languages now use words unrelated to the English noun "leave." 

The German Question, Part One Hundred Thirty

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Eight
"Memel Rejoins Germany"

Hitler used the "unification of Germans" as a potent issue, and I'm sure he essentially believed in it himself, given his history going back to his younger days among German nationalists in Austria.* It was not only a potent issue with Germans, but with many non-Germans, who sympathized with his attempts to put Germans living adjacent to, or near, Germany, under Germany's rule. This issue was, in my opinion, one of the reasons Britain and France did not act against him, up to that point;** they did not feel comfortable in risking war over issues where Hitler held sort of a "moral high ground." In the case of the occupation of the true Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia (German: Böhmen und Mähren; Czech: Čechy) by Hitler, he no longer held that moral high ground, as he could NOT justify it by saying he was just taking in Germans. In this case, he used the "historical connection" between these lands and Germany, as these territories had belonged to the Old German Empire, and later, as a possession of the Habsburgs, to the German Confederation in the 1800s. This position was far less defensible, and world opinion now took a serious turn against Hitler.

Just days after Germany occupied the Czech territory, the city of Memel (called "Klaipeda" by Lithuanians) and its environs entered the picture. The area had been detached from Germany and put under the League of Nations after World War One, but it had been taken over by Lithuania a couple of years later. The area had a population of about 140-150,000, about 27% of whom were Lithuanians, with the rest being German and "Germanized" Lithuanians, and it had been under some form of German rule for centuries (Prussia, German Empire, Weimar Republic). As Hitler's rule in Germany continued, pro-German unification elements increased their representation in elections to the local Memel legislative body to nearly 90%. These elements planned to vote for unification with Germany in a meeting in late March 1939. A Lithuanian representative met with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, who verbally threatened Germany would militarily enter the region. The British and French, still stung by Hitler's move into Bohemia and Moravia, could offer no help to far off Lithuania and Lithuania signed an agreement ceding the region to Germany on March 23 and German troops entered, followed by Hitler, who came by ship.

* I say "he essentially believed in it," because he was first and foremost a politician. Being a politician obviously means he was subject to changes of opinion when it suited him.

** The Great Depression had caused many nations, including the United States, to turn inward in an attempt to solve their own economic problems. The German areas, those then outside of the German boundaries, were an exception. As Germany's unemployment dropped under Hitler, these Germans were drawn even more in their desires, beyond just being "Germans," to become a part of Germany. The British and French leaders, perhaps more in an effort to justify inaction against Hitler, also said they needed extensive rearmament programs before they could consider risking war to oppose Hitler. The problem was, early on in Hitler's aggressiveness, the German military was NOT all that strong, although the British and French "seemed" to have misjudged German strength, believing Hitler's "claims" of German military might. Certainly as time passed, the German military continued to strengthen, making British and French beliefs in German might closer to reality.

WORD HISTORY:
Horse-You would think this word is common in many Indo European languages, since the "horse" has been so important to humans. Well the forms of this word are not common, except in the Germanic languages, and even some of those languages do not use those forms any longer as their primary word for "horse." It goes back to Indo European "kers," with the meaning "run," a word base befitting of "horse," and which makes it related to "hurry." This then gave Old Germanic "(k)hursaz," or perhaps "(k)hrusaz," which meant "horse." No matter which form, some Germanic dialects transposed the "r" and vowel sounds. This gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "hors" (ah...no snickers!), before the modern spelling. German has "Ross" (obviously with the "h" sound gone), and with the more specific meaning "steed." In more modern times, German uses the word less and less, as they borrowed a word from Latin for their every day word for horse, that being "Pferd" (pronounced like 'pfairt'). West Frisian has "hoars," Dutch has "ros," Icelandic has "hross." The other Germanic languages, or dialects (from further back) had forms of the word, too, but they have either died out, or they are seldom used anymore.

The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Four

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B"
Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Five/1)
"Germans In Czechoslovakia" (Part 1)

First a little background:
Czechoslovakia was formed after World War One from parts of the former "Austria-Hungary." The western areas, usually referred to as "Bohemia and Moravia," were Czech majority, and the eastern areas were Slovak majority. When Austria and Hungary agreed to share power in 1867, Hungary had ruled the Slovak areas and Austria had ruled Bohemia and Moravia. The significant thing was, the outer border areas of Bohemia and Moravia (sort of a semi-circle and much of it mountainous or hilly) were populated by Germans, some settlements dating back hundreds of years, and indeed, the area was part of the Old German Empire, and specifically became a Habsburg family possession in the 1500s. Poles, Hungarians and Ruthenians also formed smaller minorities within the nation's boundaries. When the Old German Empire was dissolved, these lands remained under Habsburg control, and thus became part of what was then called, the Austrian Empire, which later became Austria-Hungary, as noted above. When Czechoslovakia was formed, the Czechs essentially dominated the government, and although closely related to the Slovaks, both ethnically and linguistically, the two peoples did not always get along well together. The German population was upset that it then found itself as a distinct minority, with somewhat less than 25% of the population.* Later, when the Great Depression struck, the German areas were heavily hit by unemployment, which only caused further discontent. When Hitler came to power in Germany, and German nationalism surged, the German population of Czechoslovakia began to stir, and the situation was eventually set for Hitler to make claims against Czechoslovakia.

* It should be noted that some Germans also lived in the "interior" parts of the Czech lands, and also, but to a lesser degree, in the Slovak areas, but the vast majority lived in the outer edges of the Czech lands. This outer boundary area came to be called the "Sudentenland" by Germans, after the Sudeten Mountains in the area.

WORD HISTORY:
Whole-This word goes back to Indo European "koilas/kailo," which seems to have meant "healthy, unharmed, in a sound condition/state, complete/entire." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "(k)hailaz," with the same general meaning. This produced Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "hal," with the same meanings, but the meaning "complete" eventually began to dominate. That meaning comes from the notion, if you are "unharmed, healthy," you are "complete." Later it was spelled "hool" and then "hole," but by the late 1400s or early 1500s, the "w" was added to differentiate it from the word of the same spelling, but meaning "opening, orifice, or perforation." In northern England and parts of Scotland it came to be pronounced and spelled "hale," where it also retained the meaning, "healthy," and indeed, "whole" and "hale" are closely related to "health and healthy." Numerous forms are common in the other Germanic languages, although with variations in exact meaning, but all generally centering around "healthy" and "unharmed," and some even with a similar meaning to English "whole;" that is "complete:" German has "heil," Low German has both "heel" and "heil," Dutch has "heel," West Frisian has "hiel," Norwegian has "heil," Swedish and Danish have "hel," and Icelandic has "heill."

The German Question, Part Forty-Two

"Revolution...Sort Of" Part Two

Street demonstrations in Berlin (the capital of Prussia) brought about counter measures from the Prussian government, which led to armed conflict in the barricaded streets. There were hundreds of casualties, including many dead. The Prussian military was pulled back and the king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, promised a constitution with some basic rights and an elected Prussian assembly, and he offered support for a "national" German parliament.

Matters calmed down for awhile, and a National Assembly ("Nationalversammlung," in German) met at the "Paulskirche" (Paul's Church, which still exists, although it virtually had to be rebuilt after destruction in World War II) in Frankfurt to attempt to work out details for the establishment of a truly unified German nation with a constitution. The Archduke of Austria, Johann,* was made a sort of temporary leader, and eventually the Prussian king was offered the position of "emperor," but he turned it down, as the position was not being offered to him by the German princes, whom he viewed as the legitimate representatives of the German states, but rather by constitutionalists and revolutionaries. The assembly battled over all sorts of things, but the main problems were about how a united Germany would be ruled; that is, by an emperor (Kaiser, in German) whose position would then be hereditary (passed on to sons or other eligible relatives), or by election. The real main issue was the question of Austria. Over the centuries Habsburg rulers had acquired so many non-German territories, that many Germans saw this as unacceptable for inclusion in a "German" nation. Would the Habsburgs separate their German lands from their Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Italian, and a multitude of other ethnic groups? The issue was thornier than a brier patch, with the inclusion of German Austria being called the "Grossdeutschland" (Large Germany) solution, and the exclusion of Austria being called for some strange reason the "Kleindeutschland" (Small Germany) solution (Hmm, what a coincidence! "Large and small"). The "Small Germany" solution would have given German leadership to Prussia, since Austria would have been outside the new nation. This issue cannot easily be seen without now moving on to what was happening in the Habsburg lands during the Revolution of 1848.

In "Part One," we learned that Germans took to the streets prompted by the abdication of the French king. In Vienna, the demonstrations brought about the resignation of long time Habsburg adviser and leading government minister, Klemens von Metternich. The Habsburg emperor,** Ferdinand I, in an effort to stabilize the situation, appointed new government ministers, in theory, men more acceptable to the general populace, as they didn't have the very conservative reputations of their predecessors. The problems grew, however, as Austria's non-German possessions began to go into revolt. The Hungarians wanted a separate country, but with the Habsburg ruler as their king. Similar feelings were expressed by Polish and (Western) Ukrainians (also known as Ruthenians) minorities,***and many of the Habsburg Italian possessions wanted to join a united Italian nation.**** In Bohemia/Moravia, where Czechs were a significant majority, but often dominated by the German minority (which was largely middle class), the German population wanted the region to be a part of any new German national state, but this was based not upon the ethnic make up of the area, but rather the historical fact that Bohemia had long been a part (and a significant part, at that) of the old German Empire. The Czechs saw this very differently, desiring a separate Czech nation. Slovaks, close kin to the Czechs, were in a different struggle. Hungarian moves toward independence from the Austrian Empire left the Slovaks in a position of being dominated by the Hungarians, as what we now call "Slovakia," was considered a part of Hungary in those times. Further unrest developed in the Serbian, Croat and Rumanian areas, but this unrest was largely directed, as was the Slovak uprising, against the Hungarians, which in turn then helped the Austrians against the Hungarians. ***** Put simply, it was a MESS!

So all of these "ethnic" disputes/uprisings were going on within the Austrian Empire at the same time that German Austria****** was in the midst of its own revolution, and all of these events were in some stage of development/occurrence while the National Assembly was meeting to decide German nationhood. If the Hungarians had succeeded in breaking away from Austria's hold, and they made the strongest moves of the non-German regions to do so, this may well have led to success for some or all of the other non-German areas. With such a development, the "Large Germany, Small Germany" question would have been solved, and German Austria's inclusion in any new German nation pretty much assured.

One more "part" in this segment to tie up some things.... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Archduke Johann was a member of the Habsburg family, but not the leading member. He was more liberal in outlook than most of the family, thus putting him in opposition to many of the other Habsburgs at times. 

** The Habsburg ruler, Franz, had declared Austria to be the "Austrian Empire" a few decades earlier (1804), thus making the ruler an "emperor," by title. The Habsburg "emperor" was simultaneously German emperor, as the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) was still in existence at that time.

*** (Western) Ukrainians/Ruthenians were not typically Eastern Orthodox, as many other Ukrainians were. They had their own Christian denomination, Uniate/Ukrainian Catholic, which still had ties to Rome.

**** Like the Germans, the Italians did not have a truly united nation at that time, but rather a number of independent "states." Also like the Germans, they were trying to establish a modern nation. In those times, unlike what we think of today, "Italy" was really just a geographic term, not a term for a nation.

***** To keep all of this manageable, suffice it to say that these various uprisings in the ethnic territories failed, although the Hungarians came closest to success. Austria's army and most army commanders remained loyal to the Habsburgs, giving the monarchy a distinct advantage over the rebels. Further, the various ethnic factions often had fears of one another, allowing the Austrians to use the dissension to their advantage. While these rebellions failed at that time, the contentiousness remained, and we will be dealing with it again shortly.

****** I'm using the term "German Austria" to mean essentially what had been the traditional German state of the old German Empire, and to show a distinction between this area and the non-German areas of the "Austrian Empire," as it was this "state" that most Germans wanted included in a new German nation, and not the other parts of the Austrian Empire, although there were supporters for the entire Austrian Empire to enter a new German nation.

WORD HISTORY:
Pretzel-This goes back to Indo European "mregh-u" or "mrehu," which had the notion of "short." (Note: Remember that the Indo European forms have been reconstructed by linguists, and while you may wonder how a modern word beginning with "p" could have come from a root beginning with "m" or "mr," just as today, not all sounds were made exactly the same by everyone. Even with so many people having at least some schooling in more modern times, and radio and television having given us "examples" to follow, pronunciation differences remain, and in ancient times, education was much more scant.) The Indo European form gave Old Greek "brakhion," which meant "upper arm;" that is, the "shorter" part of the arm, compared to the longer lower forearm. Latin took on the Greek word as "bracchium," but as "arm," in general. From this Latin later developed "brachitellum," which apparently meant "little arms, branches." Old High German took the word from Latin as "brezitella," which then later became "brezel/prezel" (there are those sound/pronunciation variances again; in this case "b" and "p"), and eventually "Brezel/Bretzel" in modern German (all German nouns are capitalized, and the "z" is pronounced "ts," as when we say the plural of hit; hits.). There are many different pronunciations in German dialects, including "Brezn" in Bavaria/Austria, except for Vienna ("Wienerisch") where it is "Brezerl," and around Heidelberg they say "Bretschl," but there are other pronunciations, too. German bakers used the crossed dough patterns to simulate "folded arms," supposedly for religious purposes; thus the relation to the Latin form for "arm." English got the word from German in the mid 1800s, if not earlier.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Eight

"An Empress and Queen Of The Germans" Part One of Two

If you've noticed there haven't been any female German rulers, it's because women could not hold the throne of the German Empire.* They were designated as "Queen of the Germans" and "Empress,"** but it was not a ruling title, and it was given only as their title due to marriage to the Emperor and King of the Germans. The Habsburg family likewise only allowed males to assume the ruling titles of their various possessions. Kaiser Karl VI (Emperor Charles VI, in English) was of the Habsburg family, and he had only two daughters (as did his older brother). Without a male heir, the control of his lands (not the imperial throne, which was an elected position) would go to other members of his family, and not to his eldest daughter.*** To get around the Habsburg succession law of that time, Karl issued an edict, called the "Pragmatic Sanction of 1713," which permitted the Habsburg ruler to be a woman. In an effort to make the law effective if it were put into practice, Karl obtained the signatures of many of the other rulers of Europe, who agreed to recognize the law. These signatories included many of the rulers of the more powerful German states, as well as the German Imperial council, and the king of Great Britain, whose king was a German, and indeed, he held German lands in and around Hanover.

The problem was, with such vast holdings of the Habsburgs at stake, when Karl died in 1740 and his daughter, Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia, in German), took control of the House of Habsburg,**** the temptations for others were too great, and a number of signatories to the edict broke their word. This led to the "War of the Austrian Succession," as these rulers tried to grab whatever lands they could from the new "Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduchess of Austria." The war became a major European war, and even had an adjunct in North America, known as "King George's War." On one side was Prussia, France, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony and some others, and on the other side was the Habsburg Monarchy, Great Britain and its allied Hanover, the Dutch Republic,***** Russia (at times), and the Kingdom of Sardinia.^ Saxony later changed sides.

In late 1740, Prussia, under Frederick the Great, invaded the Habsburg territory of Silesia (Schlesien, in German), a very important region due to its abundant coal and copper.^^ The Prussians were victorious, and they occupied the region. The French and the Bavarians took Prague in 1741, and the Bavarian ruler, Karl, soon to be elected German Emperor Karl VII, was named King of Bohemia.^^^ The Austrian forces moved into Bavaria, as it had been left sparsely defended. The war swayed back and forth, and a treaty with the Bavarians in 1745 ("Peace of Füssen") took them out of the alliance against Maria Theresa, and in the end, in 1748, Maria Theresa regained all of her lost territories, except the Silesian lands, which she lost to Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Now for intrigue, some of which coincided with the above war. Maria Theresa could not become a ruling German empress due to her gender, so she strove to get her husband, Franz Stephan, selected as emperor. In order to get him a vote as an elector, she made him co-ruler of the Austrian and Bohemian lands, and the Hungarians approved his co-ruler status about a year later. In truth, Maria Theresa kept the actual power. As part of the "Peace of Füssen," mentioned above, not only did the Bavarian elector drop any claim to become German emperor, he agreed to support Maria Theresa's husband for the position, and to secure the votes of family members (the Wittelsbach family) of two other German electors. When Karl VII died, Franz Stephan was elected German emperor, as Franz I, and this formed the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Habsburg-Lothringen, in German). As with the Habsburg lands, Maria Theresa was the real power. She remained German Empress and Queen of the Germans until her husband's death in 1765.
To be continued ...

(A Word History is below the notes)

* Allowing only males to occupy noble ruling positions was quite common among the German nobles of the various states in those times, as well as in many other European countries.  

** In German, queen=Königin (all German nouns are capitalized) and empress=Kaiserin.

*** The Habsburg ruler carried a number of titles, but I would say the main titles were "King of Hungary, Archduke of Austria, and King of Bohemia."

**** Karl VI was succeeded by Karl VII, as German emperor. This is mainly noteworthy as Karl VII was not a Habsburg, but rather from the Wittelsbach family and Prince-Elector of Bavaria, although he was married to a Habsburg. He was the first non-Habsburg German emperor in three hundred years!

***** Remember, the Dutch had been given total independence from the German Empire in 1648, but the southern districts of the former Low Countries, essentially the future Belgium, remained a part of the Habsburg possessions, and were thus ruled by Maria Theresa.

^ The Kingdom of Sardinia would eventually lead the movement to unite Italy into a modern nation, but that was not until the mid 1800s.

^^ Silesia in those times was undoubtedly heavily German, but with a substantial Polish minority and a smaller Czech minority, both of which, however, formed majorities in certain locales.

^^^ Karl VII died during the war, in 1745, and this brought about a new election for German emperor.

WORD HISTORY:
Arch-I'd say the noun form, meaning "curved, bowed," as in "arch"way, is not the same word as the adjective, meaning "main, superior, chief, principal" as in "arch"enemy (chief, main enemy), "arch"duke (main, superior duke). The adjective goes back to Greek "arkos," which had the meaning "superior."  "Supposedly" this goes back to Indo European "arkhein," with a notion of "rule, command," which, if true, would certainly tie into the idea of "main, principal, superior." How English got the word is puzzling, but German has the related "Erz," which is used in the same way English uses "arch;" for example, "Erz"feind="arch"enemy, and both may well have gotten the term from Greek or from Church use, such as "arch bishop." The ultimate origin of the noun form is uncertain, but Latin had "arcus," which meant "curve, bow," and it is also the source of "arc." This gave Old French (a Latin-based language) "arche," and this was then borrowed by English from French in the 1300s.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Four

"The Thirty Years' War Brings Death, Destruction & A Partial Answer To The German Question," Part Two-"The War"

Bohemia* was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and in the latter part of the 1300s and early 1400s, a man named Jan (John, in English) Hus was a leader of a group of political and religious reformers. He was executed as a heretic, but his popularity brought together his followers in what eventually became more of a religious movement, and they were called "Hussites," and they became a Protestant sect which dominated Bohemia, much to the chagrin of the Church and of the Habsburgs, who were staunch Catholics, and emperors of the German Empire. The territory was ruled by the "King of Bohemia,"** but when one king, Louis II ("Lajos" in Hungarian, as he was also King of Hungary) was killed in battle against the Ottoman Turks in the 1500s, he left no son as an heir. His brother, Ferdinand, who was married to a Habsburg, became king, and thus Bohemia joined the growing possessions of the Habsburgs. While the Habsburgs were Catholic, there was a bit of a truce for decades, allowing freedom of religion until another Habsburg, German emperor Ferdinand II (and also King of Bohemia), wanted to establish Catholicism throughout his lands. This brought about a revolt in Bohemia in 1618.

The revolt in Bohemia triggered other religious conflicts within the Habsburg lands, including in certain parts of Austria, where Protestants were majorities. Certain Hungarian Protestants sought to aid the other Protestants, and later still, the Danes, staunch Lutherans, joined the military operations in northern Germany to aid the Protestant German state of Lower Saxony against advancing Imperial (Catholic) forces. Then later still, Sweden, another staunchly Protestant country, joined the action in the northern/northeastern part of Germany. One major exception to the religious reasons for the conflict was France. France was heavily Catholic, but the French hated and feared the Habsburgs, and they agreed to support Sweden financially, and then later, actually entered the military conflict by declaring war on Spain (ruled by a branch of the Habsburgs) and on the German Empire/Holy Roman Empire, which had a Catholic Habsburg as emperor. The war raged on, with Catholic armies gaining ground at times, and then Protestant armies retaking many lands. The French had a difficult time, suffering some terrible defeats, with Paris itself threatened at one time by Habsburg forces.

The Protestant forces and their French allies gradually turned the tide, inflicting some devastating defeats on the Catholic forces of the Habsburgs. Both sides were exhausted, and a series of treaties were negotiated between the various participants, but two major treaties, one signed in Osnabrück and one in Münster, two German cities in the province of Westphalia (Westfalen, in German), brought about the end of the Thirty Years' War and its companion war, the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch, which had essentially become one with the Thirty years' War. See: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/07/german-question-part-twenty.html

To be continued, as this will require a Part Three..... (A Word History is below the notes)

* For those unfamiliar with European geography, Bohemia later became the leading part of the new nation of Czechoslovakia after World War One. It now has a similar role in the "Czech Republic." In the time period involved in this article, while it undoubtedly had a Czech majority population (the Czechs are Slavs), it had a substantial German minority, mainly formed in a German majority populated sort of semi-circle around Bohemia, but Germans were also somewhat mixed in with the "interior" Czech population.

** The individual "states" within the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) were more like independent "countries," with some being ruled by kings, princes, dukes, archdukes, etc. Further, it was not uncommon for some rulers to carry several titles, if they ruled a variety of states: for example, one German emperor, Rudolf, was designated "Rudolf II," as his title as emperor, but simply as "Rudolf," with no numeral, in his capacity as King of Hungary and Croatia, but again as "Rudolf II" as King of Bohemia, but as Rudolf V, in his capacity as Archduke of Austria. Initially, the ruler of Bohemia was called a "duke," but later it was changed to "king," then back to duke, before returning once again to king.

WORD HISTORY:
War-This seems to go back to the Indo European root "wers." This gave Old Germanic "werso," which seems to have meant "cause or bring into confusion," and probably also "mix," which would certainly tie in with "confusion." This gave Frankish (the Franks were a Germanic tribe) "werra," seemingly with the same basic meaning. This then passed into Old French as "guerre," but in the northern dialect of Old French as "werre," with the meaning "war" (Italian and Spanish, for example, also picked this up, but as "guerra," their word for "war"). Old English acquired the word from the northern French dialect at some point prior to the Norman Invasion as "werre/wyrre/warre," later being reduced to the shorter form "war." Interestingly, the Germanic dialects, including Anglo-Saxon, of long ago did not have a set word for "war," and English used a whole variety of forms, too numerous to get into, to express the notion of "war." Modern German has the related word (ver)wirren, which still has the meaning "confuse, bewilder," but also "tangle/entangle," which also adds the "mix" meaning.

The German Question, Part Eleven

The Germans, along with Swedes and Danes, also advanced into the eastern Baltic areas for trade and to Christianize the various peoples there, who were to become the modern Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians.* Gradually Germans began to settle in these areas, especially due to trade. In one area the Germans became a significant majority of the population, although I’m sure they absorbed the local, non-German population over time. This was an area centered around a German-built castle called “Memel,” and the region did indeed become part of Germany.** Further east and northeast, in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, German communities developed, but in these areas, the Germans never became anything like a majority of the population, although they tended to have high social status due to commercial interests and even military positions, essentially ruling these areas and developing large estates there. Later, when these “Baltic States” became part of the Tsarist Russian Empire, a number of these Baltic Germans, as they came to be called, joined in the Russian government or military.

Further to the south in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, Germans were invited by Bohemian kings to settle in places largely devoid of population due to the Mongol invasion. These Germans tended to settle in the northern, western and southern fringes of Bohemia, where in many places, areas became pretty much exclusively German, but many areas became very mixed, being shared between Czechs and Germans. This general area later came to be known, even in English, as the Sudetenland; so called because of the Sudeten Mountains there. Some Germans also migrated into interior Bohemia, areas that were predominantly Czech, where they established German communities, or where they were eventually assimilated into the majority Czech population.

Transylvania had been conquered by the Hungarians, but the Hungarian king invited Germans to settle in parts of the territory to help defend it against intruders. Most of these Germans were Saxons, and they came to be called “Transylvanian Saxons,” although over time, other non-Saxon Germans came to the region. The Germans were also seemingly welcomed by the Hungarian king because of their expertise in business and mining, and they held an elevated status in Transylvania, even later, when much of the region became part of Rumania.**** (A “Word History” is below the notes)

*The Estonians are closely related to the Finns, both linguistically and ethnically, and they speak a Uralic language. The Lithuanians and Latvians are closely related, and speak Indo European languages; that is, they speak  languages related to English, but further down the family tree, as these are classified as Baltic languages, or also called Balto-Slavic by some.

** Memel was located on what later became the German-Lithuanian border.

*** Parts of the Sudeten Mountains are actually in Poland and Germany. The word is pronounced as if "sue-DAY-ten."

**** The world has been full of political “hot spots” over the centuries, including in our present time, and Transylvania has been one of those areas. The territory’s “rightful ownership” has been at the center of a bitter dispute between the Hungarians and the Rumanians. The question centers around the very origins of the modern Rumanians, but that’s another subject. The overall dispute has been so bitter, that during World War Two, Hungary and Rumania, both allied to Hitler’s Germany, sent substantial military forces to fight against the Soviet Union, but the Germans had to keep these forces separated from one another, lest they attack each other rather than the Soviets. Further, the Germans accused both nations of keeping too many troops on the Hungarian-Rumanian border opposing each other, rather than sending the units to Russia.

WORD HISTORY:
Holt-While this is now an antiquated word in English, it is part of a number of place names, especially in England, and also is a family name, so I included it. It goes back to Indo European "khald," seemingly with a connection to "wood/timber/trees," from the base "kel," which had the notion of "cut" (you "cut" down trees for wood/lumber). The Old Germanic offshoot was "khulto," (with the "h" sound being more prominent) which in turn gave Old English "holt," which meant "woods, cluster of trees, grove." The spelling has remained consistent in English through the centuries. Forms in the other Germanic languages are: Dutch and West Frisian "hout" (where the "L" sound died out, meaning 'wood, timber'), German Holz (wood, timber), Low German "holt" (wood, timber), Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic "holt" (hilltop grove) and Swedish "holt/hult" (from what I understand, now only dialect, with the spelling variations, for "grove, woods"). Interestingly, the name "Holland" likely derives from "holt" and "land," thus meaning a "woodland."

The German Question, Part Eight

Very slightly updated/edited July 6, 2015

Just to back track for a moment, for quite some time the German emperors were seen as heads of the German Church, something that caused bitter resentment by the various popes of those times. The Saxon and Frankish emperors gradually established a more centralized form of power, represented by the emperor, by having administrators spread throughout the land. This caused resentment by the nobility. It was therefore not uncommon for the Papacy and the German nobility to act as allies against the emperors from time to time. When the Hohenstaufen family succeeded the Saxons and Franks* as emperors, they eventually turned much of their attention to Italy, often actually even living in Italy, not in Germany (a much broader geographical entity in those times). This neglect of German lands by the ruling Hohenstaufens suited the German nobility just fine, as they gained power at the expense of the imperial throne. Some German emperors tried to regain some of the lost power, and all of this squabbling led to what was really an off and on civil war.

By the mid 1300s, the emperor issued a "Golden Bull;" that is a decree with a golden seal. This edict set more precise rules for the election of the German emperor by giving the vote to seven "electors" (Kurfürsten in German); three Church authorities (the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne) and four secular leaders (the Palatine Count (Pfalzgraf in German), the King of Bohemia,** the Duke (Herzog in German) of Saxony, and the Margrave (Markgraf in German, and a "Graf" is really the equivalent to a "count" or "earl" in English) of Brandenburg***). A majority vote was all that was needed, and any dissenters could not block the wishes of the majority (previously that had not been the case). As you can see, the religious leaders were in the minority, and this further diminished the Pope's already scant involvement in German affairs. While that may have been a good thing for the Germans, the fact that provincial leaders held so much power in selecting the emperor made the emperor's position relatively weak; a condition that essentially lasted until the end of the empire.

Next...the Germans move eastward. (A Word History is below the notes)

* The large Germanic tribe the Franks dominated the area now known as France. Their tribal name even became the name “France,” and their language, Frankish in English, became the term “French.” Not all Franks lived in this region, however, as one branch lived in what became part of Germany; thus the “Frankish” emperors of Germany (Holy Roman Empire). As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, while Frankish gave a number of words to “French,” Frankish was gradually absorbed into, and became a part of, the more extensive Latin-based language already present when the Franks conquered the area. That absorption process took several centuries to complete, and modern French has far fewer active words of Frankish heritage than long ago.

** Bohemia, essentially the modern Czech Republic, and a former part of Czechoslovakia, had been controlled by Germanic tribes going back to the B.C. era. Some of these Germanic tribes moved around, or even moved out of the area, over the centuries, and they were replaced, at least partially, by incoming Slavic tribes. These Slavic tribes also moved around, for instance to avoid the Mongols, and Germanic (or maybe German might now be more appropriate) people moved back in. The area was very mixed, with Germans living basically in a sort of semicircle around the Slavic core, but with some Germans even living within that core area. In the early 1300s, Heinrich of Luxemburg became German emperor, and shortly thereafter, his son Johann was invited to become King of Bohemia, thus making Bohemia an integral part of the empire.

*** Brandenburg is the area that today contains Berlin and the entire area around that city. Back long ago, you may remember from an earlier part, Mark Brandenburg was established as a border defense area, a "Mark," or "March," of the early Holy Roman Empire.

 

WORD HISTORY:

Eke-This word goes back to the Indo European root "aug," which had the notion/concept of "increasing, growing, adding to/supplementing." The Old Germanic offshoot was "aukan." This gave Anglo-Saxon "eacan," likewise with the general meaning of "increase/supplement." There was also Old English "eke/eac," or some form of it, but sources were unclear on the spelling, which meant "also, in addition, besides." There are various forms of the word in the other Germanic languages, as for example: German has "auch," Low German has various forms, including "ak/ok," Dutch has "ook," Norwegian and Danish have "ogsa," and Swedish has "ochsa," all with the same meaning "also/too/in addition." Icelandic has "auka," with the meaning "increase, add to." In American English it is commonly used in reference to just barely achieving something, as in, "Bill and Mary were able to eke out a win by a fraction of a point in the skating competition."