Germans and Apples

Because apples keep so well, fall and winter are good times to know about some dishes using apples. The Germans have a sort of love affair with the apple and I'd say their most popular fruit juice is apple juice. By German, I mean people of German background, not just the nationality German; so, people in Germany, Austria, about 2/3 of Switzerland, much of Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, much of Alsace and a fair part of Lorraine, as well as a part of northern Italy.* Even if you're a "picky" eater, please don't turn your nose up at some of the combinations until you have at least tried them. I believe I've told this little story before, but it bears repeating. Back in the 1980s I was traveling on a train (common transportation in Germany, and Europe in general) between Wiesbaden and Frankfurt, which are only about 20 miles apart. An American couple, likely in their 60s, was sitting across from me. Americans were frequently encountered in the area due to the large American military presence in what was then West Germany, but these folks were tourists. I started a conversation with them and found out they were from Seattle, so somewhere in the neighborhood of 5500 to 6000 miles from Germany. They were headed for Frankfurt and they wanted to know about places to eat, as this was their first trip to Germany. Since they would be getting off the train at the main train station in Frankfurt, I immediately recommended the "Dippegucker Restaurant am Hauptbahnhof," which simply means "the pot looker restaurant at the main train station." The lady then said she was afraid to try German food, as she might not like it, and that they would probably just go to McDonald's (McDonald's has many outlets in Germany, all of which sell beer and wine). So, she traveled about 6000 miles to eat a hamburger she could have gotten on any street corner in America? While it's been many years, I have to believe it took a great deal of self restraint on my part to keep from smacking her, kicking her in the shin, or calling her a "blöde Kuh," if not all three. ("Blöde Kuh" means stupid or silly cow, in German).
    
A pretty common German dish in many areas comes from Berlin and is simply "liver and onions," but the recipe includes sliced apples with the onions. For Germans, the liver is usually calves liver, but the substitution of beef or pork liver will not condemn you to prison, and while some Germans have told me the apples have to be green, like Granny Smiths, I've used Red Delicious for years and I have yet to turn into a pillar of salt, so use what you have and, by the way, I leave the skin on the apples. Here in America, you may see this dish on the menu of German restaurants as "Berlin Liver," or perhaps, "Berlin Style Liver."

Then there's "Himmel und Erde," or "Himmel un Ääd" in some Rhineland dialects, which means "Heaven and Earth." The dish is simply mashed potatoes and apples; that is, the (lightly cooked) apples are mashed in with the potatoes. The name idea is, the apples represent the "heaven or sky," as they come from a tree, and the "earth" is represented by the potatoes, which have to be dug out of the ground. There are variations on this dish, depending upon the area, and some Germans use pears instead of apples. In the south, in Bavaria and Austria, I've seen recipes simply calling it "Puree of Apples and Potatoes." Germans often serve it with blood sausage (Blutwurst), Bratwurst, or liverwurst (Leberwurst). To give it some texture, I often don't completely mash the apples up, or if I don't have fresh apples, I add the store bought chunky apple sauce from a jar after the potatoes are mashed. Now if you think potatoes and apples don't go together, see the next listing.

Speaking of potatoes, potato pancakes are common in German areas, and they are usually accompanied by apple sauce, which is pretty common in the U.S. too. See, you've probably had potatoes and apples before. The standard German word for potato pancakes is "Kartoffelpfannkuchen," but there are a number of dialect terms and recipe variations like,  "Reibekuchen," "Döbbekuchen," "Döbbekooche," "Dibbekoche," "Dippedotz," "Reiberdatschi," "Rievekooche,"  "Grumbeer Pannekuche," and others. Some Germans believe the potatoes should be freshly grated, while others use potatoes first boiled in their skins. Besides the potatoes, there is some onion added (either grated or finely chopped), as well as some flour and salt. To this base recipe some regions add chopped bacon, or even whole strips of bacon are placed on top and the dish is finished in the oven. In the past, lard was commonly used for frying, but nowadays oil is more common.

Swiss Germans make a fried apple dish (Apfel Bröisi), which is thin bread slices fried in butter and sugar, then apple slices are added and fried further until the apples are soft. The dish is topped with fresh dabs of butter, sugar and cinnamon. 

Germans add apples to sauerkraut or to red cabbage (called Rotkohl, Rotkraut, or Blaukraut, depending upon region). In some areas, especially in Austria and Bavaria, apples are cored, stuffed with raisins and walnuts or hazelnuts (sometimes cranberries and lemon zest are added too) and are baked in white wine, butter, and sugar, which combine in a syrupy sauce, to which apple brandy (Schnapps) can be added. The finished dish, called "Bratäpfel" (baked apples), or "Besoffene Bratäpfel" ('drunken' baked apples, because of the wine and schnapps) is often served with warm vanilla sauce, made with heated milk, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla.

If you're in the German state of Hessen (often Hesse, in English), you'll want to finish your meal with a nice glass, or ten, of apple wine, which is really like hard apple cider, and is a specialty of Hessen in general, but particularly of Frankfurt. The standard German word for this drink is "Apfelwein," but there are variations in Hessian dialect, including ""Ebbelwoi,"  "Äppelwei," or "Stöffche," and you can get it by the glass ("Rippenglas;" that is "ribbed glass," which has ridges for a good grip) or the "Bembel" (a stoneware jug), and after a few of either, you won't much care what name the Hessians call it ... ah ... at least that's what I've heard.  

* Alsace and Lorraine are parts of eastern France. 

 

WORD HISTORY:
Apple-This noun goes back to Indo European "abol," "abel," the exact meaning of which is unclear, but which had to do with "produce of trees and vines," and there are forms in other, non Germanic, languages too. Its Old Germanic offspring was "aplaz," which meant "fruit, nuts." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "aeppel," which meant "fruit," and later this became "appel," before the modern version. It wasn't until the 1500s and 1600s that the meaning narrowed to the specific type of fruit we now call an "apple." Translations of the Bible over time generally used "forbidden fruit" in the Garden of Eden, but some translations called this fruit "apple," from the general meaning of the word back then. Common in the other Germanic languages: standard German "Apfel," all sorts of German dialect forms like "Ebbel," "Appel," "Apel," "Äppel," "Äbbel," "Epfel," "Ebbfe," "Opfe," Low German Saxon and Dutch "Appel,"  West Frisian "apel," Danish "aeble," Icelandic "epli," Norwegian "eple," and Swedish "äpple." 

The German Question, Part One Hundred Fifty-Seven

"Hitler & The German Question" Part Three

In the Eupen-Malmedy region, which had been annexed to Belgium from Germany after World War One, and then annexed back to Germany during World War Two, the area was returned to Belgium after Hitler's defeat, but over time, the German population was given equal political rights, including for the maintenance of their language.

The South Tirol (or Tyrol) was a hot button issue for decades. This region of the Alps was heavily German,* but with an Italian minority, which actually had majority status in certain southern areas of the region. It was given to Italy after World War One as sort of a payoff for Italy's having chosen the Allied side. It had been a part of the Austrian part of "Austria-Hungary," and the rest of Tirol, including famous Innsbruck, remained part of Austria after World War One. The Italians tried to "Italianize" the Germans in the South Tirol, and this brought about extreme dissatisfaction among the German population. Hitler and Mussolini came to an agreement about the time of Germany's invasion of Poland to let Germans of the South Tirol choose to remain in the region, but to become "Italians," with all of the resultant restrictions on German language and German culture that carried with it, or to emigrate to Germany (which then included Austria). More than 150,000 chose to "resettle" outside of Italy, but the war interfered with much of this resettlement, and only about half that number actually left Italy. The South Tirol remained a part of Italy after World War Two ended,** but with much German unrest, including serious incidents (people killed), for several decades. Finally the Italian government agreed to grant a degree of "autonomy" to the German region, and several years later another more expanded agreement gave even greater autonomy to the German population. The Germans of the South Tirol have maintained their German language (German is now recognized by the Italian government as an "official" language in the region) and German culture, but they have remained a part of Italy as an "autonomous region," and some of the Italian majority areas were detached from this political entity to avoid further conflict.

After the war, Luxembourg went back to being Luxembourg, a separate country. In Alsace-Lorraine,*** Hitler never formally announced the annexation of the regions to Germany after defeating France in 1940, but the areas were just taken over again, and standard German was reintroduced as the language taught in schools there. The regions reverted to France at the end of the war, and French was again made the official language, and standard German and the German dialects of these two regions have been in serious decline ever since.

As to Germany herself, Austria became independent, although it was divided into occupation zones, with the country gaining full independence in the mid 1950s. Germany was divided into four occupation zones, with the Soviet zone in eastern Germany eventually becoming a communist state, commonly known as "East Germany," but officially the "German Democratic Republic." The western zones were occupied by the British, Americans, and French, and became commonly known as "West Germany," but officially as the "Federal Republic of Germany." Germany became the center of possible major Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and its satellite nations in eastern Europe on one side and western Europe and the United States on the other. As communism lost its grip over eastern Europe in the late 1980s/early 1990s, Germany was reunited as a single nation, and the occupation officially ended. Whether occupation forces would have remained in Germany for such a long time if there hadn't been a "Cold War" is difficult to say, but I doubt it, as the costs would have probably been too great for the occupying nations, although I think it benefited the stability of the western areas, as unlike after World War One, when the Weimar Republic floundered around trying to establish democracy, the presence of foreign powers for so long after World War Two helped democracy take firm root during that time, and presently, Germany is a model democracy, as is Austria.

Germans born after the war are not responsible for what their parents or grandparents did during the Nazi regime, and increasingly, the more recent generations have little concept of those times, as the Nazi-era generation is fading from the scene. Quite a few of the Nazi-era Germans I've known over the years are quite ashamed of those times, but then again, I've known a few who were unrepentant. For a few decades after the war ended, there was a fear by many non-Germans that if Germany did reunite, Germans would seek to regain territories lost to other nations after World War Two, especially some areas lost to Poland, which had in fact been a sore spot for many Germans since the end of the war. Presently that has not happened, nor does it appear likely to happen any time soon, if ever. Germans have struggled to deal with their history during Hitler's rule, especially the murderous nature of his regime and the complicity of so many, but time is doing much to change attitudes. People like Sophie Scholl and Claus von Stauffenberg**** have become martyrs and heroes to younger generations of Germans for their willingness to oppose Hitler, and this seems to say, "the nightmare is over."

* Of course, it all depends upon where you draw the boundaries.

** While Mussolini was put back into power by the Germans in northern Italy, that government was obviously never recognized by the Allies; thus, Italy's switch to the Allied side in September 1943 helped Italy keep the South Tirol.

*** As noted in previous articles in this series, the struggle over these regions has gone on for centuries, but technically, this struggle has not been over both provinces in their entirety, but rather most of Alsace and about a quarter to a third of Lorraine, the Germans conceding the other areas as being French.

**** See Part 151 about the German Resistance.

WORD HISTORY:
Will-The noun form, meaning "determination (as in 'will power'), intended purpose or desire," goes back to Indo European "wel," with the meaning "wish, desire." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wiljon," with the same basic meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "willa," with the meaning "self will or determination, desire." This then later became "wille" before the modern spelling. In the 1300s, the idea of "wish, determination" began to be applied to "a legal document expressing a deceased person's 'desires' for the division of his/her belongings," a meaning that also continues today. German has "Wille," Low German Saxon has "Will," Dutch has "wil," West Frisian "wolle," Swedish has "vilja," Norwegian and Danish have "vilje," all with the meaning of "desire, intention, will power," but not the legalistic "will," which seems to be confined to English.

The verb "will" seems to have been derived from the noun form of Old Germanic as "wiljan(an)," with the same basic meaning "desire, wish, intention to do." This gave Old English "willan" (also apparently "wyllan" in some dialects), with the same basic meaning. The "intention to do" meaning came to be used in future usage; thus, "I will go to the store." Later the word was spelled "willen" and "wollen," before the modern spelling. Extensively used in the other Germanic languages: German has "wollen" (just to show the similarity to English, conjugated as ich will=I will; du willst=you will; er,sie,es will=he, she, it will), Low German and Dutch have "willen," West Frisian "wolle," Danish and some Norwegian have "ville," Icelandic, some Norwegian and Swedish have "vilja."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Forty

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Two/B
"Hitler Rules Western Europe" Part Two: "More Territorial Adjustments"

With Germany in control of much of western Europe,* Hitler made border adjustments: the small Eupen-Malmedy region, ceded by Germany to Belgium after World War One, and with a substantial German percentage of the population, again became a part of Germany. Alsace-Lorraine (in French terminology, the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle), the centuries' long contested region along the Franco-German border, was annexed to Germany. It had last been ceded to France at the end of World War One. Luxembourg at first was simply occupied, and it wasn't annexed to Germany until 1942. Luxembourg had been a German state in the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) and also later belonged to the German Confederation. It later became an independent entity in the late 1830s, as a "personal possession" of the king of the Netherlands, who was simultaneously "Grand Duke of Luxembourg;" however, it kept close economic ties with Germany by maintaining its membership in the German Customs Union ("Zollverein") until the end of World War One.

* Prior to the German offensive in western Europe, the Germans invaded both Denmark and Norway. There was little fighting in Denmark, which kept a "certain degree" of self government under the German occupying forces, and in fact, the Danish king remained in Denmark. German occupation policy in Denmark took a much stricter position from 1943 until the end of the war. There was no territorial adjustment with Denmark, although the German minority in North Schleswig wanted the area annexed to Germany. There was serious fighting in Norway, with the Allies also sending an expeditionary force, but in the end, the German military prevailed, and Norway fell under German occupation.

WORD HISTORY:
Set-There are two words in English with this spelling, so first I'll deal with the one that is related to "sit," which was covered in the previous article ("set," the noun, will be in the next article, as its history is totally different). Like its close relative "sit," it goes back to Indo European "sed," meaning "to sit." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "satjanan," which was the causative form of Old Germanic "sitjanan," the ancestor of "sit." "Causative" means just that, something that "causes or brings about an action," and "satjanan" meant "to place something, to fix something in place, make firm, to make or cause to sit." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "settan," with the same basic meanings. While primarily a verb, it can also be an adjective, "a set pattern," with the notion of a "fixed pattern," for instance. Later in English it became "setten," before the modern spelling. This is another common word in the other German languages, except Frisian: German has "setzen" (originally "sezzen"), and where English uses "Let's sit down," German uses "Setzen wir uns," literally, "Set ourselves," with the notion of "cause" obviously present. Low German Saxon has "setten," Dutch has "zetten," Icelandic has "setja," Swedish has "sätta," Danish has "sætte," and Norwegian has "sette."

The German Question, Part Ninety-Four

"A Divisive Treaty" Part Six/A
"Territorial Changes/Western and Northern Germany"

Germany ceded control of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France. The overall region had somewhere around 1.8 million people. There was no vote of the population on this territorial transfer.* North Schleswig, along with more than 160,000 people, was ceded to Denmark after a plebiscite (referendum) brought in a vote of 75% of the region voting to rejoin Denmark. A fairly small area, called Eupen-Malmedy, with about 35,000 people, was "temporarily" ceded to Belgium, pending a plebiscite. When the vote was held, it was NOT done by secret ballot, but rather opponents of Belgium's annexation had to register their objection by name in their village town hall. So, we'll never know how a secret ballot vote would have gone, but under the circumstances, there were few objectors.

Part B will cover the situation with Austria.

* Just to keep some perspective on this hotly contested territory, there had never been a vote of the population regarding its many divisions and transfers, although under the monarchical systems of those times, the voice of the people was not considered to be important.

WORD HISTORY:
Flesh-The origins of this word are unclear, although it seemingly comes from Indo European, with the Indo European root being in dispute, but it may trace back to the Indo European base "pel/fel," which meant "skin or hide;" that is a "covering," in this case, a "covering of the bones." Or it may go back to Indo European "plehk," which meant "to cut or peel off." It may be related to English "flitch," which means "side of cured pork, bacon" (see related Germanic word meanings below), a term rarely seen in North American English, and to "fleck," "a spot, a mark, a piece or fragment." It traces back to a Germanic form "flaiskan/flaiskon," which meant "meat," but also could be used in reference to "close kin" (we still say "flesh and blood" in this sense to this day). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "flaesc," with the same meaning. This was the main English word for "meat" until overtaken by the word "meat" between the 1200s and 1300s. The spelling changed during that general era to "flesh." Old High German had "Fleisk," which has become modern German "Fleisch," and it also means "flesh," including for fruits and vegetables, as in English, but it is also the general word for "meat." Low German Saxon has "Fleesch," Dutch has "vlees," West Frisian has "fleis;" all with the meaning "meat, flesh," Danish "flaesk," meaning "bacon," Icelandic and Norwegian "flesk," meaning "bacon," and Swedish "fläsk," meaning "pork, bacon."

The German Question, Part Eighty-Seven

 "The Aftermath of the Great War & The Weimar Republic"/PartThree/B
"Alsace-Lorraine"

As the war ended, Alsace and Lorraine were still part of Germany, but were much desired by France, which had lost them to the newly created German national state in 1871, after taking them, pretty much in bits and pieces, over a period of the previous century or two. Alsace was heavily German, but with very definite French influences, in some areas more than in others. The smaller, but heavily French area of the province had been left as part of France in 1871. Lorraine had been carved out of a much larger province of France in 1871; much, but not all, of the carved out portion being determined by German ethnicity. It too was heavily German, but not so much so as Alsace, and French influence was a bit more common, although not universal. When incorporated into the newly formed German Reich in 1871, the two provinces were united into "Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen;" that is, "Imperial Land Alsace-Lorraine." Unlike the other German states, there was no noble family in charge of the province, and it was directly subordinate to Berlin (through an appointed governor) and to the Kaiser; thus the title "Reichsland."*

During the war, the people of the province (or provinces, if you choose to separate them) were in a terrible situation, as many French people saw them as "the enemy," but many in the German government saw them as not being "German enough," or worse, of being French sympathizers. Some people had relatives living on the opposite side of the border, prompting arrests, interrogations, and even seizure of property or possessions. On the German side of the border, the use of French was restricted by law, and in what had been very "mixed" areas of French and German speakers, where street and traffic signs (and even city/town names) had been in both languages, the signs were put only into German.

In the waning days of the war, just as in other parts of Germany, demonstrations took place in Alsace-Lorraine, aided by returning military personnel. Political representatives declared Alsace-Lorraine to be an independent "republic," but in a matter of days French troops moved in to occupy and "re-annex" the area to France. Now the tables were turned on the "pro-German" elements, as they and family members were arrested and then deported to Germany. Also deported (eventually) were any Germans who had moved into the region after it had become a part of Germany in 1871.

As I noted about Luxembourg in the previous installment, Alsace and Lorraine too have been troubled areas going back in history to the time of the division of Charlemagne's empire into three kingdoms. The western area became very "French" in character, and indeed, it is the basis of much of modern France. The eastern area remained very "Germanic," later specifically "German," which is the basis of this entire series here on "The German Question;" that is, "who is a German?" The third area ran BETWEEN the two developing (over time) powerhouses of Germany and France, with a mixture of both French and German characteristics, but for quite some time tilted more German in many areas. For a variety of reasons, including the weakness of a centralized government of the Old German Empire (known as "the Holy Roman Empire," and later with "of the German Nation" tacked on), France began to expand eastward into this German-leaning area. No question about it, initially the French were not terribly concerned that the population was heavily German, as the waterways and natural resources of the region (coal and especially iron ore) were really what interested them. Over time, and after gaining bits and pieces of the region at the expense of the Old German Empire, French settlers and business interests moved into the area, gradually adding more than a "touch of Frenchness" to the region.** Eventually France got all of the the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, and a brisk trade relationship developed between France and Germany, with Germany providing coal, from western Germany, to France in exchange for iron ore, which was largely from Lorraine. The German defeat of France in 1871 and the annexation of most of Alsace and a big chunk of Lorraine, including the iron ore area (by no coincidence), only made the French seethe with anger and desire revenge. For Germany the situation was economically great, as they then controlled large supplies of both coal and iron ore. We are not yet finished with this hotly contested region, and more about Alsace-Lorraine will come later.

*For example, Hessen (often rendered as "Hesse," in English) was a grand duchy and, therefore, was ruled by a grand duke. In this case, the ruling family was coincidentally, the family of the Tsarina of Russia, Alexandra, as she was born there. In Prussia, the government was a "kingdom," and therefore ruled by a king, who was simultaneously the German Kaiser, by law. So Kaiser Wilhelm was both German Kaiser (Emperor) and King of Prussia.

** To be fair here, the French rulers were no different than other rulers of those times, including Germans; that is, the "ethnicity" of an area was of little or no concern to them. Remember, these were nobles, and they wanted lands to expand their own power and wealth. (Hmm, sounds a lot like some American business people and members of our "productive class," the "investor class," who have no trouble sending plants, equipment, and jobs to other countries, or of devising schemes that brought about the financial and foreclosure crises, or who would sell their own mothers to the highest bidder, all for wealth and power.) Especially during the 1800s, "ethnicity" began to take on more significance, as people of various ethnic groups began to desire rule by people of their own background (for better or for worse), and for those who have been following this series, you have seen that idea grow among "Germans;" although Germans did not always see the other side of the coin, as for example, with the Polish people in the eastern part of German controlled territory.

WORD HISTORY:
Thatch-This word goes back to Indo European "(s)teg," which meant "cover." The "s" is in parentheses because some Indo European dialects emphasized its sound (modern Lithuanian, for instance, has "stogas" for "roof"), while Old Germanic emphasized the "t" sound (or "d" in some dialects). This gave Old Germanic "thakan," which also meant "cover, covering." This then gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) the verb "theccan," "to cover," and the noun "thaec," "roof," which often back then were made of straw; thus giving the word its attachment to "straw used for a roof." At some point in Old English the verb altered to "thacchan," notice the "ch" which has become the "t" in the modern spelling, or "thacchan" could have already existed as a dialect form which then became prevalent. Later still, it became "thacche," before acquiring the modern form. The other Germanic languages have related forms, the noun forms are: standard German has "Dach," Low German has "Dack," Dutch and West Frisian have "dak," Swedish and Norwegian have "tak," Danish has "tag," and Icelandic has "thak."

The German Question, Part Seventy-Seven

"Kaiser Wilhelm & World War I" Part Two/G "The Germans At War"
"An Ally Stumbles"

Kaiser Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary died in November 1916, age 86. He was succeeded by his grand nephew, Karl (Charles), who ruled as Karl I. The war had strained his empire's resources and his subjects' patience. Karl and his immediate advisers feared that the multi-ethnic conglomeration of Austria-Hungary might disintegrate if the war continued. By March of 1918, Austria-Hungary entered into secret peace negotiations with France (through Karl's brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus). France's main objective had been regaining Alsace-Lorraine, and Karl and his foreign minister, Ottokar Czernin, agreed in principle, even putting it in a letter to his brother-in-law, who then showed the letter to the French government. Meanwhile, Karl and Czernin also tried to persuade the German leadership to try to work for a negotiated peace settlement. Czernin made the mistake of publicly criticizing France's Premier Georges Clemenceau as an obstacle to peace, and Clemenceau promptly released the gist of the Austro-Hungarian letter to the press. The Germans were furious and there were even fears in Austria-Hungary that Germany might send troops into the aging empire. To stabilize the situation, Karl and his government denied as much as possible, promised new loyalty to their allies, and Czernin resigned.

WORD HISTORY:
Might-(noun)-This word, meaning "power," traces back to the Indo European root "magh/megh," which had the notion of "be able to do, have the power to do." This gave Old Germanic "makhtuz/makhtiz," with the same basic meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "maeht," then "miht," and finally "might" (remember, the "gh" was pronounced). Dutch, German, Low German and West Frisian all have "macht," although the German word is spelled with a capital "M," Danish and Norwegian have "magd," Swedish has "makt," Icelandic has "máttur." All have the same general meaning of "power." The German word was "maht" before the modern spelling, as compared to Old English "maeht" and "miht." Likely the "h" was highly aspirated in all forms, thus then becoming "gh" and "ch."

The German Question, Part Seventy-One

"Kaiser Wilhelm & World War I" Part Two/A "The Germans At War"

"A Reputation Takes Hold"

The "Great War," or what later came to be called "World War One," was not about German "identity," as such, although "South Slav" ethnic identity in the Balkans certainly played a major role in the war's beginning. Of course, the French desire for Alsace-Lorraine was a contentious issue since that region's annexation to Germany upon German unification,* and German (and French) identity did play a part there. The war may not have been much about German identity, but its aftermath most definitely WAS about German identity. The war will only be covered in a general way here, and the various battles and campaigns will not be covered, but for those interested in the military history of the war, there are just a multitude of books and articles on the subject by authors of all nations, and written from various points of view.

As the various nations declared war, there were large public demonstrations in those countries celebrating the outbreak of hostilities, and patriotism flourished in most countries. Not all nations were jubilant, however. The Germans had a strategic plan to defeat France, called "The Schlieffen Plan," named after its creator, Graf (Count) Alfred von Schlieffen, who developed the plan in 1905/06. The plan was modified over time. It called for a quick strong German attack on France from Belgium before full French mobilization, slicing into northern France and trapping the bulk of the French army in an area from Paris to the German border. Much smaller German forces were to be retained along the Franco-German border to keep French forces in check. With the French defeat would come the transfer of large German forces to face the Russians, who, it was assumed, would still not be fully mobilized. There was one "little" problem with the plan (the old "fly in the buttermilk"); Belgium was a neutral country, and Britain had guaranteed its neutrality way back in 1839. Luxembourg was also a neutral country (and a former German state), although it continued in its relationship with Germany through the German Customs Union ("Zollverein" in German) until AFTER World War One. The Germans sought permission from Belgium to permit the passage of German troops through its territory to France. Belgium refused, as any self-respecting "neutral" country would have done, but it mobilized its army. It was this action which brought about the actual British declaration of war on Germany; although I have to believe the British would have entered the war at some point, but the timing would have been crucial in terms of troop deployments to the continent (remember, the German strategy to defeat France and Russia was based upon precise timing). The British wanted Germany to guarantee Belgian neutrality, something the Germans would not do. The German army entered Luxembourg, without incident, militarily occupying that nation, but leaving much of its day to day affairs in the hands of the Luxembourg government.** I've not found much info on the subject, but I suppose there were both substantial pro-German and anti-German sentiments in Luxembourg during the war. The Germans entered Belgium a day or two later, but in this case, the Belgians fought back heroically. In fact, Belgian resistance to the German invasion helped save France from a possible defeat. The German offensive was eventually halted near Paris, and the war in western Europe became one of bloody battles in northern France and southern Belgium, fought from a series of trenches, with hundreds of thousands of casualties on all sides, sometimes thousands died for the gain of a mere couple of hundred yards of territory; often with that meager gain relinquished in a day or two when the other side launched its own attack. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the Black Hand, Serbia, Herzegovina, all reasons for the war's beginning, were all but completely forgotten by the armies involved.

Germany and Austria-Hungary were called the "Central Powers," for their location in central Europe. Italy was also part of the alliance, but the Italians stayed out of the war until later, and then joined the Allies, not the Central Powers. In southern Europe and the Middle East, the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire was allied to the Central Powers. Switzerland, another neutral nation, was divided in public sentiment along ethnic/linguistic lines, with the German majority population holding sympathy for Germany and Austria-Hungary, but with the French and Italian portions obviously favoring France and Italy, respectively.

The German invasion of Belgium coupled with Kaiser Wilhelm's long previous remarks about his wanting Germans to be feared like the Huns had been, provided the Allies with a devastating campaign against Germany. The German leaders were seen as willing to do anything to win, including invading neutral countries. The problem for the Germans was, it was true! (That's not to say the Allies always had noble ideas either, however.) This was the real beginning of the growth of a German reputation that put non Germans in fear of German national criminality. It would only get worse, especially in the next war. This all eventually had an effect on "German identity." (A Word History is below the notes)

* If you have been following this series, recall that Alsace and Lorraine had been a trouble spot for centuries. The French did not want the area to rule over "Germans," but rather for the natural resources of the area. The Germans too wanted the natural resources, and also had the further tie to the German majority population of the regions. Remember, when Germany annexed Alsace, it took the vast percentage of the province, and that province had an overwhelming German population (although in many cases with French influences), leaving the smaller French majority parts to France. In Lorraine, Germany left much of that province to France, taking the primarily German majority area, which was about a quarter of the entire province. After annexation, Germany combined the two provinces into one, as "Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen," or "Imperial Territory Alsace-Lorraine." If interested, a little more info is available here:

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/12/german-question-part-sixty-one.html

** The German military wanted Luxembourg occupied mainly for supply and strategic reasons.

WORD HISTORY:
Ice-This word in its various forms is common in the Germanic languages, with connections to other Indo European languages. It "seems" to go back to Indo European "eyhso," meaning, "frost, solidified water from cold." Indo-Iranian had "isu," which meant "frosty, icy." Indo-Iranian is a part of the Indo European languages, and is therefore related to English, but much further down the family tree. Anyway, this gave Old Germanic "isa(n)," which gave Old English "is" (with a long "i" sound), which then became "ice" during the 1400s. German has "Eis," which means both "ice" AND (yummy, yummy) "ice cream," Low German Saxon has "ies," West Frisian has "is," Dutch has "ijs, Letzeburgesch/Luxembourgish has "Äis," Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic all have "is."

The German Question, Part Sixty-One

"Bismarck" Part Five/F "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' ""Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/West

I should have noted in the last installment: Frisians in Bismarck's Germany, while proud of their heritage, would have undoubtedly also seen themselves as "Germans," just as those in the Netherlands would have seen themselves as "Dutch," and those in Denmark would have seen themselves as "Danes." In all three cases there may well have been a few "hold outs," but it was likely much more like what we have had with so many different groups in America; that is, immigrants came to the United States, but their children and later additions saw themselves as "Americans," while some still kept alive the traditions of their ancestors in various ways. Also, in Denmark, there are very few (North) Frisian speakers (and there were not that many even dating back to Bismarck's time onward); so few in fact, that I could not find any recent data on the subject. This is just a guess, but any Frisian speakers still in existence all undoubtedly speak Danish on an every day basis, and there are no Frisian-language newspapers in Denmark. Some sources even noted that Frisian is no longer spoken in Denmark.

In the western areas of Germany, in Alsace-Lorraine, lived more than 211,000 French-speaking inhabitants (according to the 1900 census), which represented 11 1/2% of the population of the province (the other 88 1/2% spoke German). Just an assumption, but I would think nearly all French-speaking inhabitants were Catholic (the "German" population was mixed Protestant and Catholic). Also, in a fairly small area in what is now part of Belgium, in the area usually referred to as "Eupen-Malmedy," there were some 12,000 Walloon and French-speaking residents (about 29% of the region), and it is just as likely that they were all Catholic.* (The "German" population there, about 71%, was undoubtedly Catholic too.) The Catholics in both Alsace-Lorraine and Eupen-Malmedy were subject to all of Bismarck's anti-Catholic policies mentioned previously in this series. Since there was no actual "Poland" (as a nation) at that time, the Polish population in Germany was certainly different from the French-speaking population in Alsace-Lorraine, since France was very much in existence, a major power, and the ties of the French-speaking part of the population to France were strong. The French-speaking residents were always "suspect" (to the Germans), but not even all of the German speaking citizens were always solidly committed to Germany, especially those of the upper classes, where people tended to be fluent in both French and German, but where French was often preferred to German. Interestingly, the German government permitted French to be used in schools in French-speaking areas, but German was used in all governmental affairs (not that this is necessarily unreasonable).*** Perhaps the main difference between the German residents of Alsace-Lorraine and the Germans in the rest of Germany is something that is difficult to gauge, but it had to do with the fact of French rule in the area for a couple of centuries, but most importantly, the French Revolution, and the participation by many people in the area in that revolution. In the German states, their own revolutions had not been successful, and they had lived under autocratic rule, so there was more of a lighter democratic tradition in Alsace-Lorraine. Time gradually favored the German point-of-view, as younger generations did not feel the same connection to the previous French rule.****

Next, "The Jewish Minority in Bismarck's Germany".... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Take your pick, Walloon is either a separate language closely related to French, or a dialect of French, based in part of modern Belgium (the other main linguistic group of Belgium being "Flemish," see note **) Linguists have had disagreements over its official classification. Whatever the case, it is Latin-based, but it has had many influences from the nearby Germanic dialects/languages, specifically Flemish, Dutch, and German (including German dialects in the area, like Luxemburgisch). For decades now, the debate is essentially only of historical importance, as Walloon is almost extinct, with only a handful of people actually being fluent anymore, since in the early part of the 20th Century, "standard" French (I'll use that term) was used in all schools in the Walloon region.

** Belgium is one of those countries where there is more than one language spoken by significant portions of the population. As I have attempted to show in some of these articles on the Germans, until the 1800s, territories were conquered, annexed, sold, or inherited, without regard to the "background," including language, of the local population. "Nationalism" among various "ethnic groups" began to spread, especially during the 1800s, and it became a serious problem for Austria, which possessed a wide variety of non-German populated lands. "Ethnically/linguistically" modern Belgium is about 39% Walloon (French speaking), most living in the "Wallonia" southern part of the country, and about 60% Flemish, most living in the "Flanders" northern part of Belgium. There is a German minority (the area discussed in this article) along the German border, but it numbers just less than 1% of the population, and an even smaller (less than half a percent) "Luxembourgish" population, believe it or not, located on the border with Luxembourg (imagine that). The relationship between the various groups has been contentious at times over the last century or two. Some linguists in just the last decade or so have declared Flemish to be a dialect of Dutch, rather than a separate language in its own right, but not everyone agrees.

*** There were fairly strong elements of the population of Alsace-Lorraine that were very pro-German, and I don't want to lead anyone to believe that this element was not influential.

**** It also should be noted that about 100,000 "pro-France" residents left Alsace-Lorraine for France after the German annexation. As these people were obviously the most "French," that must have lessened pro-French activities in Alsace-Lorraine.

WORD HISTORY:
Lore-This word, perhaps more common in the compound "folklore," simply means "knowledge, accumulated learning." It is closely related to "learn." It goes back to the Indo European root "leis/lais," which had the notion of "to follow a track or path." This then gave Old Germanic "laizo," which was passed on to its offspring, West Germanic, as "laiza,"^ and then also with the advanced meaning of "teach, instruct." (I suppose in the sense, "teach people to follow a path or course.") This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "lar," with a long "a" sound, and meaning "knowledge, things that are taught." The Middle English period gave us the modern spelling. So, "folklore" means "the accumulated knowledge of the people through the course of time." German has "Lehre," Low German has "Lehr," West Frisian "leare," Norwegian and Danish have "lære," Swedish has "lära," Icelandic has "laera," and Dutch has "leren," all with the basic meaning of "teach, instruct (instruction, for nouns)." 

^ These forms with 'z' came to be rendered with 'r' due to rhotacism; that is, a tendency to convert some consonant sounds, usually 'z,' to 'r.' This happened with the Germanic forms "laizo/laiza" that took the course about "teach, instruct," but another branch maintained the "z" sound (altered a bit to the similar 's') and the basic meaning "track, path," which gave German what eventually became modern "Gleis," the rails of a train track. This same Old Germanic form gave English some forms of "last," including the verb meaning "to endure, hold out" (from the notion of "continue on a path").      

The German Question, Part Fifty-Five

"Bismarck" Part 4/D  "The Germans Unite...Sort Of-The Founding Of Modern Germany"

Historically, there was overlap between the Franco-Prussian War and political events that united the Germans. I chose to keep the two things separate, except for the treaty that ended the war and expanded German territory.

The "Treaty of Frankfurt" officially ended the war between the German Empire and France (the Germans united just prior to the French defeat; thus it was the German Empire; see below). One of the main provisions of the treaty was that France ceded to Germany the province of Alsace (Elsass, in German) and about a third of Lorraine (Lothringen, in German). Those areas were still heavily German in character in those times.* The predominately French areas were left as part of France, except as I will mention later. As part of Germany, the majority German territories were united into a province called "Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine," or simply "Alsace-Lorraine," which although incorrect, is still how many non-Frenchmen, at least many Americans, refer to the area.

When Prussia formed the "North German Confederation" after excluding Austria from German affairs in 1866, Bismarck implemented a basic constitution for member states. That constitution was essentially what became the constitution of a united Germany. Remember, Bismarck was not a democrat (small "d," Americans), but a monarchist. He understood the political realities of his times, however, and he chose to bring change, first to Prussia, and then to a united Germany, on his own terms; thus his constitution should not be thought of as comparable to that of the U.S., or many other free societies, but it did begin a process of more freedoms for Germans. It made the Prussian king the automatic "Kaiser" ("emperor") of the German Empire.** The new empire was a federation; that is, it had a national (actually, imperial) government, but also individual state governments. The state governments were still controlled by various noble families of varying titles (king, prince, grand duke, etc), so they were still "monarchical," too. The Kaiser was also the President of the Bundesrat, or "Federal Council." This council had to agree to all legislation, and it essentially consisted of representatives of the state "monarchies." Then there was a major democratic element; "the Reichstag." It consisted of representatives chosen by the people in a secret ballot, although in those times, "the people" meant "men 25 years and older." The Kaiser had the power to appoint the head of the government, the "Reichskanzler," or Chancellor, who headed a number of ministerial offices. This kept power in the hands of the Kaiser, since the Chancellor was not connected in any way to a vote of the people. German "national" citizenship was established, overriding the citizenship previously granted by the individual states. The Kaiser could declare war, make treaties, and conduct foreign policy. He was also head of the military. Most other matters were in the hands of the individual states, which also oversaw any national laws. This constitution was signed by the monarchs of the various states, including the south German states which had remained outside of the North German Confederation. On January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was crowned Kaiser Wilhelm I of the German Empire in the Palace of Versailles, France (the war with France was still ongoing). The official name of the new nation was "das Deutsche Reich," "the German Empire."

So, we have come a long way since the days when a multitude of ancient Germanic tribes were roaming over parts of Europe, including those which settled in Britain and established England; thus giving the world the English language. We have seen groups thought of as "Germans" by many, gradually split off to form new nationalities; the Dutch, the Swiss Germans, the Liechtensteiners, but most painfully, the Austrian Germans. So while the Germans finally united into a modern nation, it lacked a group that had been a substantial part of German history, but this was still not the end of possible Austrian participation in Germany.*** (A Word History is below the notes)

Next, "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

* Since the end of World War Two, both areas have become less German in character, as French has overtaken the German and German dialects of these areas, although there have been more recent local attempts to promote the dialects, perhaps more out of quaintness, and also the fact that Germany and France are far less hostile to one another these days. Hitler's crimes certainly made the people of Alsace and the "German" part of Lorraine (for lack of a better term) put distance between themselves and any association with Germany. Sources are sketchy, but just to put a number onto things, only about 35-40% of the people in Alsace still speak German fluently, and in the former "German part" of Lorraine, it is perhaps only 20%. The German dialects of the two areas are different, as the Alsatian German dialect (Elsässisch), traces back to the old Germanic tribe, the Alemanns, as do the German dialects in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, extreme western Austria and southwestern Germany. The German dialect of Lorraine traces back to the Germanic tribe, the Franks.

** Remember in the "old" German Empire (the Holy Roman Empire), the German emperor was chosen by special electors (Kurfürsten) from certain German states. While not exactly democratic, at least there was an election, and while eventually the Habsburg family of Austria came to dominate the process, they technically were not the hereditary emperors. Under Bismarck's constitution, the Prussian king was always to be the German Kaiser; no election required for either position, but rather always hereditary.

*** Lest we forget, while most of the inhabitants of the new German Empire were indeed Germans, or at least declared themselves to be Germans, there were still a fairly substantial number of people of Polish heritage in the eastern areas, and some people of French heritage in the western areas; namely Alsace, Lorraine, and the Saarland area. A few people of Danish heritage were in the north, in Schleswig, and while many people likely considered the Frisian population in the north to be "German," many linguists and ethnographers (people who study ethnic groups), but not necessarily all, saw them separately, at least at that point in time, and into the near future, although they gradually "became Germans." Further, a group of Slavic people, usually referred to as "Sorbians," resided somewhat south of Berlin, down near the border with what is now the Czech Republic" (the area known as "Lausitz," in German, or usually rendered as "Lusatia," in English). In those times they retained their own Slavic language and culture, although I believe many, if not most, also spoke German. Today, the number of fluent Sorbian speakers has diminished quite significantly, and all also speak German.

WORD HISTORY:
Mustard-Germans have various types of mustard, including sweet, which tends to be more common in Bavaria. I know several Americans who were stationed in Germany during the Cold War, or otherwise lived there for a period. They all swear by German mustard being the best in the world. While I like mustard, I'm more of a ketchup guy, so I'll defer to these people. Anyway, Germans generally call mustard "Senf," a word which traces back to Latin ("sinapi(s)," and Latin got it from Greek (transliterated "sinapi(s)"). Its history prior to that is uncertain, with some suggesting that it is not derived from Indo European, but a borrowing from perhaps North Africa or the Middle East. In the northeastern part of Germany (including Berlin), there is a tendency to use the word, "Mostrich," which is related to the word "mustard" (at least the first part, see below).

The English word "mustard" goes back to Indo European "meus," which meant, "wetness, dampness." This gave Latin "mustum," which meant "new wine." Long ago, the seeds of the mustard plant were crushed and mixed with new wine to form an old form of mustard, and this passed to Old French as "moustarde." English borrowed the word in the 1200s. "Mustard" is related to "must" (NOT to the verb, as in, "You must not do that") which usually refers to grape juice, as does German "Most," which tends to be southern in usage and can also still mean new wine, but also cloudy fruit juice or cider, not necessarily just grape juice.

The German Question, Part Thirty-three

"The End Of The Old German Empire" Part One

The rickety old Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, not really much of an empire since the end of Thirty Years' War, was still dominated by the Habsburgs, when a little man from the island of Corsica* became the leader of France in the aftermath of the French Revolution. That man was Napoleon Bonaparte.

Prior to Napoleon, the empire had given both the Netherlands and Switzerland their independence, costing the empire huge chunks of territory and population, as we already learned in an earlier segment.** Over a period of more than a century, beginning in the mid 1500s, the French began to chip away at the territories of Alsace and Lorraine (Elsass and Lothringen, in German), taking control of more and more of these lands of the German Empire. Alsace was very heavily German in background, including its language, with a fairly small portion being French in character, but Lorraine was a bit more evenly split, with a large area being truly French in character and language.*** By 1700, the French essentially controlled both of these provinces.

The German emperor was greatly weakened after the Thirty Years' War, since the individual German states became much more like separate nations in the war's aftermath, and these states remained purely under a loose umbrella type of association with the empire, which truly lacked a central government organization. (A Word History is below the notes)

* Corsica is an island located some 100+ miles southeast of the French coast (at its nearest point), about 60 miles west of the mainland northwestern Italian coast and about 7 or so miles north of the Italian island of Sardinia. It was under the control of Genoa (before Italy was united as a modern nation) for a few hundred years before a brief period of independence, followed by a takeover by France in the 1760s. The ethnic composition of the island was varied in those times, as many peoples traipsed across the island at one time or another, but "likely" the population was more tilted to Italian than any other one group, and Italian and a Corsican dialect/language (closely related to Italian) prevailed as the languages on the island until French was strongly pushed by France, whereupon it became the dominant language during the mid 1800s, as it remains to this day.    

** I just want to note that the southern area of the "old" Netherlands (prior to the independence of the northern area) was not granted freedom by the ruling (and owning) Habsburgs, and was called "The Austrian Netherlands." The area was approximately 60% Flemish speaking (a Germanic language, closely akin to Dutch and some Low German dialects; and in fact, some linguists classify it as a dialect of Dutch and others classify it simply as Dutch) and 40% French speaking. This general area, which is not so much a part of our story, eventually became modern Belgium.

*** The German dialects in Alsace trace back to the Alemanns, a Germanic tribe. Interestingly, the French use their forms for the Alemanns as their words for Germany, "Allemagne," and for German, "Allemand." The German dialects of the German speaking part of Lorraine trace back to the Franks, another Germanic tribe, and the words "France" and "French" both come from the Franks.

WORD HISTORY:
Tribe-This seems to go back to the Indo European roots "trei" and "bhu." The first is the root of "three," and indeed linguists seem to believe that it was used to signify the division of Rome into "three" parts. The second root, "bhu," is the root of "be." This compound gave Latin "tribus," which denoted the "divisions of the people into groups," which then gave Old French "tribu." It was borrowed into English from French in the 1200s, often initially with reference to the biblical "twelve tribes of Israel."

The German Question, Part Four

Updated slightly 6/30/2015

At this point in our story, it should be noted that the Danes were also by now a separate and distinct Germanic group, but we aren’t truly finished with the Danes, as they will be involved in what became northern Germany for quite some time. The area in question is what is generally known as Schleswig, a part of the post-World War Two German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

As the Roman Empire declined, the Germanic tribe the Alemanni* took over much of the regions known as “Alsace” and “Lorraine”, but the Alemanni were then conquered by the related Germanic tribe, the Franks. These two areas were later included in the “middle kingdom” by the Treaty of Verdun (see Part Three), but it wasn’t long before they were conquered, and became a part of the German-dominated Holy Roman Empire.

Similarly, in the area of what is modern Switzerland, the Alemanni settled in a large part of the middle and eastern sections, with the western areas being under the control of the Burgundians. The Burgundians were a Germanic tribe whose members spoke an East Germanic dialect, and they had long since been seen as a distinct Germanic element.** The Franks also conquered this region, but eventually the entire area of modern Switzerland came under control of the Holy Roman Empire, although the Latin-based French language had already overtaken any Germanic dialects in the western areas, and to this day, these areas are French speaking, with slightly more than 20% of Swiss nationals speaking French.*** The extreme southern part of Switzerland was, and still is, Italian speaking (about 8%). There is also a small Romansch-speaking area of Switzerland (less than 1%).**** Nearly 70% of Swiss nationals speak German to this day.^

So we have progressed to about 1000 A.D., and we’re beginning to see “some” borders develop around the general area of Germanic-speaking people in the western sections of Europe. In fact, it might now be more appropriate to start calling these people “Germans,” and their language “German,” although just like other languages of those times, there certainly was no standard language, but rather a great number of dialects. Obviously there were also many non-German speakers within this area, and this mixture would often prove to be a problem as time passed. (A Word History is below the notes)

*The modern Alsatian-German dialect traces back to the Alemanni tribal dialect, while the German dialect in Lorraine traces back to the Franks. The German dialects in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, far western Austria and in the general area of Stuttgart, Germany, all trace back to the Alemanni.

** Burgundy, a province of France, is of course named after the Germanic Burgundians, who ruled that general area prior to being overtaken by the Franks.

*** Again, the Franks conquered much of Gaul, but eventually the Latin dialects spoken there absorbed the Franks’ Germanic dialects, although the name for the country became “France,” named after the Franks, and the language was called “French,” after the language of the Franks. Confusing, but true.

**** Romansch (also frequently spelled Romansh) developed from the Latin spoken in these areas during the time of actual Roman rule. It is “similar” to some dialects of southern France and northern Italy.

^ Within the German language world; that is, native German speakers, regardless of country, people have tended to grow up speaking their own regional dialect, as well as “standard” German. By “standard,” I mean the language taught in the schools. The Swiss are no exception, as they still use their own broad dialect (which has some regional variations of its own), but they also speak and write in standard German, but with some Swiss distinctiveness, especially in governmental and food terminology. So, the point is, a person from Berlin and a person from Bern (Switzerland) can easily communicate with one another in standard German, but not so much so in their respective dialects. Berlin dialect is called "Berlinerisch," and the dialect of Bern is called "Berndeutsch," in standard German, but "Bärndütsch," in the dialect itself.

WORD HISTORY:
Fee-The history of this word may surprise you somewhat. It goes back to Indo European “peku,” which meant “cattle.” The history is rather difficult to follow, since many of the Indo European languages had a form of this word (“peku”), and it is tough to tell when one form was borrowed from another language, or when it was already present in a language, but perhaps reinforced by a similar term from another language. From what I can tell, there must have been an Old Germanic spin-off (spelled with an “f” at the beginning), although I cannot find it. Whatever the term, some of the Germanic dialects began to give additional meanings to their own forms of that term, as, for example, Old English had “feoh,” which meant “property, money,” besides the meaning “cattle,” Gothic had “faihu,” which meant “wealth, money,” Frankish had “fehu-od,” meaning “cattle-property” (literally "cattle wealth" or "wealthy in cattle"), Old Norse had “fe,” also meaning “cattle, money,” and Old High German had "fihu," meaning "cattle." The “cattle, money, property, wealth” connection is that if you owned cattle in those times, you had property, and therefore you were thought to have some wealth/money. Latin seemingly borrowed the term from Frankish (“fehu-od”) as “feudum” or “feodum,” which also had the connotation of “property given for service” (you can see the emerging meaning of modern “fee” in this), although Old Latin had a form of the original Indo European word “peku,” as “pecus” meant “cattle,” and “pecunia” meant “money” (and still does in modern Italian). Old French, a Latin-based language, had “fie/fieu,” and the Normans, who spoke a French dialect, brought their form of the term to England with their successful invasion in late 1066 A.D. The term “feudal” developed from the same word during those times, and “fee” did actually mean “a feudal estate” back then, although that meaning has now died out in English (William the Conqueror gave land to his Norman knights who helped him subdue England as his payment to them; thus “land for service”). Whether this meaning combined with the extended meaning (“money") of the similar and related Old English word, if it was even still around, is unclear to me, but it would make sense (maybe TOO MUCH sense), that we would then have the modern meaning of “money for service.” Modern German still has "Vieh," meaning "cattle" (the "V" is pronounced "F," [all German nouns are capitalized] the "ieh" is pronounced as a long "e," giving us a pronunciation much like the English word "fee").