The Spreewald 
FARM BUILDINGS 
“ Ni ederlausitz. ” 
Here he built the 
castle of Burg, and 
ruled over the 
Wends of Nieder- 
lausitz as king. 
The last king of 
the Wends is said 
to have perished in 
the flames in the 
year 1298. 
Many centuries 
ago, in the district 
between the rivers 
Elbe and Oder, 
lived the Germanic 
races known as the 
Semnones and the _ 
Longobards. After 
them, in the fifth 
and sixth centuries the Slavic people, 
the Wends, came and took possession 
of the abandoned lands. 
The Wends of the Middle Mark ol 
Brandenburg were “Liutizen,” a peo¬ 
ple related to the Poles. 1 he only 
band that held them together, after 
a fashion, was the powerful priesthood, 
whose headquarters were at Rhetra. 
They were noted for their hospitality. 
To be hospitable was a duty. He who 
fulfilled this obligation was honored. 
He who neglected it was despised. On 
the other hand, we are told that they 
were given to lying, treachery and were 
cruel to helpless enemies. Their prov¬ 
erb, “Thou shalt divide with friends in 
the morning what thou hast stolen 
during the night,” shows how little 
PEASANT WOMEN BLEACHING LINEN 
developed were their ideas of “mine” 
and “thine.” With the Wends the 
blood revenge was a sacred duty, to be 
carried out by the survivors or rela¬ 
tives of a murdered Wend. Polygamy 
prevailed among the Wends. The sons 
were treated with great love and care 
by tbe parents, but the daughters were 
regarded as a burden. When there 
were several daughters in one family, 
some of them were killed. Sick or 
superannuated Wends had to be taken 
care of by their relatives. They were 
not infrequently buried alive, or beaten 
to death. Sometimes the wife was 
burned with the dead body of her hus¬ 
band.* But this was only done if she 
had previously made a vow to this 
effect. The Wends 
did not regard this 
as cruel or without 
feeling, for they 
regarded a violent 
death as a great 
honor, and as se¬ 
curing an entrance 
into the Kingdom 
of Happiness. The 
Wends, like all 
Slavs, were an in¬ 
dustrious and fru- 
gal folk. The 
Wends carried on a 
* Dead bodies were either 
buried or burned. Crema¬ 
tion was itgarded as a great 
honor paid to the deceased. 
The ashes were carefully 
collected and placed in urns. 
Huge stones formed the sep¬ 
ulchres. Some of these 
graves are still preserved. 
THE THRESHING BARN 
67 
