Gerichtslinde
Encyclopedia
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, a (German for "court linden, doom
Dom
- People :* Dom people, an ethnic group in the Middle East* Doms, people of indigenous origin found in the Indian state of West Bengal* Domba or Dom, an ethnic group of India...
linden"; plural ) was a linden tree where assemblies and judicial court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s were held. Rooted in Germanic tribal law, the custom has left traces through the Germanic language
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
-speaking areas.
Located in the center of its village, the tree was also at the center of festivities, in this respect known as "dance linden". After Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
, the linden remained associated with justice and benevolent protection, often re-dedicated to Mary mother of Jesus () or to the twelve Apostles ().
History
Many surviving linden trees may sometimes retain names or , but often simply "village linden". The oldest of them is in SchenklengsfeldSchenklengsfeld
Schenklengsfeld is a community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany lying roughly 30 km northeast of Fulda and 60 km southeast of Kassel.-Location:...
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, planted in the 9th century, in the time of Louis the Younger
Louis the Younger
Louis the Younger , sometimes Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Emma. He succeeded his father as the King of Saxony on 28 August 876 and his elder brother Carloman as King of Bavaria from 880...
.
The 12th century Visio Godeschalci
Visio Godeschalci
Visio Godeschalci is a 12th century text relating the vision of a peasant of Harrie, now Großharrie in Holstein, named Gottschalk. In December 1189, during the siege of Segeberg castle, Gottschalk fell ill, and during five days was presumed dead....
describes a journey which the pious Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
peasant Godeskalk believed he had made in the lower world. There is mentioned an immensely large and beautiful linden-tree hanging full of shoes, which were handed down to such dead travellers as had exercised mercy during their lives.
Numerous examples of sacred trees and groves exist amongst the pre-Christian Germanic peoples
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
. The linden is often claimed to have been sacred to Freyja in the pre-Christian period, forming a polarity with the oaks sacred to Donar.
Specimens
Notable specimens are found in BargischowBargischow
Bargischow is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.-Location:Bargischow is located approximately 5 km east of the Hanseatic city of Anklam. The railway route between Berlin and Stralsund crosses between the municipality and Woserow....
, Castell
Castell
A castell is a human tower built traditionally in festivals at many locations within Catalonia, Spain. At these festivals, several colles castelleres or teams often succeed in building and dismantling a tower's structure...
, Frankfurt am Main, Großgoltern, Herzogenreuth, Hohenpölz, Kierspe
Kierspe
Kierspe is a town in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the western edge of the Sauerland on Volme River.-History:...
, Müden an der Örtze
Müden (Örtze)
Müden is a village in the municipality of Faßberg in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath in the German state of Lower Saxony.The village, which is situated in the county of Celle has around 2220 inhabitants and is a very popular tourist centre, whose catchment area includes Hamburg, Bremen and...
, Neuenrade
Neuenrade
Neuenrade is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the hills of the Sauerland in the Märkischer Kreis.-Geography:The highest elevation in the town area is the Kohlberg with an altitude of 514 m above sea level. The lowest elevation is at Hölmecke with 190 m...
, Salzhemmendorf
Salzhemmendorf
Salzhemmendorf is a village and a municipality in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 20 km east of Hamelin and 31 km west of Hildesheim and is located on the route 1...
, Schaumburg
Schaumburg
Schaumburg is a district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nienburg, Hanover and Hamelin-Pyrmont, and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia .-History:...
, Upstedt
Bockenem
Bockenem is a town in the district of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany that was founded in 1154. It is located on the German Framework Road.-Surrounding villages:*Jerze*Königsdahlum*Bornum*Mahlum*Schlewecke*Ortshausen*Volkersheim*Hary*Störy...
, Waldtann (Kreßberg
Kreßberg
Kreßberg is a community in the district of Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.There is no town or village with that name.The community of Kreßberg consists of 33 separate villages:...
) and Warmsen
Warmsen
Warmsen is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
.
The Danish Open Air Museum
Frilandsmuseet
Frilandsmuseet is an open air museum in Lyngby at the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. Opened in 1897 and covering 40 hectares, it is one of the largest and oldest open-air museums in the world....
in northern Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
displays a reconstruction of such a village meeting place for a medieval-era village originally found on the island of Funen
Funen
Funen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Each tenant farmer had his own stone seat beneath the linden and the meeting was presided over by the village elder .
Toponyms
The name of MaltersMalters
Malters is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.-History:Malters is first mentioned in second half of the 9th Century as in Maltrensi marcha. In 1238 it was mentioned as villa Malters.-Geography:...
, Canton of Lucerne
Canton of Lucerne
Lucerne is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population of the canton is . , the population included 57,268 foreigners, or about 15.8% of the total population. The cantonal capital is Lucerne.-History:...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, derives from "thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
-tree".
Literature
- Lenzing, Anette: Gerichtslinden und Thingplätze in Deutschland. Königstein i. Ts. 2005 (= Die Blauen Bücher). ISBN 3-7845-4520-3
- Fischer-Rizzi, Susanne: Blätter von Bäumen. Legenden, Mythen, Heilanwendungen und Betrachtung von einheimischen Bäumen. Hugendubel, München, 1994. ISBN 3880346836
- Petruszek T., Das Buch der Bäume, Dreisam Verlag (1991).
See also
- GlasirGlasirIn Norse mythology, Glasir is a tree or grove, described as "the most beautiful among gods and men", bearing golden leaves located in the realm of Asgard, outside the doors of Valhalla...
- IrminsulIrminsulAn Irminsul was a kind of pillar which is attested as playing an important role in the Germanic paganism of the Saxon people. The oldest chronicle describing an Irminsul refers to it as a tree trunk erected in the open air...
- LæraðrLæraðrLæraðr is a tree in Norse mythology, often identified with Yggdrasill. It stands at the top of the Valhöll. Two animals, the goat Heiðrún and the hart Eikþyrnir, graze its foliage.-Etymology:...
- MaypoleMaypoleA maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
- Sacred groveSacred groveA sacred grove is a grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe, but feature in various cultures throughout the world...
- Thor's oakThor's OakThe Donar Oak was a legendary oak tree sacred to the Germanic tribe of the Chatti, ancestors of the Hessians, and an important sacred site of the pagan Germanic peoples....
- YggdrasilYggdrasilIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
- Trees in mythology