The Drevani (german: Draväno-Polaben or ''Drevanen'') were a tribe of

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...

settling on the Elbe river in the area of the present-day

Lüchow-Dannenberg Lüchow-Dannenberg is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany, which is usually referred to as Hanoverian Wendland (''Hannoversches Wendland'') or Wendland. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Uelzen and Lüneburg and the s ...

district of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, Germany. They were a constituent tribe of the Obodrite confederacy. In the course of the 9th century their territory was conquered by the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...

and incorporated into the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the ...

. According to the

Royal Frankish Annals The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...

, Emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...

had a fortress built at Höhbeck. The lands where the Drevani lived is today also known as the Wendland, named after the

Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various peopl ...

. The local Slavic language ( Polabian) died out in the mid-18th century. The name ''Drevani'' means "people of woods/trees" in Polabian (from ''drevo'' "tree"). It has survived in the name of the

Drawehn The Drawehn is a partly wooded and partly agricultural region of hills in the northeastern part of the German state of Lower Saxony, lying between the districts of Lüneburg and Uelzen in the west and Lüchow-Dannenberg in the east. It is named af ...

hills.

References

* Heydzianka-Piłatowa J., Przebieg wynarodowienia Drzewian połabskich w świetle kroniki chłopskiej Jana Parum Schulzego, "Studia z Filologii Polskiej i Słowiańskiej" XIX, 1980, s. 131-136. * Firckse, A., Die preussische Bevölkerung nach ihrer Muttersprache, "Zeitschrift des königlich-preußischen staatlichen Bureaus" 1893, Bd. XXXIII. * Polański K., Problem różnic gwarowych w języku połabskim, "Studia z Filologii Polskiej i Słowiańskiej" V, 1965, s. 365-369. * Rost P., Die Sprachreste der Draväno-Polaben im Hannöverschen, Leipzig 1907. * Salmer W., Sprachstudien im Lüneburger Wendland, s. 6 i n. * Muka, A., Szczątki języka połabskiego Wendów Luneburskich, n:Materiały i prace Komisyi językowej Akademii Umiejętności w Krakowie, t. I, Kraków 1904, s. 313-569. {{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century) Obotrites History of Lower Saxony Extinct languages of Europe