The Frankish colonisation (german: Fränkische Landnahme) refers to the colonisation of regions in present-day Germany (mainly in the Rhine-Main-Danube region) by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

from the 5th to the 8th centuries. It marked the end of the

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

in this region, because it resulted in the establishment of largely stable political and social systems. The beginning of this colonisation and associated land appropriation came as the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

king,

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

, defeated the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

around 496 A. D. at the

Battle of Zülpich The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks, who were fighting under Clovis I, and the Alamanni, whose leader is not known. The date of the battle has traditionally been given as 496, though other accounts suggest it may either have been ...

. Linked to this colonisation was an extension of Frankish rule towards the east; Francia was now divided into Neustria (part of

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

, an area largely coextensive with present-day France),

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...

(part of

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...

, largely coextensive with present-day Germany, initially without

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, yet including Alsace-Lorraine) and

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, which, however, constantly strove to preserve its independence. Characteristic of Frankish colonisation are the row graves and certain suffixes associated with the founding of many settlements. These include '' -heim, -hausen/-husen, -rod, -ingen'' and '' -weiler/-wiler''. After 780 A. D. no new villages are founded with these suffixes, nor is there any evidence of later row graves. It is assumed therefore that burials now took place at the churches of the local settlement.

* Wilhelm Arnold: ''Ansiedlungen und Wanderungen deutscher Stämme. Zumeist nach hessischen Ortsnamen.'' Elwert, Marburg, 1875 (Unveränderter Nachdruck, besorgt von Ludwig Erich Schmitt. (= ''Quellen und Darstellungen in Nachdrucken.'' Bd. 4). Böhlau, Cologne, etc. 1983, ). * Franz Petri (ed.): ''Siedlung, Sprache und Bevölkerungsstruktur im Frankenreich'' (''

Wege der Forschung ''Wege der Forschung'' (WdF, ''Ways of Research'') is the name of a historic interdisciplinary book series about topics of humanities, first published by Hermann Gentner Verlag in Bad Homburg, later by Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft in Dar ...

'' Vol.49). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1973, . * {{citation, surname1=Karl S. Bader , surname2=Gerhard Dilcher, title=Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte. Land und Stadt - Bürger und Bauer im Alten Europa, publisher=Springer, publication-place=Berlin u.a. , pages=17-62, contribution=1.Teil ''Rechtsgeschichte der ländlichen Siedlung'' Kap. B ''Landnahme und ländliche Siedlung'', isbn=978-3-642-63677-6, date=1999, language=German (Rechts- und sozialgeschichtliche Darstellung der Landnahmen in Deutschland von der Frühzeit bis ins Mittelalter) Merovingian period Germany in the Early Middle Ages History of European colonialism

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