The Sprevane or Sprevani (;
Slavonic: ''Sprevjane'') were a
Slavic tribe who lived around the river
Spree, where
Berlin is now, in the
Brandenburg area of eastern
Germany. They were first recorded in 948 and again in 965 as living in the territory of the
Holy Roman Empire under
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...
. Archaeological finds point to them coming to the area in the 8th century, and by 825 they started to build a settlement in today's
Köpenick, a district of Berlin.
Their name is from ''Sprevja'' (the local Slavonic form of the river name
Spree, meaning "to the right side") plus the Slavonic ethnic suffix ''-an'' (= the one living in that area) and "-e" meaning plural. The Germanized form, ''Sprewanen'', may have been influenced by the German verb ''wohnen'' (in
Old High German, ''wonen''), meaning "to dwell", but is also correct German plural of singular Sprevan.
See also
*
List of medieval Slavic tribes
Polabian Slavs
10th-century German people
West Slavic tribes
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