For more than two thousand years, the Germanic people have been a major influence in central Europe: the Germanic people, but not the Germans. Two thousand years ago, there were many Germanic tribes who lived there. Some of them were semi-nomadic, living in one place for a few decades or a couple centuries, and then relocating. The tribes are known by their own names:
Alemanni, Angles, Burgundians, Cherusci, Cimbri, Danes, Franks, Frisians, Goths, Helveconae, Holstens, Jutes, Langobards, Lombards, Marcomanni, Marvingi, Merohingii, Merovingi, Merovingians, Normans, Ostrogoths, Saxons, Suebi, Swabians, Swedes, Teutons, Thervingi, Thuringi, Vandals, Visigoths, and many others.
These dozens of tribes each had its own language, but all these languages were related to each other, descending from one parent language. These Germanic languages would continue to develop, and eventually produce not only the German language as it is today, but also other modern Germanic languages, including Flemish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and others. Notably, English is a Germanic language.
Aside from a linguistic kinship, these tribes shared similar, but not identical, cultures.
Politically, they were independent. Both alliances and antagonisms were repeatedly made and then changed.
As scholars Uwe Oster, Paul Widergren, and Carol Gratton write:
People have lived for thousands of years in the areas which we now refer to as Germany. These people did not, however, view themselves as “Germans.” This concept first originated in the Middle Ages, but Germany did not exist as a single nation as we know it today even then. The single nation was not conceived until the 19th century. If we want to take a journey through time and through German history, then naturally, this entire development is part of the big picture. Therefore, let’s start at the very beginning. Is there any reason why we have to feel like we are going to collapse under the burden of centuries of history? No, no reason whatsoever. German history is exciting, entertaining, and often very different from what you might think.
The beginnings of the tribal era are lost in the mists of history, but the tribes were a clear feature of central European history by the time the Romans began encountering them in the two or three centuries before Christ. One hypothesis suggests that one original Germanic group, the parent and grandparent of all the tribes, began by migrating from the northern coast of the Black Sea to the area which is now southern Denmark. A Germanic identity would have been established by around 500 B.C.
Like most historical eras, no precise ending point or starting point can be given to the tribal phase of Germanic history. Gradually, the tribes became less nomadic and embraced feudalism as both a political and economic way of life. Some of the tribes became kingdoms. Other tribes slowly dissolved as they intermarried with neighboring tribes. Perhaps by the time of Charlemagne — more accurately known as Karl the Great — dynastic and regional identities replaced tribal identities. That would be around 800 A.D.
The Goths embraced the Christian faith at some point in time around 300 A.D., and the Merovingians did the same in the 400s. It was during the decades leading up Charlemagne’s reign, and during his reign, that most of the rest of the Germanic tribes were Christianized. This changed Germanic culture significantly: human sacrifice was no longer practiced, and women were no longer bought and sold.
In any case, in the approximate span of time between 500 B.C and 800 A.D., much was put into place — much of what makes regional and cultural identities what they are today, both in central Europe and in the world. Indeed, it could be said that after that time, history has simply played out, on autopilot, what was decided by the migrations and cultures of the Germanic tribes.
