!!!Völkerwanderung

Germanic Peoples, Migration of the, migratory movement of mainly 
Germanic peoples from their places of origin into the south and west 
of Europe that peaked from the 4%%sup th/%  to the 6%%sup th/%  
century; it is also related to the advance of the  Avars and Magyars 
and the migration of Slavonic tribes. In the period 113-101 B.C., 
Cimbri, Teutoni (Teutones) and Suebi first passed through what is now 
Austrian territory and advanced towards the Roman Empire. There were 
significant inroads in the 2%%sup nd/%  century A.D. by the  
Marcomanni and in the 3%%sup rd/%  century by the  Alemanni, who moved 
to Lake Constance around 259/60 and to present Vorarlberg in the 
5%%sup th/%  century.

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The incursion of the Huns into southern Russia around 370 caused a 
widespread migratory movement which was to have great impact on the 
Austrian Danube region during the following decades and have enormous 
consequences on the history of the area in the  Early Middle Ages. 
After 375, the Visigoths were the first Germanic people to be accepted 
as federates into the Roman Empire of the East; under the leadership 
of chieftain Radagaisius they cast off Hun sovereignty and moved to 
Italy under Alaric (395-410), leaving their mark parts of southern 
Austria (destruction of Flavia Solva). Around 390, Marcomanni were 
settled in Noricum Ripense and Pannonia Superior, Carnuntum was 
destroyed. In 433, the Roman Empire of the West was forced to cede 
Pannonia to the Huns, who from there dominated Central Europe until 
the death of Attila in 453. After 453, Germanic peoples under the 
Gepidae King Ardaric defeated the Huns and other German groups on the 
unlocated river Nedao (perhaps the Leitha). Following this, a large 
number of Ostrogoths moved into Pannonia and eastern Austria and 
further on into Italy in 489. The region around Krems was settled by 
the Rugi, who were, however, defeated by Odoacer´s brother 
Hunwolf in 487. After them came the Heruli, who settled mainly around 
Poechlarn. The 6%%sup th/%  century was determined by the advance of 
the  Langobardi from the north into the Danube area and by the 
formation of the tribe of the Bavarians west of the River Enns. In the 
second half of the century, the Avars pushed into Pannonia; Lombards 
and Avars destroyed the empire of the Gepidae, in 568 the Lombards 
entered Italy, and this date also marked the temporary end of Germanic 
migration. The Avar advance was followed by the advance of the  Slavs 
into Austria, and Slav migration was to remain the chief influence in 
late 6%%sup th/% - 8%%sup th/%  century. The last large-scale movement 
was the incursion of the Magyars into Pannonia toward the end of the 
9%%sup th/%  century. The historical significance of the Migration of 
the Germanic Peoples for Central Europe lies in the westward movement 
of the Germans and the Slavs, who came in their wake, and the settling 
of the Hungarians in Pannonia.

!Literature
H.-J. Diesner, Die Voelkerwanderung, 1980; H. Wolfram and 
A. Schwarcz, Die Baiern und ihre Nachbarn, 2 vols., 1985; H. 
Wolfram, Die Geburt Mitteleuropas, Geschichte Oesterr. vor seiner 
Entstehung, 1987.


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