elcome
to the homepage of the registered society `Die Milzener e.V.‘
Here you can get informed about our society’s
activities, that is our partnerships, events, projects and plans. At present,
our Internet site does not aim at presenting our scientific projects and
results in the form of a data base or the like, but it is meant to support
our public relations work. We hope to give you an insight into our work
and to arouse your interest in coming and visiting us at our events. There
you have the possibility to ask all questions that may come to mind and
to evaluate us according to our work’s results. We are looking forward
to these meetings as well as to your questions and discussions. We are
receptive to any suggestions and critical remarks and are eagerly awaiting
your e-mails.
We hope that all visitors will find our site interesting and inspiring!
Die Milzener e.V.
About us
The registered society ‚Die Milzener e.V.‘ is based in
Melaune, a village between Görlitz and Bautzen, and does theoretical
and practical research on medieval everyday life of the Elbslavic tribes,
the Milzener especially, and presents the results of this research at
events, workshops, in lectures and publications to the public. Some
questions we are dealing with are, for example: How can one reconstruct
the material culture of the 11th century? How do certain craft techniques
applied in the Middle Ages differ from those applied the Modern Period?
In how far is it possible to differentiate the Elbslavic region in its
culture from neighbouring tribes and peoples?
The members of the society are, on the one hand, students of different
subjects as, for example, archaeology, medieval history, restoration,
cultural management, educational theory, excavation technology and landscape
architecture, and, on the other hand, craftsmen like carpenters, tailors,
moreover a smith and a potter. At present, the group has 25 members.
An integrating part of the society’s work is the exchange with
other groups in Poland, Germany and Denmark. This exchange is to be
understood in the figurative as well as the literal sense, as events
are taking place every year in all of the three countries, at which
the groups are supporting each other and exchange knowledge, etc. In
this way, strong partnerships have been built up over a period of five
years, which play an important role for each project by ‘Die Milzener’.
Partners:
Kruk (PL)
‘Die Milzener e.V.’ has already been working in the field
of Experimental Archaeology for four years and has been building up
partnerships in the meantime, especially in Eastern Europe. Due to geographical
proximity and similarities in content to “Kruk”, a group
from Wroclaw, a close contact has developed between us over the last
two years, which resulted in personal friendships, the eagerness to
learn Polish and English respectively, or successful events organised
together. Two years in a row, a “Wendenlager” (a camp) was
organised at “Tag des offenen Denkmals” (which is the German
contribution to the European Heritage Days), at which visitors could
see a harmonious and productive cooperation of Polish and German groups.
By doing so, the international partnership also contributes to reducing
prejudices and stereotypes as one central message will stick in the
minds of the groups’ members and the visitors: they have a common
history.
The European Idea also puts emphasis on preserving national cultural
diversity and to extend one’s hand for dialogue and exchange.
This principle is the guideline for the work of both groups. The first
step is to go back to one’s cultural roots and thus to support
the process of identity formation.
The second step then is that in the West Slavic area especially, history
can be understood as a perfect key for cross-national understanding
due to the fact that the German influence to the right of the Elb made
itself noticible in the 11th century at the earliest and that still
today the “Sorben”, who have German and Slavic ethnical
roots, live in Lusatia.
There may hardly be another European region that can resort to history
as an integrating moment between two peoples in such an exemplary way
as is the case in the Euroregion Neisse.
Die Ulvsborg (DK)
Seit nahezu 6 Jahren bestehen enge Beziehungen zwischen den elbslawischen „Milzenern“ und der dänischen Gruppe des Archäologen Eric Zehmke, die insgesamt über 80 Mitglieder zählt.
An der Nordspitze Seelands beheimatet, hat die Gruppe 2005 begonnen,
eine eigene „Motte“ (also eine der frühen Burgformen
Mitteleuropas) zu errichten und mit Leben zu füllen. Der historische
Anspruch, den die Gruppe an sich stellt und realisiert, ist vorbildlich
und die Größe der Gruppe stellt einen der seltenen Fälle
dar, bei dem die Darstellung einer mittelalterlichen Gesellschaft realistisch
und verhältnismäßig erscheint.
Die Historischen Werkstätten Ukranenland e.V. (D)
“Die Historischen Werkstätten Ukranenland e.V.” are
also one of our long-standing partners. The quality and scope of this
registered society’s work in imparting historical knowledge is
unparalelled in Germany.
For almost 6 years, both groups have supported each other in an informal
and constructive way at workshops and events that were organised together
as well as by exchanging experiences.
Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena (D)
Department for Pre- and Early History
The scientific basis of our presentation of history is ensured by a cooperation
the the Department for Pre- and Early History at the university in Jena.
In exchange, “Die Milzener e.V.” presents the basic principles
of Experimental Achaeology as part of regular courses held at the department
such as in the Summer Semester 2005, when “Die Milzener e.V.”
will carry out experiments on scientifically important questions. These
experiments will be carefully documented, their results analysed and published
later on.