Frisian settlement area (Frisian Coast).
'Frisia' (
West Frisian: ''Fryslân'';
North Frisian: ''Fraschlönj'', ''Freesklöön'', ''Freeskluin'', ''Fresklun'', and ''Friislön’'';
Saterfrisian (East Frisian): ''Fräislound'';
East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Freesland'';
Gronings: ''Fraislaand'';
German and
Dutch: ''Friesland'';
Danish: ''Frisland'') is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the
North Sea, i.e. the
German Bight. Frisia is the traditional
homeland of the
Frisians, a Germanic people who speak
Frisian, a language closely related to the
English language. Frisia extends from the northwestern
Netherlands across northwestern
Germany and into a little part of southwestern
Denmark (to the river
Vidå).
Divisions
Frisia is commonly divided into three sections:
#'
West Frisia' in
North Holland,
Friesland and
Groningen
#'
East Frisia' in
Lower Saxony
#'
North Frisia' in
Schleswig-Holstein
The three groups of the
Frisian Islands (the
West,
East and
North Frisian Islands) stretch more or less correspondingly along these three sections of the
German Bight coast.
'West Frisia' is roughly identical with the Dutch
province of
Friesland, the northern part of
North Holland province (the historical region of
West Friesland, the westernmost portion of the traditional region of
West Frisia) and also modern
Groningen province, though the Western Frisian language is only spoken in Friesland proper. In West Frisia,
dialects with strong Frisian
substrates are spoken (
Low German and
Low Franconian dialect variants, respectively). In the northern province of Groningen people speak
Gronings, a
Saxon dialect, which also has a strong Frisian substrate.
'East Frisia' includes areas located in the northwest of the German state of
Lower Saxony, including the districts of
Aurich,
Leer,
Wittmund and
Friesland, as well as the urban districts of
Emden and
Wilhelmshaven, the
Saterland, the
Land Wursten a former Rüstringen (
Butjadingen).
East Frisia is also the name of an historical county in that area. The German name "Ostfriesland" distinguishes the former county from "Ost-Friesland", which means the whole eastern Frisian area.
The portions of 'North Frisia' within the German state of
Schleswig-Holstein are part of the district of
Nordfriesland and stretch along the coast, and including also the coastal islands from the
Eider River to the border of Denmark in the north. The
North Sea island of
Heligoland, while not part of Nordfriesland district, is also part of traditional North Frisia.
A half million Frisians of Friesland province in the Netherlands speak
West Frisian. Several thousand more Frisian language speakers, speaking a collection
North Frisian dialects often unintelligible with each other and certainly unintelligible with forms spoken beyond North Frisia, are to be found in Nordfriesland and Heligoland in Germany, while a small number of speakers of the
Saterland Frisian language live in four villages of
Lower Saxony in the
Saterland region of
Cloppenburg county, just beyond the boundaries of traditional
East Frisia. Many Frisians speak
Low Saxon dialects, especially in East Frisia, but in West- an North Frisia, too.
History
Frisia changed dramatically throughout time, both by floods and by a change in identity.
Roman times
The Frisians had settled in Frisia from about 500 BC. According to Pliny the Younger, in Roman times, the Frisians (or, as it may be, their close neighbours, the Chauci) lived on
terps, man-made islands. According to other sources, the Frisians lived along a broader expanse of the coast of the North Sea (or "Frisian Sea").
Frisia at this time comprised the present provinces of
Friesland and
North Holland. A large part of the population of the present
Netherlands lived in present Friesland, because of the fertile grounds there.
Kingdom of Frisia
East Anglian sources called the inhabitants of 'Frisia'
Warnii instead of Frisians. In the 7th and 8th centuries AD, the
Frankish chronologies mention this area as the kingdom of the Frisians. However, these were probably not the Frisians of Roman times. This kingdom comprised the then coastal provinces of
the Netherlands and the
German North Sea coast. During this time, the Frisian language was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast and, today, this region is sometimes referred to as 'Greater Frisia' or ''Frisia Magna''. The Franks conquered the western part in 689-719 and the eastern part at the end of the 8th century, and in so doing fought against certain named Frisian rulers (see
Rulers of Frisia). This Frisia was partly conquered by vikings in the 840s, who were expelled between 885 and 920. It has also been suggested that the vikings did not conquer Frisia, but settled in certain parts (such as the island Wieringen) where they built simple forts and cooperated and traded with the native Frisians. One of their leaders was
Godfried, Duke of Friesland.
Loss of territory
Frisians made
polders in
West Friesland, which moved further and further away from
Friesland due to floods. The western part of Frisia became the county of
Holland in 1101 after a few centuries of a different history than the other parts. Frisia began to identify itself as a country with free folk in the
Middle Ages. The
bishopric of Utrecht did not belong to this Frisia anymore. There were many floods in the 11th and 12th centuries, which led to the deaths of many, and the forming of the
Zuiderzee. The largest flood was in 1322.
Opstalboom League
The free Frisians (actually petty noblemen) and the city of
Groningen founded the Opstalboom League to counter feudalism. It consisted of modern
Friesland,
Groningen,
East Frisia and the
German North Sea coast and parts of the
Danish North Sea coast. But the Opstalboom league did not only consist of Frisians. The area Zevenwouden was Saxon and the city of
Groningen as well. Some Frisians lived under the rule of the counts of
Holland in
West Friesland. The Opstalboom League was not a success. It collapsed after a few years because of continuous internal strife.
15th century
The 15th century saw the end of the free Frisians. The city of
Groningen started to dominate
Groningen. A petty nobleman in
East Frisia managed to defeat the other petty noblemen and became count of East Frisia. The
archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg and the
king of Denmark conquered large areas of Frisia. Only
Friesland remained for the Frisian Freedom. Friesland was conquered in the 1490s by duke Albert of Saxony-Meissen. Later, the giant
Pier Gerlofs Donia would fight for his countries freedom handling his 2,15 meter long sword. He had many sucesses and was undefeated, but didn't succeed in getting Frisia independent; he, nonetheless bestowed himself the title ''
King of the Frisians''. He finally died in 1520, as a poor farmer.
Frisian territories
★
West Friesland remained a part of
Holland and became a part of
North Holland around
1800. The current region of
West Friesland is smaller than historical West Friesland and there is also an official constitutional region (samenwerkingsregio) of West Friesland for coast protection, the police, and agriculture.
★
Friesland got its independence back (with constitutionalized farmer representation) in
1581 and gave it up for good in
1795. It is now a Dutch province.
★
East Frisia became a part of the
Kingdom of Prussia and was formerly a district of the federal state of
Lower Saxony in the
Federal Republic of Germany.
★
Groningen has been a province of the Netherlands since the 16th century.
★
North Frisia was a part of the Danish duchy of
Schleswig (also: ''
South Jutland'') and belongs now to the German state of
Schleswig-Holstein.
★ The Frisian islands off the coast of the Netherlands and Germany are the leftover dunes of flooded lands.
Flag
Although the Frisian regions have their own separate flags, Frisia did not have a flag of its own until September 2006. The flag for united Frisia was made by the
group of Auwerk, which supports a united Frisia as an official country.
As you can see, the flag has been inspired by the Scandinavic cross, like in the Norse and Icelandic flag. The four
pompeblêden refer to the seven pompeblêden on the
West-Frisian flag, but the amount of four means the four separated frisian regions.
See also
★
Frisian Islands
★
German Bight
★
Wadden Sea
★
Jutland
★
Frisian language
★
Frisians
★
Eala Freya Fresena
★
Frise
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