Many of the families of northern Ripley and southwestern Franklin counties came from northern Germany, roughly along a line between Bremen and Osnabrueck in what was once the old Kingdom of Hannover and the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg.
The religious and cultural history of the people of northern Germany has much to do with the religious affiliation and values of the people of the Batesville area. The north German Saxons were Christianized 1200 years ago. They speak a dialect of German, somewhat akin to English, called Plattdeutsch or "Low German" from the lowlands of "Lower Saxony".
These north German people were the descendants of the Saxon tribesmen who were Christianized in Germany in 785 by Charlemagn after many years of warfare between the Saxons and the Franks. Their culture was not the commonly portrayed, light-hearted Bavarian "gemuetlicheit", but the more frugal and austere culture of northern Germany with its Gothic architecture, Biedermeier furniture, and diet which relied heavily on potatoes, cabbage,and pork-based dishes like "knipp" (similar to goetta).
These north German families had a common heritage, a similar history, and a culture which goes back to the Middle Ages. To understand why they left, and what they brought to Indiana as their cultural and religious heritage, we need to find out more about the history of the area where these German immigrants originated.
The year 1985 marked the 1200th anniversary of the Christianization of the Saxon tribesmen who populated northwestern Germany. Prior to the year 785 A.D. the Saxons were a people who worshipped the old German gods such as Odin(Wotan), Donar(Thor), and Freyja-for whom our Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are named.
The Saxons were constantly at war with the Christianized Franks. In the year 785, Karl the Great(Charlemagne), the Christian leader of the Franks and Widukind, the heathen leader of the Saxons, finally made peace. Widukind was paptized, and the Saxon people were converted to Christianity.
Upon conversion, the Saxons were required to take the following oath; "I renounce the devil and all the devil's ilk and all the devil's works and words. And I renounce....Donar and Odin and Saxnot and all the demons who are their companions. I believe in God the Almighty Father. I believe in Christ, the Son of God. I believe in the Holy Spirit".
Until then, the Saxons, like many of the German tribes, had remained outside the Christion Church and outside the Roman Empire,even in the heydays of the Ceasars. The Roman legions had been badly beaten in the year 9 A.D. in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest close to present day Osnabrueck. As a result, Roman influence did not extend much beyond the Danube or the Rhine Rivers, and northwestern Germany retained its ancient relogion and political indepence until the days of Charlemagne and its Germanic language and culture until the present day.