Our unit does what is called "first-person interpretation". We create characters that are typical of the people we are reenacting and use those characters to relate to patrons on a one-on-one level. For the length of our encampment (usually a weekend) we eat the foods they did, dress as they did and live as they did.
Reenactors are a link to our past. We keep the memory of the men, women and children who lived in our period alive. We help keep the skills they used daily from being forgotten. We try to inspire in today's people a love and understanding of history, and of those people who lived and died to bring us to where we are today.
At events where we can set our own timeline, it is the current date, 1529. Our Fähnlein marched out of Rome in late February, and is now headed north through the Alps, toward Austria. The Turks are once again threatening the eastern edge of the Empire, and the call has gone out for soldiers to defend it. The encampment that visitors see at events is the small advance party of our Captain, his bodyguards, and some of his officers. Accompanied by their families and support staff, they are traveling ahead of the main body of the unit to scout the situation and negotiate for a good contract in Austria.
Their major weapons were the pike (the techniques of which were appropriated from the Swiss, who copied the ancient Romans), the halberd, the Zweihänder (a large sword) and the Katzbalger (a small sword). By teaching these tactics to peasants, Landsknechts changed the face of modern warfare and ended the era of the mounted knight.
Like most armies of the time, the Landsknecht soldiers were accompanied into the field by women and children, who followed the baggage train. Unlike most armies of the time, the majority of these women and children were the families of the soldiers, and not prostitutes. These women left their homes and families to follow their men, in order to seek their livelihoods and provide the soldiers with what comforts they could.
Your name is wrong because. . .How we decided on the format:Most company names in period were taken from colors or from the captain's name, or both, i.e. Geyers Schwarze Haufen, Das Schwarze Fähnlein, Das Rote Fähnlein, Das Witwen Fähnlein des Haarlems, etc. Our unit, like the other reenactment units that we know, portrays an archetypical Landsknecht Fähnlein, rather than one that actually existed. There simply isn't enough specific documentation (that we can get - I'm sure the groups in Germany have access to stuff we only dream about) to enable us to recreate an actual company as it existed. Most of the Fähnleins here in the US have adopted naming conventions based on descriptive or inspirational terms. Now, I certainly wouldn't want to argue German grammar with a native speaker; I studied it in High School and College, but it's been a few years since my last class. I do, however, want to explain to the procedures we went through when we picked our name. All the historical names we could find were "das <etwas> Fahnlein" or "das Fahnlein <jemands>". We decided to model ours on the pattern "the <something> company" because it had historical precedent, fit with the pattern of what the other American Landsknecht units were doing, and would be the least strange to our audience's ears. Our unit name is taken from an old French saying "the lansquenet (sic) thrown out of paradise cannot get into hell because he would make the Devil afraid". We took "Nightmare of the Devil" (Alpdrücken des Teufels) turned it around into an adjectival noun (Devil's Nightmare/TeufelsAlpdrücken) and used it to modify "the company" (das Fähnlein). This is similar to the formats used by the other units in the US: Das Schwarze Fähnlein (Northern California), Das Kriegshunde Fähnlein (Southern California), Der Sonnen von Kreig (Pennsylvania), Der Ritterlich Fähnlein (Old Southern California), and us (Maryland). The Pennsylvania group knows their name translates to the "Suns of War", rather than the "Sons of War", and the old Southern California group had quite a lot of people tell them that it's "das" Fähnlein, not "der" Fähnlein, but we all picked our names based on what we thought we knew at the time. Now, to address points specific points, Shouldn't your name be DES Teufels? (and other Grammar questions)But if we're using "TeufelsAlpdrücken" as an adjective to modify the noun "Fähnlein", wouldn't the article agree with the noun, when used in the nominative case, and be "das"? When I say I'm the company's head campfollower, I use "die Hauptfrau des TeufelsAlpdrücken Fähnleins", since the noun, "Hauptfrau" is in the nominative, and the phrase is in the genitive, and "des" agrees with "Fähnleins" - "head campfollower of the company". When you say "Das Fähnlein is dort druben", "das Fähnlein" is the subject, and "das" is in the nominative. When you add an adjective, "das grosse Fähnlein ist dort druben", the case of "das Fähnlein" doesn't change. (Hmmm - well maybe we should be das TeufelsAlpdrücken_e_ Fähnlein, at that. Precise declination of adjectives never was my strong suit. . .)Fähnlein means little flag, not regiment, and where did you get Alpdrücken? Shouldn't it be Alptraum?Fähnlein is the correct 16th century military term for company, even though we like to call ourselves a "regiment" in English, because it sounds a little more impressive. "Alpdrücken" is a fine old fashioned word, that surprisingly few Germans know anymore. It is listed in numerous dictionaries, including Langenscheidt's, das Duden, and most conveniently, LEO's which you can find here: LEO English/German Dictionary Look up "nightmare", and you'll find not only Alpdrücken, but Albdrücken, Albtraum, Alptraum, and even Nachtmahr. Alpdrücken is the older word, with wonderful connotations of being pressed by the dream, which is just one of the reasons we use it, even though more than one native German speaker has come up to us at events, insisting that it should be "Alptraum". Of course, there was also this delightful older gentleman who not only commended us for "Alpdrücken", but positively loved it when one of the soldiers referred to a campfollower as "Schnukiputzi". (please don't mind my spelling on that one.)Your name doesn't make sense in German, it's confusing!"You should make it something like: dies Fähnlein ist des teufels Alpdrücken, or Fähnlein von des teufels Alpdrücken, or just des teufels alpdrucken - leaving out the Fähnlein. This is the confusing bit. Every German will assume that THIS COMPANY obviously is the devil's nightmare, but as soon as you add it to the name, it gets confusing."I agree, it is difficult to express this in German. We did throw quite a few phrases and words around when we were settling on a name. We wanted to stick with something relatively brief, and your first example is more of a complete sentence. We did come up with "Das Fähnlein des TeufelsAlpdrücken", but that doesn't fit the pattern of the historical examples, and is a bit unwieldy. Leaving it as just "Des TeufelsAlpdrücken" gives a feeling of incompleteness - "of the Devil's Nightmare" . . it's like a joke where you're waiting for the punchline. So, in the end, we settled on our modified adjectival noun phrase. Now the battle is teaching everyone to SPELL it! :) |
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The Pope in 1529 is Clement VII, also a Knight of Rhodes and Grand Prior of Capua, (formerly Guilio de Medici) (1478 - 1534).
For more information on the historical figures of the early 16th century, please see Important Historical People of Our Time.