Ulfingers: Alamanni in Late Antiquity and the dawn of the Migration Period

Reenactment, Living History, Historical Recreation: which name to chose, the Ulfingers are a group of men, women, children, who have joined in the hobby of displaying an Alamannic kin in the time around 400 A.D., trying to create a living picture as convincing and complete as possible. The Alamanni were a germanic tribe, first mentioned in the early 3rd century. A people who moved from the area around the Elbe River to the South-West of nowadays Germany and stayed ther during the Migration Period until they came under the rule of the Frankish Merovings in the 6th century.

Please, let me introduce the Ulfingers to you on the following pages.

The beginning of our group was in late autumn 1999: Thomas Gamio asked for other Alamanni in the online forum “Tempus-Vivit!” That’s where he and Stefan Deuble virtually met. Furthermore it lead to contacts to the Austrian group “Ulfhednar Alamannia”. A real life meeting followed quickly: Thomas and Stefan made an appointment for a dark age woodcutter camp, felled a couple of trees by authentic means, temperatures below - 15° C, and watched their beers freezing besides the bonfire.

Spring of the year 2000 they travelled together to a huge medieval fair, the “Freienfelser Ritterspiele”, where Stefan showed old handcraft, producing axe handles and wooden stools. Two weeks later he showed the same handcraft on the “Montfort Market” in Feldkirch, Austria. That is, where the contact to the Ulfhednar Alamannia became real, further meetings followed, true friendship grew. Autumn 2000 Stefan adopted the name “Ulfwin”, i.e. “wolf-friend” which was taken as a sign of the mutual relationship with the “Ulfhednars.”

During the next two years, Ulfwin still worked as early medieval woodwright at many events, always collecting adresses of other Alamanni, a rare species at the fairs. Thomas joined him as often as possible, but also journeyed by himself and made Alamannic contacts on his own. The dream of a great gathering of the Alamanni was already born.

In the end of the year 2002 loomed a different egagement, in an other time, which became real in 2003: an appearance as warrior on horseback, with Thomas as horse-runner, the man who runs beside the galloping horse, letting himself been drawn towards the enemy. This happened in the Kalkriese Museum, the place where the Teutoburg Battle probably took place. This was the moment of Ulfwins promotion, thanks to Hrappur, Ulfwins most famous Iceland Pony. The rider became Chieftain, the horserunner took over the role as his Chieftains liegeman. Ulfwins new title was the “Hunno”, roughly translated “Leader of one Hundred.” Because of the fact of leading only one person, he was more an “Uno” than a “Hunno” for quite a long time. Dank der Ein-Mann-Gefolgschaft war es allerdings lange ein “Uno”. Further on the group’s name “Ulfinger” (men of Ulfwin) was born. The step from pair to group was done by Gabi, Stefans friend.

The three Ulfingers got another engagement in the same year, at the Roman villa rustica in Regensburg-Burgweinting, time of goodbye to woodchopping medieval fairs was near.

In 2004, the year of the first international Alamannic gathering, the Alamannic Allthing, the Ulfingers throve:  Armin Letsch joined them with all his family. Then they made friends with Dieter Vogel-Brenner, his wife and children, who since then keep accompanying the Ulfingers to almost every event. Autumn 2004 Hermine Mueller found her way into the group.

Spring 2005: the Ulfingers founded their eternal fame in the Alamannic world with the organisation of the Third International Allthing: finally all the adresses and contacts, that had been collected during the last four years, all the scatterde Alamanni were invited, the Gatherings,two years ago initiated by the Austrian Ulfhednar, grew to an undreamt of extent by Ulfingers’ sociableness. At the price of the former Allthings’ familiarity a new scene has emerged, the Alamannic one, within early medieval reenactors’s scene.

Autumn of the same year: Ulfingers made their first stage performance at the “Roemerbadfest” in Huefingen, proving themselves apt impromptu actors, since then a well liked specialty of the group.

In time before the 2006 season entered Jessica, Sebastian and Sebastian. In order to add wear and gear in suficient quality to all that growth, the winter 2005/2006 was a series of crafting workshops, pottery was made and fired, clothes were sewn, spinning, weaving and dyeing were tought.Armin and Stefan, the two skilled wood craftsmen, produced furniture.

Thus strengthened by numbers and tackle 2006 could come. Not too many events besides the two Allthings, some days of help construting the Pit Cabin of our Austrian friends. And, given, a year of group dynamic processes. Nevertheless the group did not break. In the opposite, Jessica’s brother Janosh joined in September.

Season 2007 was a bit lame, the Hunno was blamed for having done too little.

Spurred by this criticism, the Hunno agreed to many more engagements. The group seemed to have grown out of the beginning’s difficulties. The number and specialties of the events lead to temporary exhaustion, but in general it was one highlight after the other, and the common play obvously is great fun for everbody.