Baden History: Difference between revisions

The earliest inhabitants of the area, from approximately the 4th century BC, were Celtic tribes. Although these tribes left little in the way of influence, one of them gave their name to a by-name of Switzerland, the Helvetii. By the 2nd century BC, Germanic tribes moved into the area, as did the Romans, who included the area of Baden in their province of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germania_Superior Germania Superior]. The name Baden, however, does not appear at this time. Conflict between the Romans and Germanic tribes raged for centuries, causing the Romans to build a defensive barrier at the outermost limits of the Empire. This construction, known as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limes_Germanicus Limes Germanicus] (Latin for ‘limit’), stretched from the Danube to the Rhine and included almost all of Baden. The Germans of this time were loosely confederated groups at best, and sometimes totally independent of each other. One such confederacy was that of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamanni Allemanni], which has given its name to Germany in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. However, it seems that the people called themselves ''Suevi ''or ''Suebi ''(cf. Schwaben). Ultimately, the Allemanni thoroughly germanized the area and only place names from the Celts and Romans survive.