To a modern person, unless by occupation he is associated with the study of antiquities, the name of the city of Retra does not say anything at all. However, in the Middle Ages, this city was as famous as the island of Ruyan (or Rügen).
German chroniclers Titmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold from Bosau wrote about the ancient city of Retra. According to their testimony, Retra was a sacred place - the main pagan temple of the Polabian Slavs was located in it.
Place of prayers and hymns
The people who rebuilt Retru were called Redaria, or ratars. The Chronicler of the XII century, using now lost texts, wrote that Varins, Rissiners, through the Pennyans and other Vendian tribes coexisted with the Redarians (ratars). The Ratari tribe was considered the most powerful among the Polabians. They were great warriors. However, all the Vendians had to be like that - they lived surrounded by the Teutons. Moreover, their relationship with Christianity in some way did not work out. More precisely, the Vendians managed to be Christians, but returned to paganism. The reason for the return to the old faith was the resentment of one of the Vendian princes against the emperor of the Holy Roman (German) Empire. Since then, the German emperors have tried to return lost souls to the fold of the correct church. In those days it was done with fire and sword.
Titmar von Walbeck, Bishop of Merseburg, who lived at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century and is the author of the chronicle, which covered the period from 919 to 1018, told how in 955 under Otto I the imperial troops destroyed Retra and removed the statues of the Slavic gods from it, cast in solid gold. The emperor called this merciless plunder a fight against paganism. It is no coincidence that he presented the golden idols to the Brandenburg bishop. However, as soon as the imperial troops moved away from the ashes, Retra was restored. Judging by the later chronicles, the next attempt to sweep paganism off the face of the earth turned out to be more successful: Henry the Lion in the XII century destroyed the Slavic sanctuary so that there was nothing to restore. And on the site of Retra, the Teutonic fortress Prilvits was erected.
Medieval evidence
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Adam Bremensky, a chronicler of the 11th century, wrote from the words of travelers who visited Retra that the city stands in the middle of a deep lake on nine hills, it is surrounded by high walls and has nine gates. You can get to Retra only by a wooden bridge. Retra itself is considered in the Slavic world the center of idolatry; there is a majestic temple in it. The main god of the Slavs is called Radigost, his idol lies on a purple bed and is cast in pure gold.
Titmar of Merseburg found a pagan center still functioning. He himself was not in Retra, but he wrote down other people's stories in detail, and these were eyewitness accounts. The center of the city, according to Titmar, was a temple. The whole city was created for the sake of the temple. The high walls did not protect the inhabitants, but the sanctuary. Titmar called Retru Ridegost - after the same main Slavic god. He described the city as triangular and with three gates: two gates are open to all pilgrims, and the third, the smallest, go out to the terrible-looking waters of the sea. According to legend, a huge boar with white fangs covered with foam comes out of these waters during a danger or rebellion and begins to roll in the mud. The sanctuary itself rests on the horns of animals, and the walls are painted with images of pagan goddesses and gods. Inside the sanctuary there are idols dressed in helmets and armor, each idol engraved with his name. The main god of the Slavs is Svarozhich. Around him are banners that were taken out of the temple only during the war, and only foot soldiers are allowed to do this. The priests take care of the idols. They also serve as intermediaries between idols and believers. If someone wants to get advice in an important matter, the priest digs a hole, throws lots there, tears it with green turf, sticks two pointed spears crosswise into the ground, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.which were taken out of the temple only during the war, and it is allowed to do this only on foot soldiers. The priests take care of the idols. They also serve as intermediaries between idols and believers. If someone wants to get advice in an important matter, the priest digs a hole, throws lots there, tears it with green turf, sticks two pointed spears crosswise into the ground, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.which were taken out of the temple only during the war, and it is allowed to do this only on foot soldiers. The priests take care of the idols. They also serve as intermediaries between idols and believers. If someone wants to get advice in an important matter, the priest digs a hole, throws lots there, tears it with green turf, sticks two pointed spears crosswise into the ground, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears. The priests take care of the idols. They also serve as intermediaries between idols and believers. If someone wants to get advice in an important matter, the priest digs a hole, throws lots there, tears it with green turf, sticks two pointed spears crosswise into the ground, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears. The priests take care of the idols. They also serve as intermediaries between idols and believers. If someone wants to get advice in an important matter, the priest digs a hole, throws lots there, tears it with green turf, sticks two pointed spears crosswise into the ground, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.sticks two pointed spears into the ground crosswise, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.sticks two pointed spears into the ground crosswise, then they lead the horse between them and see what sign falls out. If the signs of the first fortune-telling (the cast of lots) and the second (the behavior of the sacred horse) coincide, then the fortune-telling is considered successful. If the signs do not match, then the fortune-telling is considered unsuccessful. Going to war and returning from war, the Slavs bring sacrifice to their gods. What kind of sacrifice, the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.the priests find out, leading the sacred horse between the crossed spears.
As you can see, the descriptions of the two chroniclers do not match. Adam's Retra stands in the middle of the lake and has nine gates. At Titmar - on the seashore, has three gates and is called Ridegost (a distorted name of the god Radegast). However, we are talking about the same city. Its location is practically known today. It was located on Lake Tollensee near the town of Prilwitz. Initially, the city stood on nine hills, and on the smallest, tenth island, there was a sanctuary. After the destruction at the time of Otgon I, it was possible to restore buildings only on three hills. On one of them, apparently, a new sanctuary was built. The city as such was no longer there, and the idol of Radegast was not gold, but wooden.
Idols of Prilvice Hill
In the 18th century, when in the whole of Germany there were no lutichs, no cheers, no Wends, and the Slavic names of towns and villages smoothly turned into German (Lipsk became Leipzig, Stargorod - Stargard, Mikulin Bor - Mecklenburg, etc.), land Councilor von Bredow found an altar on three metal legs and several burial urns on the castle hill by Lake Tollensee. The finds have been identified as encouraging antiquities. And later it became known that a local pastor Friedrich Sponholz accidentally dug up many amazing antiquities on the shore of the lake on the northern slope of the same mountain almost a century ago. The pastoral find was much richer: two cauldrons, stacked one on top of the other, and inside there were many figurines of pagan idols made of an alloy of gold, silver, copper and zinc, with inscriptions in a language that the pastor did not recognize. All the figurines were covered with a greenish patina, and many had significant damage from fire. The pastor also got a bunch of all sorts of iron utensils. After Sponholz's death, the treasure passed to his widow, who immediately sold part of the utensils and cauldrons. Jeweler Pelke has melted antiquities. But the figures found by the pastor have survived. The heirs showed them to scientists. From that moment on, the history of the idols from Prilwitz began. At first, the find was received with delight. How! So many ancient bowls, wands, trays, ritual knives! And also a bell, a saber, a bunch of grapes, a hand, a throne of the gods … 46 ancient idols with inscriptions - this was a real sensation of the 18th century. However, the enthusiasm quickly dwindled. Idols were suddenly recognized as fake. Only a few specialists came out in their defense. During this time, some of the figures disappeared,from them only engravings, made by order of their new owner, and detailed descriptions in scientific publications remained.
What alerted archaeologists of the 18th century? First of all, the names of the gods. If they did not object to Radegast and Perkunust, then Asri, Ziba, Water, Podaga, Tsibog, Cernebokg, Nemiza, Tsislbog, Ipabog caused rejection. The scientists did not like the castings either. One Radegast, who was described as a young man with a laughing face, was here depicted with a large belly, an impressive genital organ and a very elderly physiognomy. The other was in Vendian clothing, middle-aged and equipped with a lion's head. I did not like the inscriptions themselves. What can "pif", "dats", "sal", "gul", "lun", "tsat", asiub "," bile "," sil "," enden "mean? What are these objects that Mash called “columns with three (six, eight, etc.) heads” of the gods? What are Zigzga and Qudii? Some kind of hellish mix of Scandinavian, Germanic, Slavic and antique elements. And when one reputable scientist called the find a fake, the others joined his opinion. So the figures from Retra were outlawed.
Nikolay Kotomkin