The Romans were present in the area just to the north of Gresten by the time of Christ. The area settled by them was along the south shore of the Danube River. At Gresten, the Danube is only about 15 miles north, but the extent of the Roman province Norikum, east and west, is not clear. The earliest positive evidence bearing on the presence of Romans at Gresten is the discovery of two coins with the Emperors Gallienus (260 AD) and Valentianus (364 AD). Even these might have been lost by transients. Since the natural state of Gresten is hilly and forested, the level and better lands along the Danube were probably favored over Gresten.
After the demise of the Roman Empire, successions of foreign people moved into Lower Austria (the lands along the Danube) from the north and the south. During the 6th century, the Slavs occupied the region. Many of the geographical names in Lower Austria, along the Danube, can be traced to Slavic words. Gresten defies being identified with a Slavic word, but it is thought to have a Slavic origin. Earlier forms of the name include Grostain, Grosten, and Groesten. Whatever the spelling, the early references are always to a region, not to a specific locality.
The Avars, from the east, conquered the Slavs. Their dominion extended to the border of Germany, at the Enns River. Emperor Charlemagne crushed the Avars in a series of campaigns around 800. Following this, the Bavarians settled in Lower Austria. With the Bavarians, Christianity was restored to the region after being introduced by the Romans. The Emperor created the Dukedom of Austria in 1156, but this was in name only initially. Many of the minor entities maintained their independence. The first written record mentioning Gresten can be dated to this time.
Government, in general, followed the principle of vassalage. The rulers of the country received their properties and titles from the Emperor. The rulers gave properties, while reserving some for themselves, to noble families as fiefs. They in turn subdivided their properties into farmer's fiefs. A fief has the inheritable right to the land, but does not technically own the land. The feudal tenant or vassal had to pay taxes in annual payments of money or goods. They often also had to supply labor, horses, and oxen as required. In this hierarchy, the lessor noble families usually lived on their land, near to the farms they were supervising.
The Hungarians were temporally in control of the Dukedom, but they resisted the Emperor, who overthrew them. The Emperor was Count Rudolph of Habsburg. With the victory of the Count, the Habsburg Reich came into being. The other powerful influence in the area was the church. In 1295, the Abbey of Mondsee owned one-third of Gresten.
What this means is that I should count a few Romans, Slavs, Avars, and Bavarians among my ancestors.
(Elke Hall helped me in writing this material which is based on a book by Otto Seefried.)
(24 Jun 00)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.