Person:Ernst Kreyenhagen (2)

See data on his grandson, for details.

Ernst was probably a resident of Kalkriese, Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrueck. In circa 1804, Napoleon terminated the 600 year old country, and it went through a succession of rulers until 1815, when the "Congress of Vienna", created the new Kingdom of Hannover, that lasted until 1866.

As of this date (2020), we have 330 years of continuing history of this family, which then has another 400 years of fragmentary history, back to 1200 AD.

Briefly, prior to the 1200s, the area had a complicated history. In 9 AD three legions of Roman troops, were passing through the Kalkriese area, which included the future Kreyenhagen Estate. Contrary to most history, the few people living in the area at the time, were NOT SAXONS! According to the writer P. Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote the only history of the area at the time (circa 100 AD) the only people living in the area were people of the Germanic tribe, the "CHERUSCI" (a Roman word). There is no German history of this time. Tacitus writes that the Roman commander (a Cherusci prince) of one column of allied Cherusci troops, turned on the Roman troops, in a pre-planned attack, and along with other Germanic tribes, swarmed out of the swamps and annihilated the Roman soldiers.

The Romans returned in circa 15 AD, and took revenge on the few remaining people. For 800 years there was no other written history of the area. However we know from other history, that SAXONS, from southern Denmark, began moving into the area as early as 400 AD, and expanded their holdings. We know that Charlemagne fought with these fierce pagan Saxons, and sometime after 800 AD Christianized them.

In the period of 919 to 1125 AD, Osnabrueck was first written about when Duke Henry of Saxony, had a son "Otto the Great", who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome, in 962 AD, and created the so called "First Reich", thus bringing almost all of Europe under his control.

His empire did not last long, and Saxony became a duchy, and the area around Osnabrueck (including Kalkriese) became a part of the small country of "Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrueck", which existed for 600 years, until Napoleon.

--White Creek 22:36, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Robert Aldenhagen of Columbus, Indiana.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Tom Drake of Cincinnati, Ohio.