The Macedonians in German Atlas from 1926

 

In his work on the peoples of Europe by the German ethnologist Dr. Richard Karutz, published in 1926, the Macedonians were already listed as an independent people alongside Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs. Let's take a look in his work.

Richard Karutz (born November 2, 1867 in Stralsund, Germany; died February 10, 1945 in Dresden) was a German ENT doctor and ethnologist. Peter Staudenmeier classifies him as a "leading anthroposophical author on questions of races" with openly anti-Semitic writings, according to Wikipedia as an introduction.

He discovered his interest in ethnology on his trips abroad as a ship's doctor, and in Lübeck he began to study ethnology.

As a military doctor, Karutz experienced military service in the First World War. In 1920, after the war, he met Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy (science for understanding nature, spirit and human development). He turned to his teaching and tried to use his ethnological work anthroposophically with ethnosophical approaches.

In the Third Reich, his relevant writings were banned, despite the similar presumed use of terminology, and his writings were also ignored in ethnology. To date, only his pre-throposophical works have been recognized by specialist science. In the 1920s he taught at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Canton Solothurn in Switzerland until he moved to Dresden in 1938 for his children, where he died on February 10, 1945.

The Macedonians

In his work "Völker Europas" (People of Europe) he also describes the Macedonians. So on page 104 we read this description. Under the heading "The Macedonians" first comes the explanation or description for the pictures on the following page:

1. Konak in Alaklisse. 2. Shepherd's hut made of mud and straw in Campania, the lowlands north of Salonika. 3. Fortified Manor in Palalitza. 4. Farmer's wife at the loom in Skopje. 5. Farm near Skopje. 6. Bagpipes. 7. Baking bell. 8. Magical Medicine. 9/10. votives. 11. Cotton cleaner (technical sheet). 12. Riding donkey. 13. Pottery kiln near Skopje. 14. Armchair. 15. Plowing farmer. 16. Branding irons for branding the sheep. 17. Incense pot. 18. Clay lid for the brazier to keep the heat; on top comes a pot or coffee pot.

Karutz states the following as picture sources:

• No. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 in the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg. No. 13, 16, 17 in the Ethnographic Museum in Dresden.
• No. 4, 5, 12, 13, 16 are photographs of the senior general physician Dr. Hansen in Lübeck.

Below the picture is the translation of the description of the Macedonians by Dr. Richard Karutz.

The Macedonians

In the lowlands between Albania, Old Bulgaria and Greece, the old Macedonia, an incessant peaceful and warlike movement of peoples produced the racial mixture of today's Macedonians, of which the Indo-European Thracians form the basis. Romans joined them in antiquity, Slavs and Bulgarians in the Middle Ages, Turks and their Turkoman or Near Eastern followers, and finally Romanians, Greeks and the ethnically related Albanians. The areas of land on the coast and the swampy lowlands receive nomadic livestock farming, the fertile border zones deliver good yields, especially from grain crops that grow wheat and corn, but also allow southern crops such as rice, opium, and cotton. The shepherds build temporary round huts made of clay and straw, the field guards who guard the fields here, as in the whole Balkans, throughout the summer, beehive-shaped or tapered woven branch structures with thick bundles of straw, simple farmsteads also have a thatched roof on brick and clay walls The combination of wood, clay and bricks leads to two-story half-timbered buildings (Fig. 2), which contain stables and storerooms on the ground floor and apartments with verandas, bay windows, sink tables on the upper floor, and a flat roof made of bricks above them. The Albanian form of the square fortress tower occurs on larger manor houses (Fig. 3).

The interior shows the usual simple furnishings of Balkan dwellings, the semicircular chair in Figure 14 is reminiscent of Albanian forms, its horn-shaped supports of Turkish influence. The loom and the special bow used to clean wool and cotton (Fig. 11) probably came here from the Orient, although the latter is old European (cf. Plate Esten II). The baking bell in Figure 7, the bagpipes in Figure 6, the censer in Figure 17, the wooden plow in Figure 15, which the team of oxen driven by a spike (not a whip) pulls by means of a neck yoke, are generally Balkan. The riding donkey in Figure 12 points to the Orient. Pictures 8-9 are protective medicines for the horse's skull reminiscent of Kyrgyz traditions, cf. Volume I of this atlas, panel Kyrgyz I, picture 13 - which are based on the knowledge of spiritual forces, alive everywhere, effective in everything that is and beings, magical in good and bad Sense and will usable, based.

The description is continued on page 106, again first the description of the drawings on the following page:

• 1. Women and men from West Macedonia. 2. Woman from the area of Monastir (Bitola). 3. Shepherds from the foothills of the Rhodope Mountains.
• 4. Woman spinning out of hand. 5. Women from the Üsküb (Skopje) area. 6. Older women as spectators at the Horo dance.
• 7. Macedonian girl from Krustavo. 8. Two peasants from Glumovo near Skopje.

Photo source given by Karutz: No. 3, 6, 7 are photos of the senior general physician Dr. Hansen in Lübeck.

The continuation of the description.

The mixture of peoples in Macedonia is reflected in the clothing. In addition to old-Illyrian hemispherical caps, tight-fitting trousers and high-heeled shoes, there are Turk-Tatar headscarves and chin scarves and decorative necklaces, Slavic headscarves, Greek headscarves, Slavic embroidered shirts, and Turkish sleeveless jackets. In brightly colored socks, embroidered belts, and silver jewelry chains, there is a lot of color and variety. But the women's aprons bring the great attraction to the festive image of the Macedonian folk costume. In all widths and lengths, in wool, velvet and silk, simple and divided into front and back pieces, woven and embroidered, with striped patterns, in all colors bright and iridescent, they dominate fashion

Map shows Macedonians clearly separated from their neighbors

Karutz's work "People of Europe" also contains maps. A map of it is most interesting from a Macedonian point of view, and an important testimony.

Nowadays the Macedonians are still negated. The fact that political recognition as a separate, distinct people and nation was not achieved until World War II is advanced as an argument by such individuals. This card invalidates such a non-recognition of the Macedonians.

Modern Greeks have Slavic input and wear Albanian national dress

It is also interesting to take a look into the description of the modern Greeks in Karutz's work.

As the author states, the "Greek blood is fed by several sources". He first mentions the Slavs as an input in the modern Greek blood, as well as the Albanians and the Turks. Moreover, Karutz describes the Greek national dress as "originating from the Albanians".