808 - King Godfred captured Reric

Reric was captured by king Godfred

Germany
King Godfred declared that the Obrotrites had crossed the Danish border and then his viking army moved into Mecklenburg supported by the Veleti. The rich town Reric(Now Gross Ström-kendorf) was captured. Reric was vital for the growing transit trade in the North Sea region.

After the capture of Reric, Frankish imperial annals told :"Before the Danish king Godfred returned to his kingdom with the loot(Which the Danes had robbed from the Obrotrites), he destroyed Reric which had delivered him a great tax income, Godfred took the traders with him and sailed to Sliesthorp".On their way back the Danes were attacked by a Frankish army led by Carl, the son of Charlemagne. The Danish heir to the throne Reginald died in the hard struggle battling the Franks.

Since 1995 archaeologists under the leadership of Hauke Jöns, University of Kiel has made excavations near Gross Ström-kendorf, and they found out that the Frankish storytellers had lied, the town could not have been totally destroyed when Thrasco should meet the Danes there a year
after. Archaeologists did not find any signs of warfare and destruction, if the Danes had attacked Reric, the archaeologists would have found arrows and burned down houses.

The Obrotrite capital Reric

An excavation of a viking ship

Hauke Jöns revealed that what happened was a planned deportation, Godfred took artisans and traders to Sliesthorp to strengthen his own area, and then destroyed the trading power of Reric.

It was amateur archaeologists that discovered the first items. they where supported by the growth of trees, which suggested that a town was placed there.

The excavation started with a lot of pictures being taken of the place from the air. Then the area was split into fields 10 x 10 m and then systematically searched with metal detectors. The discovery of many iron riveter witnessed that it were Scandinavian viking ship, because the Slavs only used tree rivets. They also found that some of the dead were buried in shapes formed as a boat graves, a custom only used by
Scandinavian vikings, they also found Frankish,Frisian, Saxon graves and the majority of the graves was 50 Slav urns.

The discovery of 900 boat riveter suggested that a viking shipyard was present and also discoveries of melted glass and glass pearls, that probably a Frankish glass works was present in the town and also 3000 pieces of amber was found, which proofs a large ornament production.

The buildings in Reric were build systematic. The house were build parallel in rows. This indicate that a central government of the town with rules about the placement of the houses. Many of the houses in Reric had their own well, and the wells gave archaeologists important information, because the wells were framed with wood, and this wood showed that the wells were build 722-811.

Charlemagne ordered a strengthening and reconstruction of the castle at Hamburg. As a defense against Slavic and Viking intrusions