Family faith post AD 785

Visbek lies on the North German Plain, approximately 12 km to the north of Vechta.. The municipality consists of the village of Visbek itself, together with 19 surrounding hamlets (German)  Bauerschaften, viz   Vestrup, Bonrechten, Endel , Erlte, Hagstedt, Halter, Vestrup,  Bonrechtern, Endel, Erlte, Hagstedt, Halter, Varnhorn , Meyerhöfen, Hogenbögen, Norddöllen, Rechterfeld , Siedenbögen and Wöstendöllen .

Historical tradition dates back as far as to the late 8th century, Charlemagne fighting the battles for the pope, had finally defeated the Saxons , forced its chief Widekund to chose between receiving baptism into the Catholic faith or death by execution .                                   The then King after executing Mrs Widekund ,because she opposed the King forcing her in teenage  daughter to become another of the Kings mistresses ,banished Widekund to a monastery located along the Baltic coast .Thus the Saxons were converted to Christianity by force . Upon order of the Frankish king Charlemagne (later Emperor Charles the Great), the abbey of Visbek - then called "cellula fiscbechi",established by the King ,  under Abbot Gerbert Castus - played a major role in the Christianization of the newly conquered surrounding Saxon territories of Lerigau, Hasegau and Venkigau.

In 855 AD, King Louis the Pious allocated the Benedictine Abbey of Visbek in the shire of Lerigau, with its territories and possessions, to the Imperial Abbey of Corvey. On 17 October 872 our forefathers Evorhund, and his 4 sons,including son Alhard from whom we seem  to have taken our family name, were all neatly “transferred”  into the ownership of the abbott of Corvey without any reason other than “title” in them and all of their property  had been exchanged in return for eternal life to be attained  for Graf Walbert ,his spouse and his parents Wichbert and Odrad . There was nothing in this deal for the 5 Ahlers  family farmers .They were just the currency .

What do we know about Graf Walbert ? This gentleman surely pulled off the “deal of the century” , by taking credit for an order seemingly  made by King Louis the Pious . How much did Donald J Trump learn  from King Louis  when he wrote the “Art of the deal “ ?

The first centre of missionary efforts into the land of the Saxons was established circa A D 787 in the then prestigious Visbek .the ancient centre of civilisation in Northern Germany , the home  of the Ahlers family .It was from Visbek that missionary fervour outwards to convert the Saxons radiated throughout the Oldenburger Muensterland .

The Ahlers land was originally controlled by the abbey of Corvey . For the next 300 years Lower Saxony and the Oldenburger Muensterland were controlled by dukes and bishops vying for power .

In A D 1182 ,Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire stripped his cousin Henry the Lion of Saxony of the possession of the duchy of Saxony leading to its break up. The region came under the control of the prince bishops of  Muenster, Osnabrueck and Paderborn  The Arnsberg area was controlled by the Archbishop of Cologne .

In Oldenburg Muensterland farms were controlled , by the bishops of Muenster and Osnabrueck  ,Counts of Diepholz and various titled families.                                      

In the middle ages land was bought and sold and eventually some knights owned larger tracks of land and organised them into “Bauerschafts” . Bauerschaft Ahlers became self-sufficient in 1545 cutting its ties with Corvey Abbey after nearly 700 years of ownership of the Ahlers farm .

By 1517 when Martin Luther’s religious views were known the Catholic bishops lost control .Both Muenster and Osnabrueck eventually accepted the Lutheran faith and Lutheranism became the established church ..Priests were now free to marry and sermons were delivered in Platt Deutsch disharmony prevailed between areas controlled by Osnabrueck and Muenster .                                                     The area known as “Landkreiss Vechta” has remained as a predominantly Roman Catholic  enclave.Thus our Ahlers family ( from Landkreiss Vechta ) remained adherents of the Roman Catholic faith right up to the 21 st century .

This article has extensively borrowed from Fr David Hoying ‘s work ………………    “In Praise of our ancestors “