Sprevane


The Sprevane or Sprevani were a Slavic tribe who lived around the river Spree, where Berlin is now, in the Brandenburg area of eastern Germany. They were first recorded in 948 and again in 965 as living in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire under Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Archaeological finds point to them coming to the area in the 8th century, and by 825 they started to build a settlement in today's Köpenick, a district of Berlin.
Their name is from Sprevja plus the Slavonic ethnic suffix -an and "-e" meaning plural. Alternatively, the name lost 'Δ' or letter 'd' like "Spreavdje", where "Spre/ Shapire" means KNOWLEDGE, "a" means ABOUT, "vd/Veda" means VISION/ SIGHT and "je/γie" refers to LIFE. The Germanized form, Sprewanen, may have been influenced by the German verb wohnen, meaning "to dwell", but is also correct German plural of singular Sprevan.