Editing Widukind (section)

==Later perception==

===Medieval===
Since the 9th century, Widukind had been idolized as a mythical hero. Around 1100, a tomb for him was made in [[Enger]]; recent{{when|date=October 2018}} excavations have found that the contents of the tomb are indeed early medieval, but are the remains of a young woman. In 1971, archaeologists discovered three graves in a prominent place in front of the altar. The remains of three men who had died in the early 9th century, two of them about sixty-year-old warriors, the third a young man, were identified after a DNA analysis in 2002 as  half-brothers or maternal cousins and a nephew. The man buried in front of the altar is assumed to be Widukind.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bild-der-wissenschaft.de/bdw/bdwlive/heftarchiv/index2.php?object_id=10100192 |title=Results (summary) of genetical analysis of the skeletons |access-date=2016-03-08 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305054434/http://www.bild-der-wissenschaft.de/bdw/bdwlive/heftarchiv/index2.php?object_id=10100192 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  When in the 10th century Saxon kings (of the [[Ottonian]] dynasty) replaced the Frankish kings in [[East Francia]] (the later [[Holy Roman Empire]]), these kings proudly claimed descent from Widukind: [[Matilda of Ringelheim|Matilda]], the wife of [[Henry I the Fowler|King Henry I]], was apparently a great-great-great-granddaughter of Widukind. The [[House of Billung]], to which several Dukes of Saxony belonged, had Matilda's sister among its ancestors and thus also claimed descent from Widukind. The Italian family [[Del Carretto (disambiguation)|Del Carretto]] (and its supposed French branch, family [[Charette (disambiguation)|de Charette]]) also claimed to descend from the hero.

===In German nationalism===
Widukind became a hero for [[German nationalism|German nationalists]] in the early 20th century. German neo-pagans saw him as an heroic defender of Germany's traditional beliefs and their [[Germanic deities|gods]], resisting the Middle Eastern religion of Christianity. Christian nationalists also lauded him, linking Charlemagne with the humiliation of French domination after [[World War I]], especially the occupation of the Rhineland, portraying Charlemagne as a "French" invader.<ref name = "glen">Glen W. Gadberry, "An 'Ancient German Rediscovered' The Nazi Widukind Plays of Forster and Kiß", ''Essays on Twentieth-Century German Drama and Theater: An American Reception, 1977-1999'', pp.156-163.</ref>

After the [[Nazi Party]] came to power in 1933, so many plays and other works were written about Widukind that there were complaints that he was becoming a cliché. [[Alfred Rosenberg]] praised him as a hero of German freedom, who finally joined with the founder of the German Reich (Charlemagne). Two important plays about the Saxon leader were produced in 1934, ''Der Sieger'' by [[Friedrich Forster]] and ''Wittekind'' by [[Edmund Kiss]]. The first celebrated the conversion of Widukind, but the second caused controversy because of its explicit anti-Christian message. In that play after the [[massacre of Verden]], Saxon leaders say, "That is what the Christians have done; they feign love, but bring murder!"—a line that led to protests from the audience.<ref name = "glen"/> The play portrays Catholic church leaders planning to destroy German freedom by forcing racial mixture on them, thus turning them into pliable "''[[Untermensch]]en''". Thousands of German maidens are captured and will be forced to mate with "Jews and Moors" unless Widukind converts, which he does only to avoid this horrifying prospect. He gives a speech saying that the survival of the German race was his principal concern, and that future generations will praise him for this when the true spirit of the German people arises once more.<ref name = "glen"/>

===Present===
Many buildings are named after him in the area of [[Enger]], including the [[Widukind-Gymnasium Enger]].