Battle on the Raxa

Battle on the Raxa

Recknitz Damgarten
Date16 October 955
Location
uncertain, probably on the Recknitz or Elde rivers
Result German victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Germany
Rani
Obotrites, Veleti, and allied Slavs
Commanders and leaders
Otto I of Germany Nako
Stoigniew  Executed
Casualties and losses
700 prisoners executed

The Battle on the Raxa river (‹See Tfd›German: Schlacht an der Raxa) was fought on 16 October 955 over control of the Billung march (in present-day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northeast Germany) between the forces of Otto I of Germany allied with the Rani tribe on one side, and the Obotrite federation under Nako and his brother Stoigniew (Stoinef, Stoinneg, Stoinegin, Ztoignav) with their allied and tributary Slav neighbours on the other. The Raxa river is identified with either the Recknitz or the Elde river. The German victory over the Slavs followed up on the August victory at the Lechfeld over the Magyars and marked the high point of Otto's reign.