The treatise points out that the early mediaeval societies in the area of Eastern Alps following the incorporation of the local Slavs into the Frankish-Ottonian Empire cannot be conceived in the simplified form of national historical narratives, according to which the upper classes were represented by »Germans«, whereas »Slovenes« were confined merely to serfdom. On the contrary, the then-current historical processes cannot be described or understood by means of terms such as exclusion, submission, degradation; considerably more complex social processes were involved in which key positions were also held by integration, acculturation and accommodation.