The Hanseatic League and Bremen

The Hanseatic League was a strong trading association that existed from the 1200s to the late 1600s. It was Henry the Lion, a 12th century Saxon Duke that began the Hanseatic League. Henry organized several towns along the Baltic Sea and North Sea coasts to enhance trade in the area. Initially, in 1210, an agreement between Lubeck and Hamburg was made to establish common law for trading purposes. That alliance grew to include more towns and communities in the region. The growth turned into the Hanseatic League. The League agreed that the member towns would join together to aid each other, especially when sailing and in merchant endeavors. The purpose of the league was to boost their economies. The need for support and aide was due to Vikings and pirates that dominated the waters. The Hanseatic League, or Hansa, or German Hanse, as it is sometimes called, even developed their own legal system. Initially, the cities were exclusively German but grew to become an international alliance. Cities that were members of the Hanseatic League were Lubeck, Hamburg, Cologne, Osnabruck, Goslar, Erfurt, Berlin, Frankfurt, Oder, Rostock, Stade, Wismar, Bremen, Brugge, London, and Novgorod. The league gained economic growth from tradingfoods such as herring and grain, as well as commercial products such as wood, flax, tar, or wax for salt, which was needed on the coast for preserving fish. It became one of the most influential international trading organizations in Europe. 

Bremen is a port city in Northern Germany that is located along the Weser River. Bremen officially joined the Hanseatic League in the 1300s, but had Hanseatic League privileges before that. I have read several conflicting things on the start of the Hanseatic League, and not even scholars from the different cities agree on the official date. However, Bremen had officially joined by 1358, which is the same year as the first Hanseatic Day, but Bremen was a part of the league unofficially before that. Bremen was a solid part of the league for over 500 years. It was in 1669 when only nine members attended the last formal meeting. Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen were present and remained as members until its demise in 1862.After the demise, Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubeck retained the title of Hanseatic cities and reformed the new Hanseatic league in the 1900s. 

Many sources I found while doing my literature review about Bremen and Bremen’s involvement during the Hanseatic League time period comment on how few scholarly papers have been written on the subject. There seems to be no consensus among historians for the Hanseatic League, either. Several references indicate that the time period and activities during that time were poorly documented and there is little to solidify even the slightest speculations of the era. In fact, one of the most often expressed features of the Hanseatic League was its secrecy. It appears that the discrepancies are from how the region gained wealth. Historically, wealth came from power from political parties or from the church. The Hanseatic League was possibly the first organization to see regional economic growth due to an alliance of merchants.Nonetheless, it was an important time in history because many beautiful towns were built and prospered due to the alliance of the merchant league. 

Research shows that Bremen had a shipyard that was known for making Cogs. Cogs were large cargo ships used by merchants during the medieval era. They had large square sails and were used mainly as ocean going vessels. It is not clear as to whether the term cog is specific to the shape of the vessel or to all cargo ships at that time. The Bremen Cog is from a shipwreck in the Weser River that was discovered in the 1960s. It was a fairly intact Cog, which made it a valuable archeological find. It had a lot of local timber as well as timber from farther away. The local timber was used when there did not need to be too much quality control. The farther away timber was timber that was used in important structural components of the ship and had to be of good, uniform quality. This discovery was significant in helping to figure out what the local trade was like in the Hanseatic League. It is difficult to find what specifically Bremen did for the League other than build boats. There is evidence that Bremen had strong, successful merchants because it was always a solid member in the league. In most Hanseatic cities, the successful merchants were highly regarded and were elected onto city councils and given other positions of importance. Even today, Bremen still has a number of grand mercantile houses that were built by the wealthy Hanseatic traders. City streets such as Hanseatenhof in the city center also make reference to the league.

One product Bremen became known for in the later part of the Hanseatic era is coffee. Bremen was, and still is, the coffee roasting capital of Germany. The Bremen coffee tradition began with a Dutchman named Jan Jahns von Huisten. He introduced the drink to the city in 1673 when Bremen city council granted him permission to open the first public coffee house in Germany. Since then, coffee has become a daily staple for almost all Germans. Even today, there is a strong chance that any coffee consumed in Germany has beans or ground coffee that came through Bremen. Most likely, all other coffee drunk between the North Sea and the Alps has its origins in Bremen. In 1903, Ludwig Roselius was the first person in the world to invent decaffeinated coffee. He invented the decaffeination process on the banks of the Weser River in Bremen. He discovered this when he lost a freight of coffee and it accidently became soaked in seawater and lost most of its caffeine but did not lose its taste. Roselius also founded Kaffee HAG, Europe’s first coffee factory. Bremen’s port became a key location for the transshipment of beans from overseas. 

The best way to show the impact Bremen had on the Hanseatic League is to tour around the city and view the buildings, streets, and harbor. Cities that were important to the Hansa and the success of the Hanseatic League had to have money to ensure prosperity. The evidence of Bremen’s medieval prosperity lies in the architecture of the city. Even though Bremen suffered devastating damage during WWII, many building survived. 

Today, the city market square provides the most noticeable evidence of Bremen’s affiliation with the Hanseatic League. I have been able to tour the historic area and walk through the city market a few times. I also was able to take a walking tour with a guide one afternoon to allow me to soak in more details while I listened to the guide tell about the history and the structures. 

In the city market square stands the stone statue of Roland and the Town Hall. The old town hall was built in the Gothic style in the early 15thcentury, after Bremen joined the Hanseatic League. The City Hall is also known as the Town Hall. The large brick building’s construction was finished in 1410 and has maintained its original gothic architecture shown with the numerous archways, soaring spires, and carved figures. The steep green roof really makes the building stand out. Inside the building, there are high ceilings with dark wood paneling and beams. Another feature that demonstrates the significance Bremen had with the Hanseatic League era is the large elegant banquet and reception hall. It is 40 meters long, 13 meters wide, and 8 meters high. On the wall is a large painting of the Judgement of Solomon, which dates back to 1537. The building was renovated in the 17th century, and a new city hall was built nearby in the early 20thcentury. Significant importance relating to the history of the building and the city is that during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, Bremen had extensive autonomy. During that time period, the town grew and prospered which made the city hall a center of power during the Hansa era. Unlike most powerful European cities, “the town hall was expressly built for the use of the City Council. The architecture and the sculptures do not only carry strong references to the imperial and Episcopal foundations of the city, but at the same time underline the policies of self-government, which had been chosen by the Council. The construction of the Town Hall demonstrated grown self-confidence of the city council and its civic claim to power.” This is evident with the large council room inside the Town Hall. This also gives credit to how important Bremen was to the League, an organization run by merchants and the people, not by a monarchy or by the church. Even though Bremen experienced devastating bombing during WWII, both the old and new city halls survived and left the old town hall as the only European town hall of the late Middle Ages that has never been destroyed. It is considered the most important example of brick gothic architecture in Europe today. 

Also in the City Market Square is the figure of Roland. The statue is a global symbol of freedom and of the trading rights bestowed upon the merchants of the times. The Roland statue is a statue of a knight with a drawn sword, signifying the town privileges of a medieval city. Bremen’s Roland is shown as protector of the city: his legendary sword is unsheathed, and his shield is decorated with the two-headed Imperial eagle. Bremen’s Roland is one of the oldest of the many Roland statues throughout Europe. It dates back to the year of 1404,stands 5.5 m (18 ft.) high, and is also considered the most splendid of all Rolands. 

Bremen is very proud of their 600-year-old town hall. In 2004 the Town Hall and the Roland became a UNESCO World Heritage site. UNESCO's justification for its inscription praised Bremen’s town hall and the Roland statue as "an outstanding ensemble, which bears an exceptional testimony to civic autonomy and sovereignty, as these developed in the Holy Roman Empire." The report also expressly acknowledged the town hall as an "outstanding example of the Weser Renaissance architectural style in northern Germany".

In the basement of the Town Hall is the world famous Ratskeller. It is famous because it is home to some of the oldest wines in the world. In fact, Germany’s oldest casks of wines are kept in Bremen’s Ratskeller. The casts are well protected from light and air and continue maturing undisturbed. The room is only lit by candlelight. It really felt like an old wine cellar as I walked through the dimly lit hallway with the smell of damp earth. When I looked above my head in the cask room, there was a distinguished rose painted on the ceiling. That is when the guide said we were in the heart of the cellar. Directly beneath the rose painting is the rose cask containing a vintage Rüdesheim wine from 1653. It is the oldest cask of wines in Germany. Also, the Bremer Ratskeller was home to one of the oldest wines in the world. The Apostelwein 1727 is from the famous “12 Apostles’” cellar. The wine is from 12 barrels of wine in vintages 1683, 1717, and 1727. Due to evaporation through the years, there was only one barrel left in the 1960s. At that time, the remaining barrel was bottled. Today, the most expensive bottle of the Apostelwein belongs to the Graycliff hotel in Nassau. It is valued at $200,000 and is one of the most rare wines in the world. It is still considered drinkable because of its high sugar content.  

At the end of the Market Square is the Bremen Cathedral. The Cathedral was mostly built as a medieval building. However, the finishing parts of the building are done in the Romanesque style. Around Bremen, the Cathedral is known as St. Petri Dom but has the official name of St. Peter’s Cathedral. It dates from the 11th-century, with additions being made in the 13th and 16th centuries. The cathedral has a large Rosetta stained glass in the center and twin towers that stand 98 meters tall. Inside the cathedral, is a staircase that goes up one of the towers. I walked up to the top of one of the massive towers and then down to the basement of the cathedral where there are crypts and tombs that houses several mummified nobles, bishops and archbishops. 

The Archbishops had much clout prior to and during the medieval era. It is even reported the Archbishop from Bremen had much to do with settling Greenland and encouraging trade in the area to and from Greenland. Much of the trade was initiated prior to the beginning of the Hanseatic League. However, there are few documents to solidify the significance of the relationship. The result of the trade brought by the Archbishop helped build the beautiful St. Peter’s Cathedral. Even today, St Peter's is one of the largest historic brick structures in Europe. Unfortunately, it has too many stone structures to be considered Brick Gothic. 

West of the Market Square is the Langenstraße. It is a historically significant street in Bremen. It was first mentioned in 1234 and is one of Bremen's oldest streets and one of the most important for the city's merchants. One building of importance there is the Stadtwaage. It is a former weigh house, where every trader had to have his goods weighed and then was levied taxes. The Weser Renaissance style brick building was originallydesigned and built by Lüder von Bentheim between 1586 and 1588 and is a good example of Weser Renaissance architecture.It was almost destroyed in 1944, but the city reconstructed it in 1960 to maintain the original façade and gable. However today, the reconstructed building now contains a modern building, which is home to the Günter Grass Foundation and the German Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Bremen.

Back to the market place but moving towards the Weser from the market square is a 100-meter street called Bottcherstrasse. At the entrance to that street is theseat of Bremen's chamber of commerce, the Schütting. Before it was the Chamber of Commerce, it was the merchants’ guildhall. It was built in the Flemish Renaissance style in the 1530s.

Speculation is that the term Schutting comes from another word that means “pour together”. Stories told from years ago gives an image of merchants gathering together to do business and pour their money into one pot. Tying the city back to the port and commerce, the Schütting was home to the first coffee house in the German-speaking world, like I said before. It gained its license in 1673, which makes Bremen the first German town where it was legal to serve coffee. Also on Böttcherstraße is the Roselius-House, which displays the private collection of the coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius.

One of the most fun and significant leftovers from the Hanseatic era is a very popular festival known as the Freimarkt. The first “Free Fair” was held in 1035 but Bremen was first permitted to hold a regular Freimarkt in 1318. It began as a merchants’ market but through time was transformed into a fun-filled festival. Currently, it has more than four million visitors each year and is considered to be the biggest festival in Northern Germany. The celebration is held for 17 days during the last two weeks of October in the central part of Bremen.

Another area of Bremen that I was able to enjoy, in relation to the Hanseatic era, was the Schnoor alley. In this area, I was easily able to get the feeling of what it was like to walk around the street of Bremen during the Medieval Era and the Hansa era. It is a collection of narrow lanes that is home to the oldest and quaintest neighborhood in Bremen. Even today, it still maintains its medieval character. The Schnoor alleys have many pretty timber-frame houses from the 1400s and 1500s. The neighborhood gets its name from the workshops where rigging was manufactured for ships. Today, the area is home to restaurants, galleries, and handcraft stores.

The Hanseatic League was a powerful entity that would even sometimes wage wars on its competitors throughout its reign. Even through times of war and shifts in trading powers, Bremen stayed solid in its alliance with the Hanseatic League. It was very common for strong merchants to send family members out to other countries to help promote their business. By sending family members out and gaining good relations with the other countries, Bremen created a strong family network. This helped promote intensive trading and gave Bremen a solid foothold when trading interest began to shift toward other markets. Many of the family members married into other strong merchant families and that too helped to create good trading relationship. As time passed, countries began to peel out of the Hanseatic League. The last Hanseatic League conference was held in 1669 when onlynine members attended. In 1862, only Lubeck, Hamburg, and Bremen remained members until the end of the era, which was 1862. The one trait that the three cities took with them was the Hanseatic merchant culture. It is a European commercial culture based on respectability, reputation, and trust, which is still valued today in the mercantile world.