Lüneburg lies on the Ilmenau River, a tributary of the Elbe, and in an area rich in salt deposts. Henry the Lion granted city status in 1189 and with it the monopoly for the extraction of salt in northern Germany. The salt was in demand for preserving Baltic fish, and Lüneburg prospered, becoming an early member of the Hansa. The Salzstraße was originally an overland route but the Stecknitz Canal was opened in 1398, allowing transport by Kogge.
The Rathaus (1405) and the figure of Roland in Bremen were awarded Unesco WHS status in 2004. Roland was a figure of chivalric literature in mediæval Europe and in Germany became a defiant symbol of the independence of the growing cities and their prosperity through trade.
An earlier wooden Roland existed in Bremen but was burnt in 1366; the stone figure (5.5m tall) was erected in 1404. Roland is made of limestone, and in his younger days he was more colourfully painted; and his head is now a replica, with the original reposing in the Focke Museum.
Bremen also has a few odd customs.
Bremen, a port city on the Weser, was a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire with long-standing trade links with Norway, England and the Netherlands. Bremen had a long but uneasy relationship with the Hansa, with four separate periods of membership (1260 to 1285, 1358 to 1427, 1438 to 1563 and 1576 to 1669) and many points of conflict with the other members.
Koggen (cog ships, the workhorses of the Hansa) were built at Bremen, though the Weser was not always navigable for Koggen and cargoes sometimes had to be unloaded to other vessels. In 1560 the Bremen fleet comprised some 65 vessels. A well-preserved Bremen Kogge from 1380 was found in 1962 and joined the collection of the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum in Bremerhaven.
See also Der Bremer Roland. Thanks again to Claus for these splendid cards.
Hamelin, which grew up on the banks of the Weser around a monastery founded c850, was a late and minor member of the Hansa from 1426 to 1572. It is of course much better known for the famous story of the Pied Piper, which is said to have happened (in some form or other) on 26 June 1284.
The Hansestadt Lüneburg was built on the salt trade, as the “white gold” was mined nearby; salt was a fundamental commodity of the Hansa trade as it was needed to preserve the fish traded all over the Baltic. The Old Salt Route led from Lüneburg to Lübeck, crossing the Elbe at Launenburg (top left picture). From 1398 the Stecknitz Canal, between the Elbe and the Trave rivers passing via Mölln (bottom right), facilitated transport by water to Lübeck. The canal was replaced in 1900 by the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, which followed a similar route. (Thanks again to Claus).
Two historic churches in Stade, St Wilhadi (13th-14th century) and St Cosmae (13th-17th century), both substantially rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1659. See more about the churches here, and also the other Stade cards.
Stade was incorporated as a town in 1209 and was a founding and prominent member of the Hansa until the 17th century. It came under Swedish rule from 1645 to 1712, serving as the capital of the Swedish province of Bremen-Verden-Wildeshausen. In 1659 a fire destroyed 60% of the city. Thanks to Claus for these very suitable cards.
Erfurt was an important ecclesiastical and university town in Thuringia, under control of the Archbishops of Mainz, but in the 13th and 14th centuries power gradually passed from the archbishops to the town council, and an alliance was formed with Nordhausen and Mühlhausen; all three joined the Goslar union within the Hanse in 1481.
Göttingen was established as a town in the 12th century, on trade routes on the Leine river, and grew in economic importance over the next century. The textile industry, in both linen and wool, was most important, and, having forged links with Lübeck, Frankfurt am Main and the Netherlands, it was invited to join the Hanseatic League in 1351. Göttingen maintained a distance from the League, however, only becoming a full member in 1426, and withdrawing in 1572.
The old town is an island in the river Trave; it’s the biggest German port on the Baltic. See also the other cards.
Wismar, a small Baltic port 45km from Lübeck, was one of the original members of the Hansa, having entered into partnership with Lübeck, Hamburg, Stralsund and Rostock in 1259. Wismar, together with Stralsund, is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The Elbe River rises on the Czech-Polish border and flows north-westwards to debouch at Cuxhaven, 100km downriver from Hamburg. Its navigable stretches were a key transport route for the Hansestädte along its route, and along its tributaries.
Initially established as a tiny fishing village on Leine river, at the crossing of two trade routes, Hanover was made a borough in 1241 and by the end of the 14th century was prospering as a merchant town and a member of the Hanse. At the time the population was about 4000.
Hamburg was one of the founding members of the Hansa, and its trade alliance with Lübeck in 1241 formed the core of the League. Trade naturally centred around the harbour, which lay on the trade routes of the North and Baltic Seas and also provided access via the Elbe river to the towns and villages of the interior, including the Altmarkt.
The harbour is now the second largest in Europe (after Rotterdam – not a Hansestadt!). The Hafengeburtstag is celebrated every year; in 2009 it will be 810 years old, and the party is 8-10 May.
Lübeck, the Queen of the Hansa, was where it all started. Prior to the establishment of the League, Saxon traders used the city as a base for their trade to Scandinavia and the Eastern Baltic. Lübeck formed an alliance in 1241 with Hamburg and later with Cologne, challenged Scandinavian dominance of the Baltic, established colonies in England, Livonia and Russia, and became the dominant city of the League, hosting the first General Diet of the Hansa in 1356.
These splendid cards came from Rainer. The first, of the Holstentor, is Torsten Krüger; the others, by Thomas Radbruch, are of Mengestraße, Wahmstraße, Puppenbrücke and Glandorpshof.
Stralsund, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and on the Stralesund (the Baltic sound between the mainland and the island of Rügen), was a rival to Lübeck and became a Hansestadt in 1293. According to Wikipedia there were 300 ships sailing out of Stralsund in the 14th century.
Stralsund and Wismar joined the UNESCO list of world heritage sites in 2002. The website is here.
The cards are from Sabine:
Filed under: germany | Tags: gardelegen, havelberg, osterburg, salzwedel, seehausen, stendal, tangermünde, werben
An official postcrossing card (DE-245181) from Kai… eight with one blow. The Altmark is a rural district north of Magdeburg in the Bundesland Sachsen-Anhalt. It’s bounded by the Elbe which flows to Hamburg.
Salzwedel, Osterburg, Seehausen, Havelberg, Werben, Gardelegen, Stendal and Tangermuende. Thank you Kai!
