The waters of the North and Baltic Seas were once ruled by the mighty galleons of the Hanseatic League. On our PONANT and Smithsonian Journeys voyage, you will travel aboard a luxury small ship, set sail between Norway and Scotland, and listen as experts share their expertise.
Throughout 12th-century Europe, artisans and merchants formed guilds under which their trades and crafts were united. But their reach was limited and their power largely restricted to their own regions. As maritime trade grew, so did opportunities for growth far beyond a merchant’s or tradesman’s borders. But the prospect of seafaring commerce brought dangers: piracy, banditry, and even conflict on the seas with competing economic interests.
To shield against these risks, several North German towns formed a loosely organized group that rallied around a set of rules and bylaws that, ultimately, were designed to encourage economic growth and interdependence. Their influence spread and, by the late 1200s, the group had blossomed into a powerful political organization committed to its members’ collective prosperity and to eliminating piracy on the high seas.
And thus, the Hanseatic League had been born. It would go on to become what many today still call the most successful trade alliance in history. The PONANT and Smithsonian Journeys alliance allows you to sail in the wake of the Hanseatic League’s fascinating influence during our Scottish Isles and Norwegian Fjords Voyage, sailing in 2023 and 2024. Read on to see what you’ll learn from the Smithsonian Journeys experts that accompany each cruise.
Sail the trade routes of the Hanseatic League during your luxury small-ship cruise
At its peak in the 14th century, the Hanseatic League had a monopoly on maritime trade in the North Sea and deep into the Baltic. Its membership included 37 of the most powerful towns and cities in Northern Europe. As trade became more robust, industry followed. Fabrics and silks were churned out in factories. Etching, wood carving, armor and metal production, and wood-turning all increased in volume – so much so in Northern Germany that the region experienced a Renaissance long before the rest of Europe.
In England, Norway, Flanders, and Russia, the global operation of this financial and operational juggernaut was run by kontors, or offices. Russian fur trade, Scandinavian fish trade, Flemish wool trade, and much more unfolded under the careful eye of these kontors. Leaders of the league negotiated trading privileges for member cities, drew up navigational charts, kept piracy in check, and even waged war when necessary.
By the late 1600s, socio-political and cultural shifts, as well as a growing competition among mercantile groups, culminated in the dissolution of the Hanseatic League.
Bergen: A Powerful Trade City
Bergen, once the capital of the Kingdom of Norway, was one of the hubs of the Hanseatic League. Today, this charming port city – featured as the embarkation or disembarkation port on our itinerary – is steeped in mercantile history. Merchants from Northern Germany founded the kontor here and set up a dried cod export operation. This single product is credited with catapulting Bergen into one of Northern Europe’s largest trading centers. Hanseatic merchants set up exclusive trading rights with fishermen from the north.
The wharf-side district of Bryggen, where quays once bustled with workers offloading ships and merchants scurrying about counting crates of goods, has been beautifully preserved, lined with gabled wooden guild houses of rusty red and ochre hues. The Wooden City, as it is known, boasts inviting artisan workshops that recall its industrious past.
Bergen’s historical importance and the glimpse it provides into the nascent days of organized maritime trade cannot be overstated. For centuries, this was one of Northern Europe’s major cogs of commerce. The Bryggen stands alone as the only post of the Hanseatic League whose buildings still stand in the city limits. Its layout – shoulder-to-shoulder buildings standing at attention on narrow streets parallel to the dock – was once common in many Hanseatic cities. About 60 of the structures remain today.
Beyond Bergen to the British Isles
Follow the trade routes of the Hanseatic League, and you’ll get a sense of how far-reaching their powers were. Trade extended far into the Baltic Sea all the way to Russia. But it also stretched west to the United Kingdom. In fact, ships laden down with goods once set a course for nine English ports and one port on mainland Scotland – the city of Leith, just north of Edinburgh. What’s more, one of the league’s kontors was in London.
The Shetland Islands were also home to a substantial Hansa community. On the Mainland Island, the towns of Brae, Lunna Wick, and Scalloway enjoyed membership privileges of the league, while in the coastal village of Gunnister, archaeologists have recently unearthed a Hanseatic trading site dating to the early 1600s.
We hope you’ll join us on this PONANT and Smithsonian Journeys voyage that sails in the wake of the Hanseatic League.