Hanseatic Day in Riga / Latvia

Hanseatic cities in 16 countries

19-22 August 2021

UPDATE! Riga will host Hanseatic Day 2021 as a hybrid event

Due to the ongoing pandemic the 41st International Hanseatic Day will take place in a hybrid format with a number of online and local components. The theme of the event is "Sailing through the centuries". Read more.

194 cities in 16 countries

The Hanseatic League

The first organized economic interest group, which has significantly influenced trade, business and politics in Northern Europe for over 400 years. Who were the allies at that time? You will find an overview of all cities, localities and trade contacts here.

To the hanseatic cities

Ehm Aussenansicht Nah Quer Thomas Radbruch

Hansemuseum Lübeck

A great success

When Low German merchants from Soest, Münster, Groningen and Lübeck moored on the banks of the river Neva in 1193 they did not know that they were among the founders of a powerful association, which became known from the 14th century onwards as the „Dudesche Hense“.

11th Russian Hanseatic Day in Veliky Ustyug

03. June 2021

On 23-25 July, the 11th Russian Hanseatic Day will be celebrated in Veliky Ustyug under the theme "Conserving the past, shaping the future!". The event coincides with the traditional town festival and the Prokopius market. Prokopius was a hanseatic merchant who came from Lübeck to Russia in the second half of the 13th century.

The Hanseatic League

From the Middle Ages to modern times

The "Artlenburger Privilege" of 1161, exhibited by Henry the Lion to pacify Dutch merchants and Gotland rivals, can be regarded as a predecessor of the Hanseatic League. In the mid-thirteenth century, North German seafaring merchants joined together to form the Hanseatic League as a way to pursue their shared economic interests. Throughout the North Sea and Baltic Sea region, up to 200 towns and cities were members of the League, as were several large trading houses.

The Hanseatic League, 400 years of trading power
For over 400 years, the Hanseatic League played a major role in shaping economies, trade and politics in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The long-distance trade makes important Hanseatic cities prosperous at this time, and makes up a self-confident merchant team. The hanseatic days were established from 1356 onwards.

The downfall of the Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League lost its importance in a creeping process from the middle of the fifteenth century until 1669, where the last hanseatic day took place.

The new Hanseatic League was created in 1980
Today, the Hanseatic League has been brought back to life. The “new” Hanseatic League was revived in 1980 in Zwolle, and set itself the task of keeping alive the spirit of the League as a social and cultural alliance.

The hanseatic days of the modern era as a feast of cultures
By cultivating traditions and encouraging a vibrant exchange between its members, especially in the hanseatic days of modern times, the Hanseatic League aims to bring about closer economic, cultural, social and national ties across Europe.