News

There is always something going on in THE HANSA!
Here you will find news from the Union of Cities and its almost 200 Hanseatic member cities.

Kamper Kogge in Visby (c) Lodge York for Europe
14.07.2025

Kamper Kogge is back home

On 10 May, the Kamper Kogge set sail to take part in the 45th International Hanseatic Day in Visby, Sweden. Exactly two months after its departure, the Kamper Kogge is now back in Kampen. This means that the replica of a medieval Hanseatic ship from the 14th century has successfully completed its longest voyage to date, travelling more than 1000 nautical miles in its wake.

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HanseLinks Buchvorstellung in Lübeck (c) Hanselinks-Projekt
3.07.2025

Second volume of "HanseLinks" presented in Lübeck

On 30 June, pupils from Lübeck and Stade presented the second volume of HanseLinks, which was created in collaboration with young people from several European Hanseatic cities. The event took place in the Beichthaus, which is part of the European Hansemuseum and provided an atmospheric setting for the stories from the Hanseatic era.

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DSC_1902 (c) Region Gotland
14.06.2025

This was the Hanseatic Day in Visby!

For four days, everything revolved around culture, history, music and art from the Hanseatic cities in the medieval old town of Visby. On Thursday evening, the Hanseatic Day traditionally began with a large city parade and was then officially opened by Mayor Meit Fohlin and HANSA President Jan Lindenau. The opening event was rounded off in style with an ABBA cover show.

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DSC_3487 (c) Region Gotland
23.06.2025

New HANSA Presidium and new Guild Chairs elected

As part of the 45th International Hanseatic Day in Visby on June 7, the new Presidium of the Union of Cities THE HANSA was elected. The Assembly of Delegates unanimously elected Christof Bartsch (Brilon), Inger Harlevi (Visby), Vineta Pūce (Valmiera) and Peter Snijders (Zwolle) to the Presidium. An election was also on the agenda at the meeting of the HANSA Guild. 

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Wijnand Akkerman
4.06.2025

Guild member Wijnand Akkerman appointed a Knight

On May 28th Wijnand Akkerman from Zwolle (The Netherlands) received the royal decoration of Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau from mayor Peter Snijders. Wijnand Akkerman has been active in the fields of cultural heritage, tourism and carnival for over forty years. As a born and bred Zwolle resident, he is dedicated to his city and the Hanseatic idea.

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