What started as a network between German merchants developed into an impressive league of cities that for several centuries kept power and control over trade and markets related to the Baltic Sea. The HANSE is a unique medieval network of cities that revived in 1980. The Hanse could be seen as a medieval forerunner to the European Union. Today you can experience the spirit of the Hanse as a cultural and living community of numerous cities in the places of the “new Hanse”!