[F]ast nichts mehr als den blossen Nahmen erhalten?

Die Hanse im Spiegel enzyklopädischer Werke und Handbuchliteratur des 18. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

For a long time, scholars dated the end of the Hanseatic League in the late 17th century. However, more recent suggestions argue that the cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck acted economically and politically together until the 18th century. A meaningful approach to this field of research is the study of the contemporaries’ knowledge and perception of the Hanseatic League, a so far neglected area of research. An important key, therefore, is the examination of German-language encyclopaedias and handbooks as representing the most relevant media mediators and collections of knowledge at that time. The analysis of these sources shows that for the writers of the 18th century, the Hanseatic League was less regarded as a vital economic and political power and more as a historical phenomenon. They perceived it as a relic of glorious times long past with only the prestigious title of the three Hanseatic core cities remaining.