Die 'Siegel' des Hansischen Geschichtsvereins von 1871 und 1942/43

Abstract

Since its inception in 1871, the Hanseatic History Association (Hansischer Geschichtsverein) has used two different ‘seals’ or logos in its publications. While both reflect different conceptions of the Hanse, both were attuned precisely to the political climate, making a politically charged statement about what ‘the’ Hanse ‘really’ was (or, seen retrospectively, should have been). In both cases, the Reich, symbolized by a double-headed eagle, was the central iconographic element. In 1871 as in 1942 / 43, the iconography of the seal was conceived to communicate the Association’s ambition to contribute to the ‘rediscovery of the Hanseatic spirit’ and thus to catapult the historical Hanse (as well as the scholars who studied it) to prominence on the contemporary scene. The revision of the seal after 1941 was motivated by the desires of prominent Hanseatic historians to harness Hanseatic scholarship to the propaganda juggernaut of the Nazi period.