The Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea between the 13th and 17th century.
At it´s height,there were almost 200 sea- and midland cities in the Hanseatic League. This alliance was not only economically but politically and culturally important. This league was a first class political/military power which was able to fight victorious battles without an own sovereignty or royal position. This was important in protecting the mercant fleet from piracy.
There is no exact foundation date for the Hanseatic League, but it was mentioned in construction documents of luebeck in 1159. A German merchant´s alliance was mentioned in a London document in 1156.
The loss of power of the Hanseatic League started when the territoral forces gained strength. Another reason for the loss of power was the discovery of America. 1441 the Hanse had to accept the economical equality of the Netherlands. The Dutch also allied with Denmark. The final downfall started with the closing of the “Peterhof” in Nowgorod, which was destroyed during the conquest of Nowgorod by Iwan III of Russia. The Norwegian Hanse office in Bergen was sold to the Steelyard (German: “Stahlhof”) in London in 1775.
Luebeck and Hamburg worked closely together in the time of the Hanseatic League. While Hamburg covered the North Sea and western Europe Luebeck covered the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia. The trading between Luebeck and Hamburg was generally done over land, but also with barges via the Stecknitz-Canal.