Hanseatic Cities Hansastädte

Bremen

Hamburg

Lübeck

About the Hanseatic Cities

The Hanseatic Crosses

Links

About the Hanseatic Cities The Hanseatic League was a medieval merchant's league which brough together a number (at one time around 100) of European cities, primarily centered around the Baltic Sea. It was at the height of its power in the 14th and 15th century. The League, never a strong alliance due to trade rivalries among its own members and external threats, was already in decline when the Thirty Years' War devastated many of its member cities. Lübeck was the oldest member of the League. It had received its status as an independent city, directly under the Holy Roman Emperor, in 1226 - a status it would maintain until 1937. As Lübeck's power grew, Hamburg formed an alliance with it in 1241, which is considered to be the founding of the League. The first assembly of the League, the Hansatag, took place in Lübeck in 1358, and the last there in 1669. Bremen joined the League in 1358 but was expelled in 1427. Hamburg received its status as a Free Imperial City in 1510 and Bremen in 1646. All three cities were badly damaged in the Napoleonic Wars. Lübeck led a campaign to regain past glory, and Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck each declared itself a "Free and Hanseatic City" when they joined the German Confederation in 1815 (Frankfurt, the only other free city of the new Confederation, was never a Hanseatic City). In 1866 they joined the new, Prussian-led North German Confederation and became member states of the German Empire in 1871. The three cities each contributed a contingent to the Imperial German Army. In the regular army in 1914 were the following units: Infanterie-Regiment Bremen (1. Hanseatisches) Nr.75 - Bremen Infanterie-Regiment Hamburg (2. Hanseatisches) Nr.76 - Hamburg Infanterie-Regiment Lübeck (3. Hanseatisches) Nr.162 - Lübeck 1./Schleswig-Holsteinisches Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr.9 - Bremen In addition, given their size, the three cities would contribute a large number of reserve and other forces to the war effort in World War One. Hamburg alone lost 40,000 soldiers in the war.

The Hanseatic Crosses Hanseatenkreuze

The Senates of the three Hanseatic Cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck made a joint decision to create a decoration for bravery and war merit. The decoration, known as the Hanseatic Cross, was authorized by Lübeck on August 21, 1915, by Hamburg on September 10, 1915 and by Bremen on September 14, 1915. It was awarded without regard to rank and came in a single class. The design for the three cities was the same - the only differences were the center medallions, which carried the coat of arms of the respective cities, and the ribbons. The decorations were originally intended to reward members of the cities' troop contingents and the crews of the SMS Bremen, SMS Hamburg and SMS Lübeck. It could also be awarded for service on the home front. During the course of the war, the criteria were relaxed, and many were awarded to soldiers and sailors with no direct connection to any of the cities or their units. According to Klietmann, Bremen awarded 20,018 crosses and Hamburg awarded some 50,000. The numbers for Lübeck are unknown, but the city was (and is) much smaller than the other two, and its cross is less commonly seen. Neal O'Connor "guesstimated" about 10,000, which does not seem unreasonable.