History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification
von Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
- #103 -2Geschichte
- #101beste Platzierung
- wöchentlichErscheinungsrhythmus
- 36 mintypische Länge
- 20. März 2025letzte Folge
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Ep. 128: The Teutonic Knights (1190-1525) - Season Opener - A Chivalric Order
Hello and welcome to a new season of the History of the Germans, the Teutonic Knights or to give them their full title, the knights of the hospital of St. Mary of the House of the Germans in Jerusalem. Even though the state they had created
The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - An Interview with Carsten Jahnke
Professor Carsten Jahnke, one of the leading historians on the Hanse has kindly granted us an interview where we discuss how the Hanse network functioned and how the perception of the Hanse has changed dramatically over the last 200 years,
Ep. 127: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - The Art and Culture of the Hanse
Our history of the Hanse has come to an end, not with a bang but with a whimper. Of the things that have remained we have already talked a lot, the ideal of the honourable Hanseatic merchant, the cultural and political links to Scandinavia
Ep. 126: A Brief History of Bremen
Bremen was geographically and politically quite different from the other cities, ploughing its own furrow. In response the other Hansards did not trust the citizens of Bremen. There is also the minor issue that Bremen sheltered a lot of pir
Ep. 125: The Rise of Hamburg in the 16th century and beyond
The last two episodes may have left you with a sense of gloom and foreboding about the great Hanseatic cities. But here is the counterintuitive fact, the Hanse may continuously loose political power and economic relevance, but the cities th
Ep. 124: The Hanseatic League - Decline and Fall (Part 2) - Jürgen Wullenwever's and Lübeck's last stand
1531-1535, a period of just 4 years is enough to capsize Lübeck’s position as the diplomatic heart of the Baltic Sea, general secretary of the Hanse, ally of both the king of Denmark and the king of Sweden and early member of the Schmalkald
Ep. 123: The Hanseatic League - Decline and Fall (Part 1)
1474-1531 was a time of immense change and upheaval for the Hanseatic League, and not just for them. The Habsburg empire is bedded into being, England’s war of the Roses is over, in the North the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth stretches all
Ep. 122: The Hanseatic League - 15th century Politics - Calamitous Victories
In 1435 the Hanse can look back at a string of successes. Another war with Denmark won, the patrician regime in Lübeck and elsewhere restored, conflicts with Burgundy and England settled in their favour. But as Winston Churchill once remark
Ep. 121: The Hanseatic League - 15th century Politics -A Constitutional Crisis
By the end of the 14th century the Hanse is at the top of its game. The Cologne Confederation had shown that they could act in unison if the need arises, can defeat the largest and best run kingdom in Scandinavia. And even the mighty duke o
Ep. 120: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - Economics - Money, Money, Money
This was supposed to be an episode where we talk about the challenges the Hanse was facing after the victory over the Danes and the Peace of Stralsund. But that is not to be. Listeners Mehmet and Nina pointed out a few gaps in what I had be
Ep. 119: The Hanseatic League - 14th century Politics -What is the Hanse?
That was the question king Edward IV asked the representatives of the Steelyard in 1469. And he had a good reason to ask, because tensions between the English and the Hansa had escalated, ships were captured, and people got killed. He wante
Ep. 118: The Hanseatic League - 14th century Politics -Pirates
In 1878 workmen building the Speicherstadt, the magnificent city of warehouses in the harbour of Hamburg made a gruesome discovery. In the mud of the Grasbrook, an island at the entrance of the medieval harbour of Hamburg emerged two piles
Ep. 117: The Hanseatic League - 14th Century Politics -Embargoes
The Hanseatic League undergoes a fundamental transformation in the second half of the 14th century. It turned from a guild of merchants trading across the Baltic and the North Sea into an alliance of trading cities. An alliance that has pro
Ep. 116: The Hanseatic League - 14th century Politics -The War with Denmark Part II
The Hanseatic League is first and foremost an organisation driven by commerce and commerce rarely sees the necessity of war. But in 1360 the organisation that had only just transitioned from a community of merchants to an alliance of cities
Ep. 115: The Hanseatic League - 14th century Politics - The War with Denmark Part I
By the end of the 13th century the key foundations of the Hanseatic League are laid. The trade routes that connect the Baltic to Western Europe are largely under the control of merchants who had come from Northern Germany and settled along
Ep. 114: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - The Economics - The London Steelyard
If like many of you, you are listening to this podcast on your morning or evening commute and you happen to live in London, you may be one of the 20 million souls going through Cannon Street Station every year. Few of them will be aware tha
Ep. 113: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - The Economics - Bergen and Bruges
Today we will talk about the Bryggen, the famous Hanseatic Kontor or trading post in Bergen in western Norway. Bergen itself was never a member of the Hanseatic League, but like The St. Peter’s yard in Novgorod, the steelyard in London and
Ep. 112: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - The Economics - Grain and Beer
This week we will kick off with the string of cities along the Baltic Coast from Lübeck up to Königsberg (modern day Kaliningrad). Who founded them and why? And why so many? Who were the people who came to live there, how did they organise
Ep. 111: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - The Economics - The Copper Mines and Fisheries
“on its eastern side the sea breaks through and cuts off the western side of Skaane; and this sea commonly yields each year an abundant haul to the nets of the fishers. Indeed, the whole sound is apt to be so thronged with fish that any cra
Ep. 110: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - The Economics - Riga, Tallinn, Dorpat, Narva
“In the monastery of Segeberg there was a man of worthy life, and with venerable gray hair, Meinhard by name, a priest of the Order of Saint Augustine. He came to Livonia with a band of merchants simply for the sake of Christ and only to pr
Ep. 109: The Hanseatic League (12th century) - The Economics - Gotlandfahrer
If I put the word Hanseatic into Google Search I get as result number 4 “Hanseatic King’s Lynn -Visit West Norfolk”. I can say with absolute confidence that there is not a single German individual, place or organisation that a small town in
Ep. 108: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - From Saxony to Saxonies
These last few episodes you may have wondered how all this hangs together. This week we will try to resolve this question. What we will talk about is how the great stem duchy of Saxony fell apart. And there are two stories about that. One i
Ep. 107: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - The House of Wettin
If you ever come to Dresden, and if you like art, architecture and history, you very much should, you may want to turn into Augustusstrasse right by the Residenzschloss. What you fnd there is the largest porcelain artwork in the world, 102
Ep. 106: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - How to make a Mark in Brandenburg
This week we continue our walkabout of the major centres of power in the North of Germany that emerged during the 12th and 13th century. We talked about Holstein and Lübeck and now it is time to talk about the march of Brandenburg which mea
Ep. 105: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - The Foundation of Lübeck
This week we will look at one of the great mysteries of German medieval history, how Lübeck could become the second largest City in the Holy Roman empire within just 100 years from its foundation. Lübeck lies on a small river, the Trave tha
Ep. 104: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - The Making of Holstein
In today’s episode we finally get closer to the history of the Hanseatic League. We will take a look at some of the fundamental changes in the Saxon policy towards the east that were ushered in during the reign of Lothar of Supplinburg and
Ep. 103: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - Lothar III gets things going for real
This week we talk about what happens after the fight for independence is won. As had happened countless times before in history, precious freedoms gained in bloody struggles can be lost easily in the subsequent peace, not to the old adversa
Ep. 102: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - Investiture Controversy and its impact on the East
This week we will hit the arguably most important set of events in medieval German history often summarised under the banner of the Investiture Controversy. The Investment Controversy came about through a confluence of three major strains,
Ep. 101: Colonisation of the East(700-1200) - Mecklenburg - Gottschalk and Adalbert
This week we will follow the history of two men who could not be more different. On one side is Gottschalk, leader of the pagan Abodrites, who first comes to prominence as a brutal raider killing Saxons all across Holstein in revenge for hi
Ep. 100: Colonisation of the East(700-1200)- The (second) Saxon War
As we go through the story of the Saxon Stem duchy in the 10th and 11th century, two or maybe three main strains of the story emerge, the gradually drifting away of Saxony from the empire, the relationship between Saxons and Wends and the a
