The Free and
Hanseatic
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
City of
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
(german: Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck) was a
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
from 1226 to 1937, in what is now the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
states of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
and
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
.
History
Imperial Free City and the Hanseatic League
In 1226, Emperor
Frederick II declared the city of
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
to be a
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
.
Lübeck law
The Lübeck law (german: Lübisches (Stadt)Recht) was the family of codified municipal law developed at Lübeck, which became a free imperial city in 1226 and is located in present day Schleswig-Holstein. It was the second most prevalent form of ...
was the constitution of the city's municipal form of government developed after being made a free city. In theory, Lübeck law made the cities which had adopted it independent of royalty. In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
", and at that time, the largest and most powerful member of this medieval trade organization.
In 1359, Lübeck bought the ducal
Herrschaft
The German term ''Herrschaft'' (plural: ''Herrschaften'') covers a broad semantic field and only the context will tell whether it means, "rule", "power", "dominion", "authority", "territory" or "lordship". In its most abstract sense, it refers ...
of
Mölln from the indebted
Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Bergedorf-Mölln, a branch of the ducal house of
Saxe-Lauenburg
The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg, called ''Niedersachsen'' (Lower Saxony) between the 14th and 17th centuries), was a '' reichsfrei'' duchy that existed from 1296–1803 and again from 1814–1876 in the extreme so ...
. The City and Duke—with the consent of the Duke's brother
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
—agreed on a price of 9,737.50 Lübeck
marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...
. The parties also agreed to a clause allowing for the repurchase of the lands by the Duke or his heirs, but only if they were buying back the property for themselves and not for a third party. Lübeck considered this acquisition to be crucially important since Mölln was an important staging post in the trade (especially the salt trade) between Scandinavia and the cities of
Brunswick and
Lunenburg via Lübeck. Therefore, Lübeck manned Mölln with armed guards to maintain law and order on the roads.
In 1370, Lübeck further acquired—by way of collateral for a loan—the Lordship of
Bergedorf
Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994.
History
The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...
, the Vierlande, half the
Sachsenwald
The Sachsenwald () is a forest near Hamburg, Germany. It is an unincorporated area in the amt Hohe Elbgeest. It derives its name (which means 'Saxon woods' in English) from being located in the former Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, earlier also called ...
(Saxon Forest) and
Geesthacht
Geesthacht () is the largest city in the District of the Duchy of Lauenburg (Herzogtum Lauenburg) in Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany, south-east of Hamburg on the right bank of the River Elbe.
History
A church was built in what is today ...
from Duke Eric III, who had meanwhile succeeded his late brother Albert V. This acquisition included much of the trade route between
Hamburg
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Hamburgian(s)
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and Lübeck, thus providing a safe freight route between the cities. Eric III retained a life tenancy of these lands.
Lübeck and Eric III further stipulated that once Eric had died, Lübeck would be entitled to take possession of the pledged territories until his successors could repay the debt and simultaneously exercise the repurchase of Mölln. By this stage the sum involved was calculated as 26,000 Lübeck Marks, an enormous amount of money at that time.
In 1401, Eric III died without issue and was succeeded by his second cousin
Eric IV, Duke of Saxe-Ratzeburg-Lauenburg. In the same year Eric IV, supported by his sons
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
(later reigning as Eric V) and
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
(later John IV), captured the pawned lands without making the agreed repayment and before Lübeck could take possession of them. Lübeck acquiesced.
In 1420, Eric V attacked
Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick (Middle High German: ''Friderich','' Standard German: ''Friedrich''; 21 September 1371 – 20 September 1440) was the last Burgrave of Nuremberg from 1397 to 1427 (as Frederick VI), Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from 1398, Margr ...
and Lübeck gained Hamburg for a war alliance in support of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
. The armies of both cities opened a second front and conquered Bergedorf, Riepenburg castle and the Esslingen river toll station (today's
Zollenspieker Ferry
The Zollenspieker Ferry is a ferry across the Elbe river (here Unterelbe) in Germany. It crosses between ''Zollenspieker'', a part of the quarter Kirchwerder of the Bergedorf borough of the city-state of Hamburg, and ''Hoopte'', part of the town Wi ...
) within weeks. This forced Eric V to agree to the
Peace of Perleberg
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
on 23 August 1420, which stipulated that all the pawned territories, which Eric IV, Eric V and John IV had violently taken in 1401, were to be ceded irrevocably to the cities of Hamburg and Lübeck. The cities transformed the gained areas into the
Beiderstädtischer Besitz (
condominium of both cities), ruled by bailiffs for four-year terms. The bailiffs were to come from each of the cities alternately.
The Hanseatic League, under Lübeck's leadership, fought several wars against Denmark with varying degrees of success. Whilst Lübeck and the Hanseatic League won in 1435 and 1512, Lübeck lost when it became involved in the
Count's Feud
The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of relig ...
, a civil war that raged in Denmark from 1534 to 1536. Lübeck also joined the
Schmalkaldic League
The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century.
Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...
. After its defeat in the Count's Feud, Lübeck's power slowly declined. Lübeck remained neutral in the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, but with the devastation of the war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade, the Hanseatic League, and thus Lübeck, lost importance. After the ''de facto'' disbandment of the Hanseatic League in 1669, Lübeck remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea.
Napoleonic era
Lübeck remained a Free Imperial City even after the
German Mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number ...
in 1803 and became a sovereign state at the dissolution of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
in 1806. During the
War of the Fourth Coalition
The Fourth Coalition fought against Napoleon's French Empire and were defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, s ...
against
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, troops under
Bernadotte occupied neutral Lübeck after a battle against
Blücher on 6 November 1806.
Under the
Continental System
The Continental Blockade (), or Continental System, was a large-scale embargo against British trade by Napoleon Bonaparte against the British Empire from 21 November 1806 until 11 April 1814, during the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon issued the Berlin ...
, trade suffered, and from 1811 to 1813, Lübeck was formally annexed as part of the
First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...
.
Reestablishment as sovereign state in 1813
Lübeck reassumed its pre-1811 status in 1813. The 1815
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
reconfirmed Lübeck's independence and it became one of 39 sovereign states of the
German Confederation
The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
. Lübeck joined the
North German Confederation
The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
in 1867. The following year Lübeck sold its share in the bi-urban condominium of Bergedorf to the
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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, which was also a sovereign state of the North German Confederation. In 1871, Lübeck became an autonomous component state within the newly founded
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. Its status was weakened during the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
by the Republic's enforcement of its right to determine state and Reich taxes. In 1933, in the course of the
Gleichschaltung
The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...
, Lübeck's
senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
(the city government) and Bürgerschaft (parliament) were
streamlined
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow.
They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
in order to manufacture Nazi majorities. By 1935 the statehood of Lübeck, like that of all German states, had faded completely, without being formally suspended.
Incorporation into Schleswig-Holstein
In 1937, the Nazis passed the
Greater Hamburg Act
The Greater Hamburg Act (german: Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), in full the Law Regarding Greater Hamburg and Other Territorial Readjustments (german: Gesetz über Groß-Hamburg und andere Gebietsbereinigungen), was passed by the government of Nazi Germa ...
, whereby the nearby Hanseatic City of Hamburg was expanded to include towns that had formerly belonged to the
Prussian province of
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
. To compensate Prussia for these losses (and partly because
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
had a personal dislike for Lübeck after it refused to allow him to campaign there in 1932),
Lübeck: The town that said no to Hitler
Simon Heffer
Simon James Heffer (born 18 July 1960) is an English historian, journalist, author and political commentator. He has published several biographies and a series of books on the social history of Great Britain from the mid-nineteenth century unti ...
, ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
''; retrieved 28 June 2010. the 711-year-long statehood of Lübeck came to an end and almost all its territory was incorporated into Schleswig-Holstein.
Lübeck was occupied by the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in the closing days of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
later occupied all territory to the east of the city, as agreed by the Allied powers. Prussia was dissolved as a state by the occupying Allied forces after the war. However, unlike Hamburg and Bremen, Lübeck was not restored to statehood. Instead, the city was incorporated into the new federal state
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
. Lübeck's position on the inner German border
The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...
, which cut off the city from much of its hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...
, was a key factor in this development. In 1956, in a so-called the West German Federal Constitutional Court
The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...
upheld a decision by the federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
to strike down an attempt to restore Lübeck's statehood by referendum.
Notable people
*Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...
(1913-1992) German politician
*Wilhelm Mohnke
Wilhelm Mohnke (15 March 1911 – 6 August 2001) was one of the original members of the SS-Staff Guard (''Stabswache'') "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. He joi ...
(1911-2001) ''Brigadeführer
''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as ''Untergruppenf ...
'' in the Waffen-SS
* Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
– German author, Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
laureate
See also
*Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
* Timeline of Lübeck history
*Free City of Frankfurt
For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities:
*The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt () (until 1806)
*The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ...
, a city-state annexed by Prussia in 1866.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubeck, Free City
Free City
Free City
Former states and territories of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Former states and territories of Schleswig-Holstein
Free imperial cities
States of the German Confederation
States of the North German Confederation
States of the German Empire
States of the Weimar Republic
Members of the Hanseatic League
City-states