Fish and Ships

Weblog about pre-modern international trade in the North Atlantic

Welcome to the weblog about research into the late medieval and early modern international trade on the North Atlantic islands. It investigates the economic and cultural connections of merchants from Northern German cities, such as Bremen and Hamburg with the North Atlantic islands of Iceland, Shetland and Faroe during the 15th to 17th centuries. The research is based at the German Maritime Museum (Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum) in Bremerhaven in cooperation with the University of Highlands and Islands in Orkney. The research is carried out by four team members, each with their individual research objectives and disciplinary background. With this blog we want to provide information about the current state of our research, and create a platform to make available results and new knowledge. Read more...

First project workshop to take place in Bremerhaven

Natascha Mehler, 5 October 2015

The first workshop of the project takes place at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven from 2-4 November 2015.

The “Travel-Workshop” is the first workshop of the interdisciplinary research project “Between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea: Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hanse” funded by the Leibniz Association (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft) (2015-2018). The project focuses on the cultural and social links between the German cities of Bremen and Hamburg with the North Atlantic islands Faroe, Shetland and Iceland in the period c. 1400-1700.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together specialists from different disciplines and countries to shed light on several aspects of the process of travelling, and the stay of the Germans in their destination ports. The workshop is organized in two parts. The first session concentrates on the journeys: which ships were used for these journeys, what do we know about the crews, how did navigation work and which sea routes were used at that time? What were the climatic conditions and how did this affect sailing and navigation? The second session addresses questions regarding daily life on board. How was the provisioning on board and what happened when sailors fell ill? How was space on board organized? What do we know about religious life on board an on land?

Download the workshop flyer here: Flyer Travel Workshop DSM

Posted in: Announcements, General

Comments

  • Marnix PIETERS says:
    5. October 2015 at 16:10

    Dear Colleagues,
    I’m very interested in your project between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. I did some excavations in a 15th century fishing village in Flanders (Belgium) with a.o. some Norwegian finds.

    best wishes
    Marnix Pieters

  • Natascha Mehler says:
    14. October 2015 at 8:57

    Dear Marnix,

    thank you for your message, your publications on this topic are very important. It would be a pleasure to have you with us at the workshop.