In September 2015 I took part in the study course \u201cNetworking Europe: Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte der Hanse\u201d, organised by the Warburghaus, University of Hamburg. The course, led by Profs. Barbara Welzel (University of Dortmund) and Iris Wenderholm (University of Hamburg), offered the ten participants, predominantly PhD students in art history, a platform to present their research and to discuss methodological questions.<\/p>\n
Hans Kemmer, Portrait of the merchant Hans Sonnenschein (1534), St. Annen Museum, L\u00fcbeck. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n
The course started with a visit to the opening of the exhibition \u201cL\u00fcbeck 1500: Kunstmetropole im Ostseeraum<\/a>\u201d in the Museumquartier St. Annen in L\u00fcbeck. The exhibition highlighted the central role of L\u00fcbeck in the late Middle Ages as a centre for the production and trade of (religious) art. It presented an extraordinary and impressive overview of this period, with many loans from museums abroad.<\/p>\n
The historical perspective was assumed with a subsequent visit to the newly opened European Hanse Museum (Europ\u00e4isches Hansemuseum<\/a>), through which we were guided by Prof. Rolf Hammel-Kiesow, the museum’s scientific leader. The museum provides a fascinating overview of the history of the Hanse in different environments (e.g., the mouth of the river Neva, where the Novgorod traders assembled, the market of Bruges, etc.) which submerge the visitor in the time of the Hanse, while supporting this with copies of archival documents and other sources.<\/p>\n