Come along every Friday...

...as we follow the history of the Hanse from 1161 to 1669

00:00:00/01:23:08

Episode 1

 
Published on:

22nd Jun, 2023

Episode 2

 
Published on:

30th Jun, 2023

Episode 3

 
Published on:

7th Jul, 2023

Episode 4

 
Published on:

14th Jul, 2023

Episode 5

 
Published on:

21st Jul, 2023

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Show artwork for The Hanseatic League

About the Podcast

The Hanseatic League
Series six of the History of the Germans Podcast
Though the Hanseatic League ended formally in 1669, this medieval associations of merchants still casts a spell. Many cities along the Baltic and North Sea are proud to call themselves Hanseatic. But what was it about this organisation (if it even was one) that had no permanent institutions, not even a register of members and started out at the far fringes of the global trading system that feels still so relevant. This podcast series tries to get to the bottom of this.
Episodes are 30-35 min long and are published every Friday.
The Hanseatic League is also Season 6 of the History of the Germans Podcast, a narrative history of the German people from 919 to 1991: https://podfollow.com/history-of-the-germans
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About your host

Profile picture for Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

Dirk Hoffmann-Becking

I am a history geek with no academic qualification in the field but a love for books and stories. I do this for fun and my personal self-aggrandisement.

I have been born, raised and educated in Germany but live in the UK for now over 20 years with my wife and two children. My professional background is in law, management consulting and banking. History has always been a hobby as are sailing, travelling, art, skiing and exercise (go BMF!).

My view of history is best summarised by Gregory of Tours (539-594): “A great many things keep happening, some good, some bad”. History has no beginning and no end and more importantly, it has no logic, no pattern and no purpose . But that does not mean there isn't progress and sometimes we humans realise that doing the same thing again and again hoping for a different outcome is indeed madness. The great moments in history are those where we realise that we cannot go on as we were and things need to change. German history - as you will hopefully see - is full of these turning points, some good, some bad!