Religion in the Hanseatic Cities

The religious life of the Hanseatic cities was, in the first instance, the religious life of the Catholic Church. The cities were full of churches, monasteries, and religious foundations, and the religious life of the cities was an important part of the social and cultural life. The Catholic period lasted from the founding of the cities to the Reformation, and the Catholic period was marked by the construction of the great churches, the establishment of the religious orders, and the elaboration of the religious practices that were the foundation of the medieval religious life.

The religious life of the cities was transformed in the sixteenth century by the Reformation, and the transformation was, in many ways, the most important event in the history of the cities after the founding. Most of the Hanseatic cities adopted Lutheranism in the 1520s and 1530s, and the religious landscape of northern Germany was transformed. The transformation had a profound impact on the League, and the religious tensions between the Protestant north and the Catholic south were a major factor in the League’s decline.

This article describes the religious life of the Hanseatic cities, beginning with the Catholic period, continuing with the Reformation, and ending with the religious conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The Catholic period

The Catholic period of the Hanseatic cities lasted from the founding of the cities to the Reformation, a period of roughly three centuries. The Catholic period was marked by the construction of the great churches, the establishment of the religious orders, and the elaboration of the religious practices that were the foundation of the medieval religious life.

The principal religious institutions of the cities were the parish churches, the monasteries, and the mendicant orders. The parish church, served by a priest appointed by the city council, was the centre of religious life for the ordinary citizens. The parish church was the place where the citizens received the sacraments, observed the feasts and fasts, and participated in the processions and pilgrimages. The parish church was also the place where the guilds worshipped, and the guilds had their own altars in the parish church.

The monasteries had been founded in the early period of urban growth, and the monasteries served as centres of learning, of charity, and of religious observance. The principal monastic orders in the Hanseatic cities were the Benedictines, the Cistercians, the Augustinians, and the Premonstratensians. The monasteries owned substantial properties, and the monasteries were important participants in the economic life of the cities.

The mendicant orders, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, were present in most of the larger cities, and they played an important role in the religious education of the laity. The Franciscans, known as the Barfüsser in the Hanseatic cities, were particularly active in the cities of the Wendish district, and the Dominicans, known as the Prediger or Schwarze Brüder, were particularly active in the cities of the Westphalian and Rhineland districts.

A useful note: the Barfüsser (literally “bare feet”) and the Prediger (literally “preachers”) are the German vernacular names for the Franciscans and the Dominicans respectively. The Dominicans are also called Schwarze Brüder (“black brothers”) because of the black cappa over their white habits. The vernacular names are the ones the cities used, and the Latin orders’ names (Ordo Fratrum Minorum, Ordo Praedicatorum) are essentially the standard Latin for the same groups.

The principal churches

The principal churches of the Hanseatic cities were the parish churches, the monastic churches, and the churches of the mendicant orders. The parish churches were the most important churches in the cities, and the parish churches were the centres of the religious life of the citizens. The parish churches were usually large, with tall towers and elaborate interiors, and the parish churches were among the most impressive buildings in the cities.

The most important of the parish churches were the Marienkirche in Lübeck, the Petrikirche in Hamburg, the Marienkirche in Stralsund, the Petrikirche in Riga, the Marienkirche in Danzig, the Marienkirche in Rostock, the Marienkirche in Wismar, the Marienkirche in Greifswald, and the Marienkirche in Bremen.

The Reformation

The Reformation of the sixteenth century was the most important event in the religious history of the Hanseatic cities after the founding. The Reformation began in 1517, when Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, and the Reformation spread rapidly through the Hanseatic cities in the following years. Most of the cities adopted Lutheranism in the 1520s and 1530s, and the religious landscape of northern Germany was transformed.

The adoption of Lutheranism was, in many ways, a political act as well as a religious act. The cities adopted Lutheranism partly out of religious conviction, but they also adopted Lutheranism as a way of asserting their independence from the bishops, the emperors, and the Catholic territorial princes. The adoption of Lutheranism was, in this sense, a continuation of the cities’ long struggle for independence, and it was supported by the patriciate, who saw the Reformation as an opportunity to confiscate the property of the Church and to assert their own political power.

The adoption of Lutheranism had a profound impact on the religious life of the cities. The Catholic mass was replaced by the Lutheran service, the Latin liturgy was replaced by the German liturgy, the priests were allowed to marry, and the monasteries were dissolved. The dissolution of the monasteries was, in many ways, the most dramatic change, and the dissolution of the monasteries was followed by the confiscation of the monastic properties, which were often sold to the patrician families.

Reformation in Lübeck in 1525, organised by Johannes Bugenhagen, became the model for the Reformation in other Hanseatic cities, and the Lübeck church order was adopted by many other cities in northern Germany and Denmark. The Reformation also led, through the radical phase under Thomas Wullenwever in the 1530s, to the Count’s Feud of 1534–36, which was the last major attempt by the League to act as a unified power in the religious wars.

A specific note on Kirchenordnung: the Kirchenordnung (church order) was a new kind of document, created during the Reformation, that combined theological principle with practical governance. The Bugenhagen Kirchenordnung for Lübeck (1531) and the slightly later Braunschweiger Kirchenordnung (1528, often attributed to Bugenhagen too) are the principal early models. They were widely imitated in the Hanseatic cities and in Scandinavia, and they are a distinctive Hanseatic contribution to the Lutheran Reformation.

The religious tensions

The religious tensions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were a major source of weakness for the League. The Catholic cities of the south, like Cologne and Goslar, found themselves isolated from the Protestant majority, and the Protestant cities of the north, like Lübeck and Hamburg, found themselves in conflict with the Catholic powers. The Hansetag tried to remain neutral, but the religious tensions made neutrality impossible, and the League’s ability to act collectively was further weakened.

The religious tensions were particularly acute in the years around the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–47, in which the Protestant princes of Germany were defeated by the Catholic emperor. The Schmalkaldic War had a major impact on the Hanseatic cities, and several of the cities were forced to make concessions to the Catholic powers. The religious tensions were also acute in the years around the Thirty Years War of 1618–48, which devastated much of northern Germany and which had a particularly severe impact on the Hanseatic cities.

The religious life of the modern cities

The religious life of the modern Hanseatic cities is, in many ways, a continuation of the religious life of the medieval and early modern cities. The cities are still mostly Protestant, and the Lutheran church is still the principal Protestant denomination in the cities. The cities also have significant Catholic minorities, and the cities have a number of other Christian denominations, as well as significant Muslim and Jewish communities.

The religious life of the modern cities is, however, more secular than the religious life of the medieval and early modern cities. The role of the church in the social and political life of the cities has declined, and the cities are more pluralistic in their religious life. The religious heritage of the cities is, however, still visible in the churches, the religious foundations, and the religious traditions of the cities, and the religious heritage is an important part of the modern identity of the cities.

A useful background: the Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche (Evangelical Lutheran Church) remains the principal Protestant denomination in the Hanseatic cities, often in the form of a regional church body (e.g., the Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche for Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). The Bremische Evangelische Kirche is one of the oldest Lutheran church bodies in Germany, dating to 1522. These regional church bodies preserve a sense of Hanseatic religious identity that goes back to the Reformation.