Hanseatic Trade Goods and Commodities

The Hanseatic League’s commercial dominance rested on a relatively small number of bulk commodities: salt, herring, grain, furs, timber, pitch, tar, copper, iron, wool, cloth, and wine. These were the goods that paid for the system, that gave the League its scale, and that made the fortunes of the great merchant families.

This article describes the principal commodities of the Hanseatic trade, beginning with the salt of Lüneburg, continuing with the herring of the Sound, the grain of Prussia, the furs of Russia, and the cloth of Flanders, and ending with the less prominent but still important goods that filled the holds of the League’s ships.

At a glance: the principal commodities

The volume figures are approximate — the records are patchy, and different sources use different units. They are useful for the order of magnitude, however. (The salt and herring figures are from the standard treatment in Philippe Dollinger, The German Hansa (Stanford, 1970), pp. 53–55, with adjustments from the relevant German literature.)

Salt

Salt was the most important of the Hanseatic commodities in the early centuries of the League’s history. The salt came from the mines of Lüneburg, in the lower Elbe, where a layer of rock salt had been worked since prehistoric times. The Lüneburg mines produced, in the late Middle Ages, perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 tons of salt per year, and the salt was carried down the Elbe to Hamburg and from there to the markets of the Baltic.

The salt trade was, in many ways, a vertically integrated business. The League controlled the mines at Lüneburg, the boats that carried the salt down the Elbe, the warehouses in which it was stored, and the markets in which it was sold. The salt was used principally for the preservation of herring, and the salt trade was closely linked to the herring trade: the salt from Lüneburg went to the herring fisheries of the Sound, and the salted herring was exported to the markets of the West.

Herring

Herring was, for most of the League’s history, the most important of the Hanseatic commodities. The herring was caught in the Baltic, principally in the waters around the island of Scania (Skåne), which was Danish territory until 1658. The herring season began in August and ran through October, with the great catch of the late summer drawing thousands of boats and tens of thousands of workers. The herring was salted on board the boats or on the shore, packed in barrels, and exported to the markets of the West.

The herring trade was closely controlled by the League. The Hansetag fixed the prices at which the herring could be sold, the barrels in which it had to be packed, the quality grades that had to be observed, and the times at which the season opened and closed. The herring trade was also closely linked to the salt trade: the salt from Lüneburg was essential for the preservation of the herring, and the League’s control of the salt gave it a decisive advantage in the herring trade.

Grain

Grain was the most important of the Hanseatic exports from the east. The grain came principally from the Polish and Prussian hinterland, where the great plains of the Vistula and the Oder produced wheat and rye in abundance. The grain was carried by river to the ports of Danzig, Elbing, Königsberg, and Stettin, and from there by sea to the markets of the West.

The grain trade was a long-distance business that required the merchants to commit to purchases months before the harvest, and to bear the risk of price fluctuations in the meantime. The grain trade was a high-volume business: a single cog could carry several hundred tons of grain, and the great grain fleets of the fifteenth century could carry thousands of tons at a time. The grain trade was, in the late Middle Ages, the principal source of the wealth of the Prussian cities, and it was the principal channel through which the agricultural surplus of eastern Europe reached the markets of the West.

Furs

Furs were the most important of the Hanseatic exports from the east. The furs came principally from Russia, where the vast forests of the north produced a great variety of pelts: sable, ermine, fox, marten, otter, beaver, and many others. The furs were brought to the great fairs of Novgorod, where they were sold to the merchants of the League and to the merchants of the Italian and Byzantine empires.

The fur trade was closely controlled by the League. The kontor at Novgorod, the Peterhof, had extensive privileges in the fur trade, and the merchants of the League were the principal channel through which Russian furs reached the markets of the West. The fur trade was also a high-value business: a single sable pelt could be worth as much as a ton of grain, and the great furs were among the most valuable commodities in the medieval world.

Timber and naval stores

Timber and naval stores were among the most important of the Hanseatic exports from the east. The timber came principally from the forests of Prussia, Livonia, and Sweden, where the great pine and oak forests produced the masts, the planking, and the deck timbers of the ships. The naval stores — tar, pitch, hemp, and flax — came from the same forests, and they were essential for the construction and maintenance of the wooden ships of the period.

The timber trade was, in the late Middle Ages, a high-volume business: the great shipyards of the Baltic consumed enormous quantities of timber, and the timber was also exported to the markets of the West, where it was used for the construction of buildings, ships, and fortifications. The naval stores were equally important: tar and pitch were essential for the caulking of ships, and hemp and flax were essential for the cordage and the sails.

Cloth

Cloth was the most important of the Hanseatic imports from the West. The cloth came principally from Flanders, where the great cloth-making cities of Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres produced the high-quality woollens that were the principal manufactured goods of the medieval economy. The cloth was carried by sea and by river to the markets of the Baltic, where it was exchanged for the grain, furs, and timber of the East.

The cloth trade was closely linked to the wool trade: the English wool, which was the raw material of the Flemish cloth industry, was exported to Flanders through the Steelyard in London, and the finished cloth was exported from Flanders to the markets of the Baltic. The cloth trade was also a high-value business: a single bolt of fine Flemish cloth could be worth as much as a ton of grain, and the great merchants of the cloth trade were among the wealthiest in Europe.

Other goods

The League also traded in a wide range of other goods, less prominent than the great commodities but still important. Wine came from the Rhineland and from France, and it was one of the principal imports of the Baltic cities. Beer was brewed in the cities themselves, and the breweries of Lübeck, Hamburg, and Wismar were famous throughout the region. Spices came from the Levant, and they were the principal luxury import of the wealthy merchants. Metals came from Sweden (copper, iron) and from the Harz mountains (silver, lead, copper), and they were the principal raw materials of the metalworking industry. Honey and wax came from the forests of the east, and were used for sweetening and for the making of candles. Potash and lye came from the same forests, and were used for the making of soap and glass.

The prices of the commodities

The prices of the Hanseatic commodities were determined, in large part, by the League’s control of the trade. The League fixed the prices at which the salt and the herring could be sold, the quality grades that had to be observed, and the times at which the season opened and closed. The League also fixed the prices at which the cloth of Flanders could be sold in the Baltic, and it negotiated with the Flemish cities for the prices of the English wool. The result was a system of regulated prices that gave the League’s merchants a substantial margin of profit.

The prices of the Hanseatic commodities fluctuated, of course, with the harvest, the weather, and the political situation. The price of grain could double in a year of bad harvest, and the price of salt could fall sharply in a year of abundant production. The League’s system of regulated prices was, in the end, unable to prevent these fluctuations, and the price fluctuations were a major source of risk for the merchants.

Related pages

• Trade and commerce in the League
• The trade routes of the League
• The Hanseatic kontore
• Ships and the Hanseatic merchant fleet
• Coinage, credit, and banking in the League
• Lübeck: the Queen of the Hanse
• The Baltic cities