Travelling North

Samuel Kiechel spent a day in Hamburg to recover from his exhausting journey through frozen and snow-covered north-western Germany. The next part of his adventure would take him from Hamburg through Denmark to Copenhagen and then to Stockholm. He would spend some time in Stockholm before returning via Kalmar and Malmö to Copenhagen.

After his experiences in the Low Countries and the Rhineland, visiting Scandinavia in 1586 was comparatively safe. Politically, Denmark was joined in a personal union with Norway, meaning that a single monarch ruled both kingdoms. The origin of this union dates back to 1397 (Kalmar Union), and initially, Sweden was also part of it. However, Danish dominance caused dissatisfaction among the Swedish nobility and led to various uprisings. After a massacre of leading Swedish noblemen in 1520, known as the Stockholm Bloodbath, Gustav Vasa, the son of one of those executed noblemen, successfully gained support for a new rebellion. The Swedish nobility elected him as their king (1496-1560), and he also enjoyed broad popular support. The Swedes captured Stockholm and other strongholds in Sweden from the Danes.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, King Christian II (1481-1559) became unpopular with the Danish nobility after initiating reforms that reduced their privileges. They deposed him in 1523 and elected his uncle as the new king. Frederick I (1471-1533) negotiated a settlement with Sweden, resulting in the Treaty of Malmö (1524), which recognised Sweden’s independence. In return, the southern Swedish provinces of Blekinge and Scania remained under Danish control.

Tensions between the two countries continued and erupted again during the Northern Seven Years’ War (1563-1570). Sweden fought against a coalition comprising Denmark, Poland-Lithuania and Lübeck. The conflict concluded with few concessions, ending when both Denmark and Sweden had exhausted their resources.

Battle of Bornholm (1563) between Danish and Swedish ships

At the time of Samuel Kiechel’s visit, both countries were at peace. Sweden, although small and with a low population density, was on the rise and would dominate northeastern Europe in the seventeenth century. A professionalised, modern army and an effective, high-tax system enabled the Swedish kings to successfully engage in wars and conquests around the Baltic until the defeat of Charles XII at Poltava (Ukraine) in the Great Northern War (1700–1721).

However, in 1586, Denmark was still the dominant Scandinavian power. Besides the union with Norway and possession of the two southern Swedish provinces of Scania and Blekinge, the Duchy of Schleswig was also part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the Danish king was the Duke of Holstein. Although Schleswig-Holstein is now a federal state of modern Germany, until the nineteenth century, Schleswig was part of Denmark, and Holstein belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. The complicated arrangement in the early modern period was a consequence of the Treaty of Ribe (1460). With the treaty, the Danish King became Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein (Duchy of Holstein from 1474). In return, the knights and nobility in both realms received far-ranging privileges, and Holstein was guaranteed to remain part of the Empire. Schleswig, as it was politically and socially closely linked with Holstein, received a special status within the Kingdom of Denmark, with the King as the Duke of Schleswig becoming his own vassal.

Travelling first through Holstein, Samuel Kiechel will visit Lübeck and Kiel and then continue to the Duchy of Schleswig and Denmark.

Lübeck, “Queen of the Hanseatic League”

Historically, Lübeck is renowned as one of the founding cities of the Hanseatic League. This powerful medieval trade network linked cities and merchant communities across northern Europe. Established in the thirteenth century, the Hanseatic League dominated trade in the Baltic and North Seas for two centuries. Lübeck was the most prominent city in the Baltic region and played a pivotal role in the lucrative herring trade.

Herring was a vital part of the human diet, especially during Christian feast periods. It was seasonally caught in large quantities around Scania and salted for preservation. The salt was sourced from another core city of the League, Lüneburg. Samuel Kiechel had visited Lüneburg and observed the salt production process.

Herring is packed in barrels for transport

The salted herring was then exported across northern Europe by Hanseatic ships. The herring trade was highly profitable for the cities of the Hanseatic League. It was the foundation of Lübeck’s prosperity. The city’s merchants expanded their trade to Norway, Gotland and the eastern Baltic Shores. Soon, trading posts were established in numerous locations, reaching as far as Novgorod and Smolensk in Russia. The illustration of Lübeck in the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” reflects the city’s wealth and success.

With economic strength came political influence, enabling the League to secure advantageous agreements and privileges for its cities and merchants across the North and Baltic Seas. They also involved themselves in regional military conflicts when such conflicts threatened their profits and privileges.

However, the League was more of a loose confederation than a unified block, thriving as long as the interests of its member-cities aligned. The fifteenth century marked the beginning of its gradual decline. The trend towards political centralisation and territorial consolidation in Europe led to smaller Hanseatic cities losing their independence, and the League’s privileges diminished. The discovery of sea routes to Asia and America shifted trade towards Western Europe and Atlantic economic centres. Competition on the Baltic increased, threatening the League’s monopoly. English merchant adventurers sought to gain access to the Russian trade, while the Dutch emerged as successful competitors with their new, superior merchant ship — the Fluyt.

By Samuel Kiechel’s time, the Hanseatic League had largely faded. Trading hubs like Hamburg and Lübeck retained some privileges and remained regional powers. Lübeck’s involvement in the Swedish War of Liberation (1521-23) and the Northern Seven Years’ War (1563-70) demonstrated its continued influence and capacity to command substantial naval forces. Nonetheless, it could no longer depend on the support of other Hanseatic cities.

Justice in Lübeck

Moreover, Kiechel noted that Lübeck had a strict justice system that made no distinction between the rich and the poor. He explained that, around the time of his visit, a nobleman from Holstein named Ranzau had stabbed a peasant and nearly killed him. The nobleman, who came from one of the most influential families in the region, was nevertheless arrested and imprisoned. If the peasant had died within fourteen days of the incident, the nobleman would have faced execution.

The Rantzau family was an old, influential dynasty. At the time of Kiechel’s visit, Heinrich Rantzau (1526-1598) served as governor for the Danish king in Schleswig and Holstein. While Lübeck was part of the Duchy of Holstein, it was a free city, and its capacity to arrest and convict a high-ranking noble from a powerful family was a symbol of its freedom and independence.

The same strict judicial process applied to Lübeck’s citizens concerning debts and financial claims. When a foreigner sued a citizen for a debt, the accused was required to pay within a few days or provide a form of payment guarantee. If the citizen could not settle the debt, the bailiff (German: Büttel, an old-fashioned term for a court officer) would be sent. During court proceedings, the bailiff was present in the town hall and would then escort the citizen to the ‘böteley’ (house of the bailiff/jail). There, other individuals with similar court verdicts were also held.

Kiechel comments that Lübeck’s bailiff was not publicly shunned as he would have been in his hometown of Ulm. He socialised with guilds or attended social occasions, sitting at the same table as ‘honest men ’ (‘erlichen leüthen’).² This term refers to a facet of medieval and early modern life, specifically to individuals of social standing and respectable professions. Certain jobs, such as executioners or bailiffs, were necessary but considered to lack honour or social prestige. People fulfilling these roles were publicly shunned and excluded from social events.

However, Kiechel continued, the bailiff had his own drinking vessel. Sometimes, a group of citizens would also visit the bailiff to drink and socialise. The bailiff would serve them beer. According to Kiechel, this behaviour would be out of place in his hometown. But our traveller concludes that this was simply due to local differences.