City Councils and Municipal Government

The cities of the Hanseatic League were, in their internal politics, republics of one kind or another. They were governed by councils of varying size, usually elected by the merchant guilds, and they had a more or less elaborate system of checks and balances. The political institutions of the cities were, in many ways, the foundation of the League’s success, because they gave the cities the stability and the continuity that long-distance trade required.

This article describes the political institutions of the Hanseatic cities, beginning with the early councils of the Wendish towns, continuing with the elaborate systems of the great cities of the late Middle Ages, and ending with the conflicts between the councils and the guilds that marked the politics of the late medieval cities.

The early councils

The earliest Hanseatic cities were governed by simple councils, drawn from the merchant class and presided over by one or more Bürgermeister, or mayors. The councils were small, often consisting of no more than a dozen members, and they were elected by the citizens. The councils had extensive powers: they made the laws, levied the taxes, appointed the officials, commanded the city militia, and represented the city in dealings with other cities and foreign powers.

The early councils were a response to the practical needs of the early cities. The cities were small, the population was relatively homogeneous, and the merchant class was the dominant class. The councils reflected this: they were drawn from the merchant class, they served the interests of the merchant class, and they governed in a way that was acceptable to the merchant class.

The early councils were also a continuation of older traditions. The cities of the Wendish district were founded on the Lübeck model, and the Lübeck model was itself derived from the urban traditions of the Rhineland and Westphalia, which had their own council traditions going back to the early Middle Ages. The early councils of the Hanseatic cities were, in this sense, the heirs of a long tradition of urban self-government.

A comparative table of councils

City	Council size	Bürgermeister	Term	Special features
Lübeck	20	4	Annual election of all 20	Two-year term limit; four-year cycle; Bürgerschaft elects
Hamburg	24	Several	Annual	Erbgesessene Bürgerschaft; Kämmerei (financial chamber) with independent role
Cologne	49	Several	Annual	Weiser (executive committee) prepares council business; complex committee system
Brunswick	16–20	2	Annual	Closed patrician body by 14th c.; chronic internal unrest
Stralsund	24	4	Two-year	Mixed patrician-guild representation

The standard treatment is in Philippe Dollinger, The German Hansa (Stanford, 1970), pp. 138–152.

The great councils

The political institutions of the Hanseatic cities became more elaborate in the late Middle Ages, as the cities grew and the merchant class became more stratified. The great councils of the late Middle Ages were larger, often consisting of twenty or more members, and they had a more or less elaborate system of committees, officers, and sub-councils. The great councils also had a more elaborate relationship with the guilds, which had become important political forces in their own right.

The great council of Lübeck consisted of twenty members, presided over by four Bürgermeister, and the council was elected by the Bürgerschaft, the body of citizens. The council was divided into several committees, each with its own responsibilities, and the council was supported by a substantial bureaucracy of officials, clerks, and servants. The council met regularly, and its meetings were the principal political events of the city.

The great council of Hamburg was similar, but with its own distinctive features. The council consisted of twenty-four members, presided over by a number of Bürgermeister, and the council was elected by the Erbgesessene Bürgerschaft, the hereditary citizenry. The council’s principal distinctive feature was the role of the Kämmerei, the chamber that managed the city’s finances, which was an important political force in its own right.

The great council of Cologne was, in many ways, the most elaborate of the Hanseatic councils. The council consisted of forty-nine members, presided over by a number of Bürgermeister, and the council was elected by the citizens. The council’s principal distinctive feature was the Weiser, a sort of executive committee that prepared the council’s business and that was an important political force in its own right.

The guilds and the councils

The political life of the Hanseatic cities was, in the late Middle Ages, marked by the conflicts between the councils and the guilds. The councils were usually dominated by the patrician families, the great merchant families that had governed the cities for generations. The guilds were the organisations of the smaller merchants, the craftsmen, and the tradesmen, and they often resented the dominance of the patrician families.

The conflicts between the councils and the guilds took many forms. The guilds sometimes challenged the patrician families for control of the councils, and the patrician families sometimes tried to restrict the political rights of the guilds. The conflicts could be violent: the Knochenhaueraufstand (butchers’ uprising) in Brunswick in 1374, the 1411 rebellion in Danzig against the Teutonic Order, and the long period of internal unrest in Cologne in the 1480s, were all the result of conflicts between the councils and the guilds.

The conflicts between the councils and the guilds were, in the long run, a source of weakness for the cities, because they divided the cities and made collective action more difficult. The conflicts were also, in the long run, a source of strength, because they forced the cities to develop more inclusive political institutions and to give the guilds a greater voice in the government. The great cities of the late Middle Ages were, on the whole, more politically stable than the smaller cities, and the political stability of the great cities was one of the reasons for their commercial success.

A specific note on the Knochenhaueraufstand: the standard account is in Matthias Puhle, ed., Hanse – Städte – Bünde (1996). The 1374 Brunswick uprising was a guild revolt led by the Knochenhauer (butchers), who were one of the most economically powerful craft guilds; it was suppressed by the patrician council with the help of neighbouring cities, and the leaders were executed.

The Free Imperial Cities

Many of the Hanseatic cities were Free Imperial Cities, subject to the emperor alone and not to any intermediate lord. The Free Imperial Cities had, in theory, the right to make their own laws, to levy their own taxes, to appoint their own officials, and to make their own treaties with foreign powers. The Free Imperial Cities were, in this sense, sovereign states within the Holy Roman Empire, and they were an important part of the political fabric of the Empire.

The principal Free Imperial Cities of the Hanseatic League were Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, all of which retained the status of Free Imperial Cities until 1806. Other Hanseatic cities that were Free Imperial Cities for at least part of their history included Cologne, Dortmund, Goslar, Mühlhausen, Nordhausen, and a number of other cities.

A specific note on the imperial-city status: the Free Imperial Cities were a minority among the Empire’s urban centres — there were perhaps 60 to 80 in the late Middle Ages, out of a total of several thousand towns — but they were disproportionately important economically. The Hanseatic cities that held the status included the League’s three “permanent” representatives (Lübeck, Hamburg, Bremen), and the status was, in a sense, a recognition of the wealth and political weight of the Hanseatic patriciate.

The status of Free Imperial City was a major factor in the success of the Hanseatic cities. The cities could pursue their commercial interests without interference from local lords, and the cities could make their own treaties with foreign powers. The cities were also exempt from many of the taxes and duties that other cities had to pay, and the cities could use the proceeds of their own customs duties to finance their own government.

The cities and the League

The political institutions of the cities were the foundation of the League’s political system. The League’s central institution, the Hansetag, was a gathering of city delegates, and the city councils appointed the delegates. The League’s legal system, the Hanseatic law, was applied by the city courts, and the city courts enforced the decisions of the League. The League’s embargoes, the Verhansungen, were enforced by the city councils, and the city councils decided whether or not to participate in the embargoes.

The political institutions of the cities were also a source of weakness for the League. The cities had different interests, and the cities were reluctant to subordinate their interests to the interests of the League. The League’s ability to act collectively was limited by the need to obtain the agreement of the cities, and the cities could always block the League’s actions by refusing to participate.