Background on New Hanse / Die Hanse

The “new” Hanseatic League or Die Hanse was revived in 1980 in Zwolle, and set itself the task of keeping alive the spirit of the League as a social and cultural alliance. By cultivating traditions and encouraging a vibrant exchange between its members, the Hanseatic League aims to bring about closer economic, cultural, social and national ties across northern Europe.

The new Hanse, which is headquartered in Lübeck (Germany), has today 190 member towns and cities in 16 European countries (Belarus, Belgium, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland and Sweden) covering an economic area with a combined population of over 300 million and combined GDP of over $10 trillion.

Background on Business HANSE

Business HANSE was founded in June 2013 in Herford, Germany, by 24 partner organisations (20 businesses and 4 local authorities). The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk is a founding partner.

The new Business HANSE represents traditional values in modern business life. It is an international network of business and science, of business promoters, and business associations. Its members regard themselves as “respectable merchants” of modern times.

The Business Alliance HANSE, formerly known as the Merchants’ HANSE, was a signet of quality, trust and fairness in trade relations. Even today the positive character traits of the “honourable merchant”, who keeps his word and for whom the respectability is the basis for doing business, is inseparably tied to the brand of the HANSE.

Marion Köhn is the Managing Director of Business HANSE Ltd. Wolfgang Stoltmann is the Deputy Chairman of Business HANSE Ltd.