From a Saxon Village to a Fortified Mission and Trading Post

The small, late Saxon settlement on the banks of the river Alster whose fortification gave it the name of "Hammaburg" ('Hamme' is Old Saxon for bank, countryside along the river, marshland; thus: 'castle on the river') must have held such a strategically important position that this site was already chosen in the year 811 for the first church north of the river Elbe. After the Saxons had been driven out and a short settlement phase by the Slavic tribe of the Abodrites, Lewis the Pious again chose this site when he sent the missionary Ansgar there in the year 831 to found an archbishopric in Hamburg. Although the cathedral and the missionary quarters were completely destroyed by the Vikings in 845, "Hammaburg" did not sink into insignificance. The destruction in the castle and the settlement in front of it ('Suburbium') was obviously not so great that this ended the continuity of the settlement. Findings in the ground show that a trading post soon developed at this spot. Since imported goods as well as local products have been noted, the early settlement of Hamburg must have been at least partly incorporated in the network of international trade routes. Despite this, Hamburg lay in the no-man's-land between the kingdom of the Franks, the kingdoms of the Danish Vikings and the Slavs, who were also still heathens, and which was constantly being fought over. It was only when Christianity was finally established among the Danish in the 10th century and among the Slavs in the 11th/12th century that the power-political circumstances were stabilised. Hamburg was also able to take part in the economical prosperity that followed.

- From a Saxon Village to a Fortified Mission and Trading Post
- Ecclesiastical Hamburg
- Hamburg as a Hanseatic City
- The Cog - A Cargo-carrying Vessel of the Middle Ages