English > Hanseatic League: 1 sense > noun 1, group| Meaning | A commercial and defensive confederation of free cities in northern Germany and surrounding areas; formed in 1241 and most influential in the 14th century when it included over 100 towns and functioned as an independent political power; the last official assembly was held in 1669. |
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| Members | Bergen | A port city in southwestern Norway |
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| Bremen | A city of northwestern Germany linked by the Weser River to the port of Bremerhaven and the North Sea |
| Bruges, City of Bridges | A city in northwestern Belgium that is connected by canal to the North Sea |
| Cologne, Koln | A commercial center and river port in western Germany on the Rhine River |
| Dortmund | An industrial city in northwestern Germany |
| Gdansk, Danzig | A port city of northern Poland near the mouth of the Vistula River on a gulf of the Baltic Sea |
| Halle, Halle-an-der-Saale | A city in the Saxony region of Germany on the Saale River |
| Hamburg | A port city in northern Germany on the Elbe River that was founded by Charlemagne in the 9th century and is today the largest port in Germany |
| Hannover, Hanover | A port city in northwestern Germany |
| Klaipeda, Memel | A city in western Lithuania on the Baltic Sea |
| Lubeck | A city in northwestern Germany and an important Baltic port |
| Riga, capital of Latvia | A port city on the Gulf of Riga that is the capital and largest city of Latvia |
| Rostock | A city in northeastern Germany near the Baltic sea |
| Tartu | A city of southeastern Estonia that was a member of the Hanseatic League |
| Broader | confederation, confederacy, federation | A union of political organizations |
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