The Hanseatic Museum

The hanseatic league could be a sub theme to our trip. It was a really big thing from 1175 to 1669. It has had a resurgence in popularity recently because it ties together so many of the towns and cities along the Baltic.  It was basically a confederation of German merchants that would set up merchant houses and settlements in cities along the trade routes. They would communicate with each other and cooperate with each other to supply goods that people needed. For instance in Bergen they would ship out  dried fish and import grain from the baltic regions around Poland. The dried fish was mostly cod but it could be sturgeon,  salmon or saithe fish. The generic name was a stock fish which was dried fish that was not salted. The incredible amounts that were shipped worldwide boggles the mind today. The Hanseatic Museum is the most preserved Merchant's house in existence.  This particular merchants house was built in 1704. After the 1702 devastating fire that burnt down most of Bergen.

Lots of dried fish smelled a bit fishy

The king cod had a bump on the top of its head which was equated with a crown.  There was a king cod in most of the rooms we visited

Look closely and you can see that fish drying racks extend everywhere in this photograph

This is a timeline of important events for the hanseatic league merchant house at this location.

In this close-up you can see that at least half of the notable events are fires

This Dried sturgeon is not a king sturgeon

A very detailed boat replica

The Merchant had the best accommodations in the house. He had his own cabinet, work area and his own bedroom

The work area for the Merchant

From the work area there was a hidden tairway to the merchants summer bedroom

A peculiar rounded chest perhaps made from a barrel

Sleeping accommodations for the apprentices to the Merchant

A ceramic plaque showing an old Viking boat

Mr fish has seen better days

Had they installed the sprinklers earlier there would not have been so many fires

This is a glass floor that showed ruins from 1188.  The archaeological dig was able to date it from material found in the morter

This kitchen and dining area was in the only building that was allowed to have fire in it. The floors were all made of rock and special shoes were the only ones that could be worn inside it. There were no fires allowed in the sleeping quarters so they had no heat or light.

It was considered rude to point at someone with your finger. So when pointing needed to be done you would pick up the Pointing stick that had a carved finger on the end of it and then point with the stick.

This is the Blackboard where an apprentice's name would be written down if he had violated the rules. Then during Court session he would be pointed out with the Pointing stick and possibly beaten with a dried bull penis as punishment 

The Gathering and eating areas were quite spacious

I'm not sure if the sky lights were authentic or not, but they would have been a great addition for this building

The slab worked on cod liver oil. You could refill the oil and insert wicks without any disassembly