The Hanseatic League made a positive impact on the development of the German economy. The Hansa supported and spread trade and commerce, founded new and prosperous towns, and organized a revolutionary system of transaction. They created new wealth, allowed contact with the rest of the world through trade, and encouraged the arts through its prosperity. The Hanseatic League was an important era of the history of Germany.

The Hanseatic League was officially founded in 1369 when a small group of entrepreneurial merchants from Cologne and other Rhenish towns formed the alliance of German seaports of the North and South Baltic Seas. It eventually grew into an association of approximately 150 German towns. It was the first free trade organization in Europe (Buma). The purpose of the Hansa, or association of merchants, was to increase trade while, at the same time, protecting it. It also strived to spread commerce and, of...