Hanseatic
modern
Stade's town history
1025 years of Stade at a glance
An important trading site developed on the river Schwinge as early as the 7th to 10th century. The only early medieval castle in northern Germany was the so-called Schwedenschanze. In the 8th century, there was already a market with a jetty in the town. In the 10th century, the counts of Harsefeld built a castle on the Spiegelberg hill, creating a centre of attraction of national significance.
Stade owes the first written evidence of the town’s existence, which was called “Stethu” at the time, to an attack by Vikings in 994. So the history of Stade goes back a long way. The Hanseatic period is particularly significant for the town, it was the heyday of Stade, but the Swedish occupiers also left behind distinctive buildings that are still standing today such as the Schwedenspeicher and the armoury. Many traces of history characterise the maritime jewel on the river Schwinge with four harbours and a wide range of tourist attractions.
Stade's history by the dozen
Fortification & lookout point
The most beautiful view over the new harbour and the Salztorsvorstadt can be enjoyed from the Spiegelberg, which was raised around the year 900. Around 1017, Count Siegfried of the Udonids dynasty began building a fortification here. At an impressive 11 metres high, it was achieved by stacking up mounds of earth and wood.
The Vikings are coming
The settlement was first mentioned in 994, when the Vikings lost a hostage, Count Siegfried of Stade. According to the chronicler Thietmar von Merseburg, the search for the nobleman resulted in all kinds of damage at the harbour market. The settlement was pillaged and many hostages died.
From the North Sea to Stade
Stade owes its first economic boom to the stacking rights granted in 1259. Anyone travelling up the river Elbe from the North Sea had to offer their goods for sale here for three tides and pay duty on what was not sold on re-export. The people of Hamburg persuaded the Archbishop of Bremen to change this rule.
Exclusion from the Hanseatic League
The city had been a member of the Hanseatic League since 1267. However, the two parties did not really see eye to eye. Due to inner-city conflicts, the city was "verhanst", meaning boycotted by the Hanseatic League, twice. In other words, Stade had to exit the League. Since 2009, Stade has once again had the official title of Hanseatic City in its name.
The "Silver Codex"
In 1279, those men in town who were considered the wisest recorded the "Stade Statuten", legal statutes and council election regulations. The oldest surviving original manuscript of the Middle Low German town law is known as the "Silver Codex" because of the silver fittings on its binding.
The time of the Swedes
Under Swedish rule (1645-1712), the city became an administrative centre and was developed into a fortress of European-wide importance. Striking buildings from this period, such as the "Schwedenspeicher", the armoury and the town hall, remain recognizable landmarks of the town today.
Stade's greatest tragedy
In 1659, large parts of Stade's town centre burnt down. The houses were rebuilt on the old foundations, including Stade's town hall. To commemorate this disaster, fire drills are still held every year on the Thursday after Whitsun.
Division of Stade
In the 17th century, Stade was divided into four neighbourhoods: The sand district, the bakers' district, the mountain district and the water district. This division was also the basis for levying taxes.
Part of the Prussian province
The town's turbulent history continues. After the Swedish period, Danish troops besieged the town (1712-1715). The city then became part of the Electorate of Hanover. In 1866, Prussia annexed the Kingdom of Hanover and declared it a Prussian province.
Starting signal for the economy
The industrial railway connecting the businesses in the Salztorvorstadt district was extended to the Stadersand harbour in 1951/52. This was the starting signal for a remarkable economic upswing. Several large companies settled on the Elbe, especially in the early 1970s. The aircraft industry was established in 1959.
An industrial centre of success
Carbon fibre reinforced plastics - also known as CFRP - are produced in Stade and are primarily used in aircraft construction. Today, a piece of the town is on board every Airbus aircraft. 120 companies, a research centre and a private university work in the "CFRP Valley" with the material that the future is made of.
The Hanseatic period
The heyday of the Hanseatic city of Stade
In 1267, Stade was one of the first members of the still largely unorganised Hanseatic League. Its interests were strongly focussed on achieving a balance with its trading partners Jutland and Flanders. It also traded intensively with Denmark. In 1259, Stade was granted staple rights, in 1272 minting rights and in 1279 the town laid down the rules for living together in the town and thus its own constitution in the Stade Statutes.
The first pier was built around the year 1000 at the foot of the Spiegelberg – where the harbour basin is located today. The fixed harbour basin was created as early as the middle of the 13th century. From 1373, Stade was represented at “Hanseatic Diets” and the city grew into a flourishing trading town. For a while then, it was more important than Hamburg, integrated into Europe-wide flows of goods.
In the 14th century, Stade was one of the Hanseatic cities of middling importance. The main traded goods were agricultural products from Jutland and the Lower Elbe region as well as cloth, spices and luxury goods from Flanders and Holland. During this period, the city had a foreign policy of its own towards its sovereign, the Archbishops of Bremen, as well as towards the Hanseatic League. In the 16th century, Hamburg largely took over the Elbe trade.
By integrating the “Merchant Adventurers”, an association of English cloth merchants, the city tried to boost trade again from 1587. However, this led to a dispute with the Hanseatic League, which resulted in Stade being banished in 1601. Excluded from the Hanseatic League, it fell to the status of a small country town.
On its premises at the city’s historic harbour, the Schwedenspeicher Museum houses a permanent exhibit on the Hanseatic League alongside temporary exhibitions. The Hanseatic League is brought to life with carefully constructed showcases and a collection of significant artefacts.
As an important part of Stade’s history, the Hanseatic League is also an integral part of the guided city tours. On the tour “On the Trail of the Hanseatic League”, the group will encounter a number of characters from the Hanseatic era and can listen to their stories. The culinary tour “Butter bei die Fische” focuses on different foods from the time of the Hanseatic League. It is remarkable how much of the food culture of that time is still relevant today.
The annual Stade Hansemahl can be traced back to seafaring in Hanseatic times. The Stade brotherhoods serve the traditional seafaring dish Labskaus at the public banquet. Guests gather at tables and benches in the historic Hanseatic harbour to enjoy the hearty meal. Labskaus is a puree consisting of beef, potatoes and beetroot. It is traditionally served with pickled cucumber, matjes (soused herring) and fried egg.
The Swedish era
The occupation of Stade
While the Reformation in Stade was largely peaceful, the Thirty Years’ War did not spare the town. Danish troops entered the town in 1625, and three years later the famous commander Count Tilly conquered the town. In 1632, the Swedes succeeded in capturing Stade. After a brief Danish occupation, they regained the upper hand in 1643. During the great town fire in 1659, more than two thirds of the town was destroyed. However, the roads were largely preserved: reconstruction began under the Swedish troops. The Swedes also left their mark on the town in the form of their military buildings: the armoury and the garrison’s victual house, known today as the Schwedenspeicher. The Swedish occupation also brought lively shipping traffic to Stade under the neutral Swedish flag. For almost 200 years, various troops occupied the town: Swedes and Danes alternated with the Hanoverians, English, French and Prussians. The balance of power changed constantly. Under Swedish rule (1645-1712), the city became an administrative centre and was developed into a fortress of European importance. However, the strains of Sweden’s European wars permanently weakened the town’s economic power. Stade became part of Prussia in 1866.
The upheaval
Until the 19th century, Elbe tolls were levied at the mouth of the river Schwinge, which ships paid to avoid being attacked. After the annexation by the Prussians, the de-fortification of Stade began: the demolition of defences and the expansion of the urban infrastructure. At the end of the 19th century, a wide variety of businesses settled around Stade’s town centre, followed by industry and commerce. The new harbour was built in 1880 and the town was connected to the railway network in 1881. In 1920, the lights came on in the truest sense of the word, as the town was connected to the national electricity supply.
Fortunately, the First World War had few noticeable consequences for the town, but a battalion from Stade was sent to the war in 1914. An airbase was built in 1934 – during the Second World War it was used as a military aerodrome. The population suffered from the war, but the town itself was largely spared from bombing raids. On the 1st of May 1945, British troops entered Stade and liberated the town from the Nazi regime.
Post-war & modernisation
The people of Stade took fate into their own hands and made the town a flourishing tourist and business hub in the 1950s. Stade has been an aircraft industry base since 1958 thanks to the Hamburg aeroplane construction on the site of the air base.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the economic boom set in with the establishment of large companies, power stations and subsequently corporations such as Airbus and Dow. This development and various subsidies made extensive and complex urban redevelopment possible, the benefits of which are currently reaped by residents and visitors alike. The old town is largely being pedestrianised and many old houses renovated. Around 460 architectural monuments in the city of Stade are listed in the register of cultural monuments. During excavations in the harbour basin in 1989, spectacular finds from Stade’s 1000-year history were discovered.