Editing Hanseatic League (section)

=== Quarters ===<!--linked from [[Template:Hanseatic League]]-->
From 1554, the division into ''Drittel'' was modified to reduce the circles' heterogeneity, to enhance the collaboration of the members on a regional level and thus to make the League's decision-making process more efficient.<ref name="Fritze">{{cite book
 |last1= Fritze
 |first1= Konrad
 |last2= Schildhauer
 |first2= J.
 |last3= Stark
 |first3= W.
 |display-authors= etal
 |date= 1985
 |title= Die Geschichte der Hanse
 |language= de
 |trans-title= The History of the Hanseatic League
 |location= Berlin
 |publisher= Das Europäische Buch
 |isbn= 978-3-8843-6142-9
}}</ref>{{rp|page=217}} The number of circles rose to four, so they were called ''Quartiere'' (quarters):<ref name="Pfeiffer" />

{| class="wikitable floatleft"
! Quartier (since 1554)
! Chief city (''Vorort'')
|-
| Wendish and Pomeranian<ref name="Natkiel">{{cite book
 |last1= Natkiel
 |first1= Richard
 |last2= Preston
 |first2= Antony 
 |date= 1989
 |title= Atlas of Maritime History
 |page= 33
 |location= New York
 |publisher= Smithmark Publishing
 |isbn= 978-0-8317-0485-8
 |url= https://archive.org/details/atlasofmaritimeh0000natk/page/33
 |via= archive.org
}}</ref>
| [[Lübeck]]<ref name="Natkiel" />
|-
| Saxon, Thuringian and Brandenburg<ref name="Natkiel" />
| [[Braunschweig|Brunswick]],<ref name="Natkiel" /> [[Magdeburg]]{{Citation needed|date= December 2011}}
|-
| Prussia, Livonia and Sweden<ref name="Natkiel" />&nbsp;– or East Baltic<ref name="Keating">{{cite book
 |last= Keating
 |first= Michael
 |date= 2004
 |title= Regions and Regionalism in Europe
 |location= Cheltenham
 |publisher= Edward Elgar Publishing
 |isbn= 978-0-8317-0485-8
 |url= {{google books |plainurl=y |id=6meikazgxksC}}
 |via= books.google.com
}}</ref>{{rp|pages=47,120}}
| [[Danzig]] (now Gdańsk)<ref name="Natkiel" />
|-
| Rhine, Westphalia and the Netherlands<ref name="Natkiel" />
| [[Cologne]]<ref name="Natkiel" />
|}
{{clear}}

This division was however not adopted by the ''Kontore'', who, for their purposes (like ''Ältermänner'' elections), grouped League members in different ways (e.g., the division adopted by the [[Stalhof]] in London in 1554 grouped members into ''Dritteln'', whereby Lübeck merchants represented the Wendish, Pomeranian Saxon, and several Westphalian towns, Cologne merchants represented the [[Duchy of Cleves|Cleves]], [[County of Mark|Mark]], [[Berg (state)|Berg]] and Dutch towns, while Danzig merchants represented the Prussian and Livonian towns).<ref name="Reibstein">{{cite journal
 |last= Reibstein
 |first= Ernst
 |date= 1956
 |title= Das Völkerrecht der deutschen Hanse
 |language= de
 |trans-title= The international law of the German Hanseatic League
 |journal= Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht
 |trans-journal= Journal for Foreign Public Law and International Law
 |volume= 17
 |issue= 1
 |issn= 0044-2348
 |location= Heidelberg
 |publisher= Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht
 |url= http://www.zaoerv.de/17_1956_57/17_1956_1_a_38_92.pdf
 |access-date= 30 April 2010
 |via= www.zaoerv.de
 |archive-date= 4 October 2011
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111004023752/http://www.zaoerv.de/17_1956_57/17_1956_1_a_38_92.pdf
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref>{{rp|page=38–92}}