Editing History of Cologne (section)

=== Trade routes to Flanders ===
[[File:DomusOsterlingorum.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kontor of Bruges]]: hub for Hanseatic merchants]]
[[File:Hansehausantwerpen.jpg|thumb|[[Oostershuis|Kontor of Antwerp]]: central place of Hanseatic trade in Flanders]]

For the Cologne commerce, the trade route to Flanders and the North Sea was of foundational importance. In the 16th century, it needed to be realigned as trading flows shifted from [[Bruges]] to [[Antwerp]], which emerged as the economic center of Europe in the mid-16th century.<ref>Fernand Braudel: The perspective of the world, London 1984, p. 143</ref> By 1526, the city on the [[Scheldt]] surpassed 50,000 inhabitants and outnumbered Cologne,<ref>Floris Prims: Antwerpen door de eeuwen heen, Antwerp 1951, p. 373</ref> and by 1560 Antwerp had doubled its population.<ref>J.A. Houtte: Anvers aux XVe et XVIe siècles : expansion et apogée. In: Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations. 16e année, N. 2, 1961; pp. 248-278, here p. 249</ref> In contrast, the importance of the [[Hanseatic]] [[Kontor of Bruges]] faded until the end of the 15th century, since Bruges could no longer be approached by seagoing ships due to the silting of the [[Zwin]]. Antwerp benefited from overseas trade flows; Portuguese merchants made the city a hub for long-distance import, for example to distribute sugar and pepper. Eventually, the Hanseatic League moved its Kontor to Antwerp in 1545 and had a prestigious new trading house built by [[Cornelis Floris II]] from 1563 to 1569; however, it was only used to one-fifth of its capacity. Cologne merchants found it increasingly difficult to hold their own against international competition. To avoid confessional unrest in Antwerp, Portuguese, Italian as well as Flemish merchants settled directly in Cologne. They imported grain and furs, but above all cloth and silk fabrics, which put them in direct competition with Cologne's production. At times, the non-Cologne merchants bundled a third of Cologne's long-distance trade.<ref>Gerald Chaix: Köln in der Zeit von Reformation und katholischer Reform 1512/13-1610, Cologne 2022, p. 217ff</ref>