Editing History of Cologne (section)

=== Efforts for the Cologne trade ===
[[File:Heinrich Sudermann.jpg|thumb|Syndic of the Hanseatic League: Heinrich Sudermann from Cologne]]

In the 1550s, it became apparent that international trade was undergoing a fundamental change. Kontors based trade underpinned with trading privileges was losing cohesive strength; as overseas destinations were increasingly discovered, long-distance trade shifted away from the Rhine to the North Sea. [[History of Amsterdam|Antwerp]], which by 1560 had more than 100,000 inhabitants, emerged as the economic center of Europe and developed great commercial dynamism, displacing the Cologne merchants.<ref>Fernand Braudel: The perspective of the world, London 1984, p. 143</ref> In southern Germany, the imperial cities of [[Augsburg]] and [[History of Nuremberg|Nürnberg]] had also developed into important trading hubs; both cities had grown to over 30,000 inhabitants, almost the size of Cologne. This was also true for [[History of Magdeburg|Magdeburg]], which benefited from the [[staple right]]s on the Elbe.<ref>Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Kleine Illustrierte Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Stadt Köln, Cologne 2013, p. 72</ref> The Cologne wholesalers, who dominated the city's council, therefore sought to strengthen Cologne's position in international trade. In 1553, the Cologne commodity exchange was founded inspired by Antwerp practice, which allowed the trading of commodity contracts. Additionally, the bill of exchange business became established when the Antwerp finance business partially shifted to Cologne.<ref>Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Kleine Illustrierte Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Stadt Köln, Cologne 2013, p. 96</ref> In order to strengthen its traditional business branches &ndash; especially wine and cloth &ndash; Cologne became intensively involved in the [[Hanseatic League]] and in 1556 created the role of a syndic, a kind of secretary-general in an institution that until then had not known any representative.<ref>Gerald Chaix: Köln im Zeitalter der Reformation und katholischer Reform 1512/13-1610, Cologne 2022, p. 47ff</ref> The position was assigned to [[Heinrich Sudermann]] of Cologne, who was to use diplomatic means to prolong the old trading privileges. However, after [[Elizabeth I]] had taken up the government in England in 1558, it was not possible to make her endorse the continuation of the privileges for the [[Stalhof]] in London, whose importance therefore diminished over the years. After the relocation of the [[Kontor of Bruges|flanders Kontor]] to Antwerp and the construction of a respresentative trading post from 1563 to 1569, Sudermann struggled - ultimately in vain - to give the Kontor greater economic relevance.<ref>[https://www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/Persoenlichkeiten/heinrich-sudermann/DE-2086/lido/57c9595c96bad6.60738451 Rheinische Geschichte: Heinrich Sudermann]</ref> More successful was the initiative of the Cologne Council to strengthen the trading business on the Rhine by building a new stacking house (Stapelhaus) (1558-1561). The building allowed, above all, to handle the fish trade more effectively; despite all international adversities, Cologne still benefited considerably from the [[Stapelrecht]], that continued to remain in force.<ref>Christian Hillen, Peter Rothenhöfer, Ulrich Soénius: Kleine Illustrierte Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Stadt Köln, Cologne 2013, pp. 80, 88</ref>