Editing Hanseatic League (section)

==== Union of Cities THE HANSA ====
[[File:Hanse Bund.jpg|thumb|{{center|German language logo}}]]
In 1979, [[Zwolle]] invited over 40 cities from [[West Germany]], the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway with historic links to the Hanseatic League to sign the recesses of 1669, at Zwolle's 750 year city rights' anniversary in August of the next year.<ref>{{cite news
 |last= Lelsz
 |first= Jac.
 |date= 22 December 1979
 |title= Hanze-reünie in feestvierend Zwolle
 |trans-title= Hanseatic reunion in celebrating Zwolle
 |language= Dutch
 |url= https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010825142:mpeg21:p017
 |work= Trouw
 |access-date= 30 January 2023
}}</ref> In 1980, those cities established a "new Hanse" in Zwolle, named ''Städtebund Die Hanse'' (Union of Cities THE HANSA) in German and reinstituted the Hanseatic diets. This league is open to all former Hanseatic League members and cities that share a Hanseatic heritage.<ref name="New Hanse">{{cite web 
 |url= http://www.hanse.org/en/the_hansa/
 |title= City League The HANSE
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100817192442/http://www.hanse.org/en/the_hansa
 |archive-date= 17 August 2010
}}</ref>

In 2012, the city league had 187 members. This included twelve Russian cities, most notably [[Novgorod]], and 21 Polish cities. No Danish cities had joined the Union although several qualify.<ref name="Hammel-Kiesow3"/>{{rp|pages=199–200}} The "new Hanse" fosters business links, tourism and cultural exchange.<ref name="New Hanse"/>

The headquarters of the New Hansa is in [[Lübeck]], Germany.<ref name="New Hanse" />

Dutch cities including [[Groningen]], [[Deventer]], [[Kampen (Overijssel)|Kampen]], [[Zutphen]] and [[Zwolle]], and a number of German cities including [[Bremen]], [[Buxtehude]], [[Demmin]], [[Greifswald]], Hamburg, [[Lübeck]], [[Lüneburg]], [[Rostock]], [[Salzwedel]], [[Stade]], [[Stendal]], [[Stralsund]], [[Uelzen]] and [[Wismar]] now call themselves ''Hanse'' cities (the German cities' car license plates are prefixed ''H'', e.g. –''HB''– for "Hansestadt Bremen").

Each year one of the member cities of the New Hansa hosts the [[Hanseatic Days of New Time]] international festival.

In 2006, [[King's Lynn]] became the first English member of the union of cities.<ref name="West Norfolk">{{cite web
 |url= http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=24618
 |title= King's Lynn Hanse Festival 2009
 |work= [[King's Lynn and West Norfolk|Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk]]
 |access-date= 23 August 2010
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100513014127/http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=24618
 |archive-date= 13 May 2010
}}</ref> It was joined by [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] in 2012 and [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]] in 2016.<ref name="Richards2017">{{cite book
 |last= Richards
 |first= Paul
 |date= 2017
 |title= Six Essays in Hanseatic History
 |chapter= Introduction
 |publisher= Poppyland Publishing 
 |location= Cromer
 |isbn= 978-1-909796-33-1
}}</ref>