Why Do Parts of Hamburg, Gdańsk and Amsterdam Look Alike?

And just what is a Hanseatic city anyway?

Dusk along an Amsterdam canal. Photo by Cathi Harris.

Strolling around the old city center of Rostock in northern Germany and in Old Town of Gdańsk, Poland, I noticed something interesting. They are both lined with the classic tall, narrow, brick buildings with curved gables that I think of as classic Dutch architecture. But the iconic merchant houses that are so symbolic of the canal district of Amsterdam actually have a much wider provenance.

All three cities were members of the powerful medieval Hanseatic League—a confederation of northern European cities and towns that dominated trade, commerce, law and politics there for almost 500 years.

At its height, the League comprised more than 200 cities across six different modern-day countries - from Bergen in Norway to Bruges, Belgium and east to Novgorod in what is now Russia.