On the trail of the Hanseatic League with LEGO – Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum | 21.09.2022-26.02.2023

From 21 September 2022 to 26 February 2023, the Braunschweig State Museum will present the new special exhibition “Hanseatic Stone Rich. A LEGO Journey through Time” in the St. Ulrici Brothers Family Museum. In cooperation with the European Hanse Museum Lübeck, LEGO Certified Professional Rene Hoffmeister has created unique living worlds that depict 800 years of Hanseatic history and restage it with the help of sound and light effects.

Fig. above: Detail © 2022 The LEGO Group, Photo: Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, Anja Pröhle

Six lovingly and multifacetedly designed large-scale models, a Hanseatic cog, a merchant’s house and a merchant figure provide entertaining access to the life of the merchants of the Middle Ages and modern times and answer the central questions of what the Hanseatic League actually is and what makes it so special.

The Hanseatic Worlds show the four famous Hanseatic gates in Novgorod, Bruges, London and Bergen as well as the Hanseatic Day in 1518 and the plague in Lübeck in 1367. Rene Hoffmeister built the medieval city coat of arms with the red lion out of LEGO bricks especially for the special exhibition in Braunschweig. Thanks to their smaller scale, the living worlds illuminate new aspects of history and captivate with all kinds of details. The LEGO stories tell of the major and minor events of the Hanseatic era and show how the merchants of the Middle Ages still shape our lives today.

The colourful journey through time offers an impressive and unique experience for the whole family.

Heike Pöppelmann, Director of the Braunschweig State Museum, emphasises the potential of the creative exhibits: “The hidden object pictures built from LEGO do not present the myth of the ‘Hanseatic League’ as a single story. Rather, they tell the stories through the centuries, with a particular focus on the diversity of history.”

Hanseatic City of Braunschweig
In the Middle Ages, Braunschweig was one of the largest cities in Germany. As it was located on major long-distance trade routes, the city was an important centre for trade and commerce and maintained intensive relations with other Hanseatic cities. For centuries, the city played an active role in the politics of the Hanseatic League and even hosted one of the regular Hanseatic Days in 1427.

Accompanying programme and guided tours
The special exhibition is accompanied by an extensive and varied programme of guided tours and events. On Sundays there are guided tours for the whole family and city tours for daycare groups and school classes. The programme is supplemented by lectures by experts on medieval architecture, the history of the Hanseatic city of Braunschweig or the structures of the Hanseatic League.

WHERE?

Braunschweigischen Landesmuseums
Schützenstrasse 21a
38100 Braunschweig

WHEN?

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 until Sunday, 26 February 2023

COST?

Adults 6 € | reduced 4 € | children (6-17 years) 3 € | free admission for children under 5 years