Representatives of the four Hanseatic cities of Visby, Lübeck, Soest and Dortmund met twice a year in Visby to handle the trade on Novgorod. All trade income was kept in Saint Peter's chest. The representatives of the cities had one key each, so it was only when all four met at the same time, that the chest could be opened.
With help of advanced camera technology, the age of the chest has now been confirmed: The oldest dating of the wood goes back to 1209, and the chest was built around 1240, only fifteen years after the consecration of the cathedral in 1225.
– That this mentioned chest has been here in the church since the 13th century is an incredible feeling. It puts the cathedral even more at the center of the history of Visby and Gotland, says dean Anna Lundgren.
Per Widerström, an archaeologist from Gotland Museum, has had the chest examined using dendrochronological dating. By studying, among other things, high-resolution photos of the annual rings in the wood, the original age of the chest has been determined.
Already in connection with the first plans for Hanseatic Day 2025, Inger Harlevi, project manager for the cathedral's 800th anniversary, expressed the wish that the cathedral congregation would make a copy of a medieval coffin as a symbol of the coffin that we know was in the cathedral during the Middle Ages. A process is now underway to see how the coffin can be displayed in the cathedral during the anniversary year of 2025.
“This coffin will be a unique addition to that celebration,” says Inger Harlevi.
A copy of the coffin will also be made.
Read more on the Hanseatic League website: Hanseatic chest from 1240 found in Visby.
For more information:
Inger Harlevi, projektledare
Mobil: 070-521 12 60
Epost: inger.harlevi@svenskakyrkan.se
