About 7-800 AD, when this area was not part of Germany, there was a major Viking trading center by the name of Hedeby in this area.
Germany 2001
Haithabu/Hedeby
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About 7-800 AD, when this area was not part of Germany, there was a major Viking trading center by the name of Hedeby in this area. |
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Archaeologists mapped it out like this |
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And with the museum complex being about where the center of the settlement was. The shield wall is clearly visible, even 1200 years later. One of the archaeologists told me there there were still a number of ships in the mud, where once the harbor was, and that they excavated only a few sites, to leave as much as possible to future studies, hopefully performed with advanced instrumentation. |
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This is maybe the most useful visualization - clearly a wealthy Viking settlement on the Baltic Sea |
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Here, in Viking style, a reminder of the first mention of haithabu in 804 AD |
In the museum, one of the actual Viking rune stones |
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| I stayed in Lübeck, a city I had long wanted to visit, and took the train from there to a town near Haithabu. The train went across a very long bridge, that you may be able to see in spite of window reflections. Next I got a ride on a Vespa from an old traveler, who took that thing and a sidecar all around Europe. From there I walked in.. |
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The huge structure, among other things, crossed this major shipping canal |
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Coming in from the road you can see in the layout. Here, the view from the Shield Wall toward the harbor. |
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Scholars have been working with data from the excavations to draw plans |
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Some working with artists to get the most probable renders of Haithabu |
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Hedeby was one of four major Viking trading towns |
