Haithabu

Historical background

Hedeby on the Schlei near Schleswig was one of the most important Viking trading places from the 8th to the 11th century AD, where long-distance trade between the North Sea and the Baltic was transferred overland. A semicircular rampart, the Danevirke and a harbour protected the settlement until Norwegians and Slavs destroyed it around 1050 and in 1066. The place is therefore post-antique and shares with the Roman world only the later trade in silver and glass.