Abstract
Compared to the neighbouring countries in the North Atlantic, very few sites in the Faroe Islands can be interpreted as trading sites ascribed to German merchants. This paper deals with physical evidence found around the islands that might attest to such activity. It is based on place-name evidence, local oral traditions, and, not least, archaeological remains, such as buildings and artefacts. A few sites are examined, and the presence of the Germans in the capital of Tórshavn is particularly discussed. Two of the most characteristic buildings at the peninsula of Tinganes, the Munkastovan and Leigubúðin, are reinterpreted. The site of Krambatangi on the island of Suðuroy is equally important for this discussion. Archaeological investigations took place there in 1952. The place-name as well as local tradition connected to the site suggest the presence of a merchants’ booth – a trading site – located by a very fine natural harbour. The site is located close to the local assembly site in the village of Øravík.
Highlights
Compared to the neighbouring countries in the North Atlantic, very few sites in the Faroe Islands can be interpreted as trading sites ascribed to German merchants
We have to ask how we can approach this question in some other way and whether the presence of German traders in Tórshavn can be identified with any certainty
It is striking that one characteristic feature seen at Tinganes are the iron rings that are preserved along the coast, rings that have been used for mooring ships and vessels close to land from where the goods could be transported to the storehouses
Summary
The export from Iceland of stockfish is documented in the mid-fourteenth century and, because of the lack of written sources regarding the situation in the Faroes, it is assumed that a shift from cloth, which had been the main export product, to fish happened in the Faroes in this period.[2] During the fifteenth century German merchants increased their activity in the North Atlantic at the expense of English fishermen, and the Dutch made their appearance. In the early 1530s Frederik I of Denmark-Norway (1471–1533) enfeoffed the Hamburg merchant Thomas Koppen with the Faroe Islands, resulting in Koppen’s trade monopoly. He was a councilor of Hamburg and a leading figure in the spread of the Reformation there and subsequently he played a major role in the spread of the Reformation in Faroe. It was not until 1709 that the Danish king took over the trade and a broader Faroese Trade Monopoly started.[4]
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