During the late Middle Ages, merchants in Nurnberg sought to penetrate commercially into eastern Central Europe; in the first half of the 15th Century, valuable connections of this kind can be demonstrated. Among these Nurnberg merchants was the Landauer family, of middle-class rather than patrician status, who had chosen mainly Poznan as the center of their activities; from there, their agents Nicel Wild and Ott Sulmeister visited the cities of Breslau and Krakow. For research on the Eastern trade of the Landauers, an extant business letter written in Breslau on 29 November 1444 is of unique importance; it was hand-written by Nicel Wild, and gives an excellent insight into the trading company: There is information on the Organization of long-distance trading, on the news Service necessary to keep up with a constantly changing market Situation, on transport conditions, on prices, on the supply of, and demand for, goods, on competition, on personnel; even the name of a business partner in the East is mentioned. Conclusions can also be drawn as to the family's messenger and mail Service in general, and there is even mention of possible political dangers to trade. The Landauer company offered a variety of goods, e. g. various textiles, saffron, and pepper. From the East they exported mainly wax, skins and furs, and lead. The company put greater emphasis on quality than on quantity. The efficient Nicel Wild left the company, acquired citizen status in Poznan, continued to engage in trading, and finally became a Poznan patrician. After his departure, the second representative of the company, Otto Sulmeister, who as a relative of the Landauer brothers was also a partner in the business, was active in the East until around 1459 as an importer and exporter. Beginning in the middle of the 15th Century, Polish trade became stronger, being conducted in a more energetic and purposeful manner. This, in addition to the increasing attractiveness of the fairs at Leipzig, apparently led the Landauers to retire from trade in the East. In the meantime, a new commercial possibility had opened up for them: the mining produce in which they invested part of the large fortune they had made in the East.