Hedeby: Scandinavia’s Southernmost Town in the Viking Age

Hedeby, the southernmost town in Scandinavia during the Viking Age, was one of the most important Viking trade centers. It was settled as early as 770 A.D. and is the site of several firsts for the Viking Age, including the earliest Scandinavian coins in 808 A.D. and the first Christian church sanctioned by King Horic around 850 A.D. Hedeby was surrounded by semi-circular ramparts that connected to the Danevirke fortifications.

A Town by Any Other Name

Hedeby has answered to many names. Frankish writers called it Sliesthorp or Sliaswich; an Anglo-Saxon traveler wrote “æt Hæthum”; Norse speakers said Heiðabýr, ‘the settlement on the heath.’ Today the site is Haithabu, just outside the town of Schleswig in northern Germany, where the Viking Museum Haithabu stands beside the old ramparts. In the Viking Age, however, it was a Danish town under Danish kings. The region passed out of Danish hands only in 1864.

Hedeby Gaining Influence

Hedeby first appears in writing in the Royal Frankish Annals for the year 804, when the Danish king Godfred brought his army to Sliesthorp on the Frankish border. Four years later Godfred destroyed Reric, a rival Slavic trading post on the Baltic coast, and moved its merchants to Hedeby. It was an early lesson in Viking economics: if you can’t beat a market, relocate it.

The town’s own kings left their mark in stone. Two runestones found near Hedeby were raised by a queen, Asfrid, for her son King Sigtrygg, who ruled the town in the early 900s. Later in the century the Danish king Harald Bluetooth held it. Around 980 he also built ring fortresses such as Trelleborg. Ships built for Hedeby’s shallow harbor were the smaller cargo craft described in our post on the boats Vikings used.

Losing Influence

Around 1050 A.D., Norwegian King Harald Hardrada plundered Hedeby and set fire to its ships and the town. The Polabian Slavs finally had their revenge in 1066 A.D. when they attacked the town. Those who survived the attack moved across the river to the town of Schleswig and built up Schleswig’s economy. Schleswig also benefitted from its position closer to the Baltic Sea as ships began to require deeper water to accommodate their draft.

Hedeby: A Town Preserved

Rising water inundated much of the town, which has been great for archeology. The water has helped to preserve wood and other organic material that would have, under normal circumstances, decayed and disappeared. The Viking Museum Haithabu contains many artifacts found at the site, as well as some reconstructed buildings. While this is one of the most studied archeology sites in Germany, only about five percent of it has been explored. Since 2018 Hedeby and the Danevirke have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hedeby shows what a Viking community looked like when trade, not raiding, paid the bills. Asgard Alaska’s future open-air museum will tell that side of the story too: the markets, crafts, and everyday work that kept the Norse world running. See where Hedeby fits in the wider Viking Age on our Viking Timeline. For another great trading town that faded, read why Birka was abandoned.

We look forward to bringing you the opportunity to experience the Norse way of life through Asgard Alaska. You can help us achieve that goal through a tax-deductible donation. We appreciate your support.