The Research Centre for Hanse and the Baltic History (in German: Forschungsstelle für die Geschichte der Hanse und des Ostseeraums, FGHO) has been researching the history of the Hanse and its connections within the European economic area since 1993. From 1997 to 2015, the FGHO was part of the Archive of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck. Today, a team of five, led by Dr Angela Huang, is based at the European Hansemuseum.

The main task of the FGHO is interdisciplinary research and communication of Hanseatic history in its economic, political and cultural dimensions. The focus is on access to source material on Hanseatic history. Modern methods of digital humanities, in particular Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), are used for this purpose.

The FGHO is part of an international research network that brings together scholars from various disciplines. It works closely with the Hanseatic History Society and promotes exchange on the history of the Hanse and pre-modern economic interdependence in Europe through conferences, workshops and summer schools. Upon request, researchers have access to the specialised academic library – a collaborative space for international research topics.

Another focus of the FGHO's work is public history: through public lectures, cooperation with the media and close collaboration with the European Hansemuseum, the research centre helps to raise awareness of scientific findings and convey historical contexts in an understandable way.

Citizen science has been an integral part of the FGHO since 2020. Through the volunteer project ‘Read!Hanse.Sources.’, interested citizens are involved in source development and gain insights into working with historical documents.

The FGHO thus sees itself as an interface between traditional research, digital historical science and social participation – and as a place where Hanseatic research remains alive.