Conferences

International Conferences

In this directory, you will find the speakers, photos, and summaries of the annual conference series In Poseidon's Realm, which has been held since 1995. Within just a few years, In Poseidon's Realm has grown into an internationally renowned and well-attended conference. The key to its success lies in our cooperation partners, whose support enables us to organize events on current topics in underwater archaeology. Occasionally, topics that do not primarily belong to the field of underwater archaeology are also chosen, such as our eleventh conference on transport ceramics. Connections like these serve as important forums for exchange between terrestrial and underwater archaeologists as well as other scholars.

In Poseidons Realm XXXI

The Voyages of the Kogge and Co.

May 3–9, 2027

German Society for the Promotion of Underwater Archaeology

IN POSEIDON'S REALM XXXII

Under the patronage of the President of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen

Organized in close cooperation with

University of Bremen

German Maritime Museum

State Archaeology Bremen

Call for Papers

The cog was the ship type that underpinned the Hanseatic League's great commercial success in the Middle Ages. Compared to their predecessors, cogs are characterized by a bulbous, high-sided hull and were continuously refined from the 12th to the 16th century with a continuous deck and a forecastle and aftcastle. This enabled the cargo sailing ships to serve as "warships" even when armed, in the fight against pirates and in naval battles with opponents both within and outside the Hanseatic League.

The well-known trade routes of the Bremen Hanseatic merchants were the waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic. The trading posts and trading stations they visited ranged from Iceland and Bergen in the north to London and Bruges in the south. Bremen beer and handicrafts were traded for stockfish, wine, and cloth.

The discovery of the wooden remains of a shipwreck in the Weser River in 1962 marked a defining moment in German underwater archaeology. As a result of its recovery, scientific analysis, and conservation, the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven was founded. Dendrological analyses of the wood revealed that the cog was built around 1380. During emergency archaeological excavations conducted by the firm ArchaeoFirm in collaboration with the State Archaeology Office of Bremen, over 100 caulking clamps were found in 2022 in an excavation pit at Teerhof. In addition to these clamps, charred wooden remains were found in postholes suitable for a slipway.

Taken together, these findings suggest that there was a shipyard at Teerhof in the Middle Ages where the Bremen cog was under construction when it was swept into the Weser River during a flood in 1380. The Bremen Teerhof is thus the only archaeologically confirmed construction site of a cog to date.

The IPR XXXII conference aims to provide an international audience with a platform for presenting and discussing new findings in the fields of underwater archaeology, medieval shipbuilding, and shipyard and harbor sites from the Hanseatic era.

No venue would be more suitable for this than the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Bremerhaven!

The lecture portion of the conference will be complemented by field trips within the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and its surrounding area to archaeological sites and architectural landmarks that reflect the city's economic success. The aim here is to emphasize the importance of preserving cultural heritage in the ground and underwater. Questions regarding the Bremen Kogge, medieval shipbuilding, aspects of the Hanseatic League's international trade, and modern conservation techniques will be addressed using replicas in Bremen and the original at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven.

A guided city tour will also provide participants with insights into Bremen as a modern logistics hub.

As with all IPR conferences, in addition to the main theme, contributions from all areas of underwater archaeology and underwater cultural heritage are welcome.

You are cordially invited to submit your proposals for presentations or posters, including a title and an abstract of up to 250 words (as well as two images), by September 30, 2026, to the following email address: ipr@deguwa.org

All papers will be published in SKYLLIS – Journal of Maritime and Limnic Archaeology and Cultural History. Details regarding the academic program, the extensive supporting program, venues, accommodation options, etc., will be announced in November 2026.

The Organizing Committee: Dieter Bischop, Ralph Kunz, Lisanne Rinke, Ruth Schilling, Tassilo Schmitt, Peter Winterstein, Coordination.

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