In 1594, the records of the Bruges offices of the Hanseatic League (then stored in Antwerp) were transferred to the Cologne archives. These records included copies of the protocols of the diets of the Hanseatic League.Joachim Deeters: Hansische Rezesse. Eine quellenkundliche Untersuchung anhand der Überlieferung im Historischen Archiv der Stadt Köln. in: Hammel-Kiesow (ed.): Das Gedächtnis der Hansestadt Lübeck, Lübeck : Schmidt-Römhild 2005, p. 427-446 (429), With the 1594 transfer, the Cologne archive became the most important repository of historical material concerning the Hanseatic League and thus concerning the history of Northern Germany in general, matched only by the municipal archives of Lübeck.
