Baltic Hospitality from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century

“This transhistorical volume explores the paradoxical nature of hospitality in the Baltic Sea region. Covering a multifarious gallery of social groups, the book demonstrates how deeply hospitality is interlinked with securitization.”

– Marek Tamm, Professor of Cultural History, Tallinn University, Estonia


“This book contributes to a very timely debate on the issue of immigration in Europe from a historical perspective. Its sophisticated and rich chapters are unified in their focus on hospitality as a transhistorical phenomenon.”


– Andrea Spehar, Director of the Centre on Global Migration, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Reflecting debate around hospitality and the Baltic Sea region, this open access book taps into wider discussions about reception, securitization and xenophobic attitudes towards migrants and strangers. Focusing on coastal and urban areas, the collection presents an overview of the responses of host communities to guests and strangers in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, from the early eleventh century to the twentieth. The chapters investigate why and how diverse categories of strangers including migrants, war refugees, prisoners of war, merchants, missionaries and vagrants, were portrayed as threats to local populations or as objects of their charity, shedding light on the current predicament facing many European countries. Emphasizing the Baltic Sea region as a uniquely multi-layered space of intercultural encounter and conflict, this book demonstrates the significance of Northeastern Europe to migration history.

Sari Nauman is Associate Professor in History at Södertörn University and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Wojtek Jezierski is Associate Professor in History at Södertörn University, Stockholm University, University of Gothenburg in Sweden and the University of Oslo in Norway.

Christina Reimann is Postdoctoral Researcher in History at Stockholm University, Södertörn University and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

Leif Runefelt is Professor in the History of Ideas at Södertörn University, Sweden.