Person

Klaus Störtebeker

c. 1360–1401 · 14th century · Also known as Klaus Stortebeker

Klaus Störtebeker (c. 1360–1401) was a leader of the Victual Brothers, a band of pirates who raided shipping in the Baltic and North Sea around 1400. Captured by a Hamburg fleet off Heligoland in 1401, he was beheaded in Hamburg with many of his men. He became a folk hero in northern Germany, and much of what is told of him is legend.

Klaus Störtebeker
Image: Élisabeth Daynès · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

Free and Hanseatic City of HamburgMilitaryHanseatic LeagueMilitary

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Klaus Störtebeker. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/klaus-stortebeker
MLA
“Klaus Störtebeker.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/klaus-stortebeker. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Klaus Störtebeker.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/klaus-stortebeker.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Klaus Störtebeker’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/klaus-stortebeker (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻