The period of Napoleon's continental blockade from 1806 to 1813 is presented in the literature, especially in older publications, as a period of total decline for the Hanseatic merchant class. On the basis of the data of three companies handed down in the archives of Lübeck and Hamburg and other documents from that time, the author shows that the continental blockade triggered a general trade crisis, but that it was still possible with a company policy adapted to the situation...