The former free imperial city and Hanseatic town of Lübeck is now a busy port and industrial center. The oval old town, ringed by water, preserves much of its medieval aspect. The Trave, which flows into the Baltic 20km/12.5mi north of the town, enables vessels of up to 6 m/20ft draught to reach the town's harbor, while the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, opened in 1900, gives river shipping access to the Baltic.
Boat trips
There are cruises round the town, the canals and the harbor, as excursion ships to Travemünde, to the Lauenburg Lakes and on the Elbe-Lübeck Canal.
At the west entrance to the old town can be found the very emblem of Lübeck, the massive twin-towered Holstentor (1477), now housing the Museum on the History of the Town (large model of Lübeck as it was about 1650; shipping).
At the north end of Königstrasse in Lübeck can be found the Hospital of the Holy Ghost, the best-preserved medieval hospital in Germany, founded by Lübeck merchants in 1280 as a home for the poor and the sick. In the entrance hall are Late Gothic carved altars and early 14th century wall paintings.
North of the Cathedral in Lübeck is St Anne's Museum, housed in a former convent dedicated to St Anne, which presents an excellent survey of Lübeck art from the early medieval period to the 18th C. Of particular interest are the sculpture and painting, together with works of art salvaged from Lübeck churches in 1942.
At the north end of the Markt in Lübeck is the Marienkirche (13th-14th C, restored), the model for many other brick-built churches in the Baltic area. It contains a tabernacle of 1476-79. In the south tower is a memorial chapel, containing the bells which crashed to the ground during a bombing raid in 1942.
Address: St Mary's Church, Marienkirchhof, D-23552 Lübeck, Germany
In the Markt, in the center of Lübeck's old town, stands the Town Hall, one of the most magnificent in Germany, built in the 13th-15th centuries in dark glazed brick, with a Renaissance addition of 1570 fronting the building.
To the north of the Marienkirche in Lübeck, at Mengstrasse 4, is the Buddenbrookhaus, famed as the setting of Thomas Mann's novel "Buddenbrooks". The house (1758; restored) belonged to the novelist's family from 1841 to 1891. At Nos. 48-50 is the Schabbelhaus (rebuilt after destruction during the Second World War; now a restaurant, with a traditional Lübeck interior).
At the end of Lübeck's Grosse Burgstrasse, the continuation of Königstrasse to the north, stands the Burgtor (13th and 15th C.), with remains of an old circuit of walls.
At the south end of Lübeck's old town is the twin-towered Cathedral (Protestant), founded in 1173 by Henry the Lion and enlarged in Gothic style in the 13th and 14th C (rebuilt after heavy war damage). In the nave are a font of 1455 and a fine Triumphal Cross group (1477) by the Lübeck master Bernt Notke. An adjoining building houses the Natural History Museum (special exhibitions only).
In Lübeck's Glockengiesserstrasse, which runs east from Königstrasse, is the snug and attractive Füchtingshof (No. 25), built in 1639 to house merchants' and sea-captains' widows.
Along Königstrasse in Lübeck is the neo-classical Behnhaus (1783), with a collection of 19th and 20th C art; works of the Romantic school, including in particular pictures by Friedrich Overbeck (b. in Lübeck in 1789). Adjoining is the Drägerhaus (art and culture of 19th and 20th C.; mementos of Thomas and Heinrich Mann, writers).
Address: Museum Behnhaus, Königstrasse 9-11, D-23552 Lübeck, Germany
Hours:
April 1 to October 31: 10am-5pm; Closed: Mon
November 1 to March 31: 10am-4pm; Closed: Mon, Mon
In the Passat Harbor on the Priwall peninsula, near Lübeck, is moored the four-masted barque "Passat", once a merchant navy training ship and now used by the German-French Youth Welfare Organization (Jugendwerk) as a hostel and training school (open to visitors during the season).
In Lübeck's Königstrasse, which runs parallel to the Breite Strasse on the east, stands the Katharinenkirche (14th C.), a noble example of High Gothic, now a museum (on the facade are nine figures by Ernst Barlach and Gerhard Marcks).
In the Breite Strasse (partly pedestrians-only) in Lübeck, at No. 2, is the Haus der Schiffergesellschaft (Shipping Company House; 1535), now a restaurant, which with its old furniture and furnishings gives a vivid impression of one of the old business houses of Lübeck. Opposite it is the Gothic Jakobikirche (St James's Church; 14th C.), with two historic organs.
Travemünde, now part of Lübeck, is the most fashionable and liveliest German resort on the Baltic, with its Kurhaus, Kursaal, swimming pool (sea water, with artificial waves), Kurpark and wide sea front promenade, all dominated by the Hotel Maritim (158 m/518ft; viewing platform). The old town huddles around the 16th C parish church of St Lawrence.
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Travemunde, Germany
Lubeck
