Today we made the first of what should be several day-trips by rail from Hamburg, this time to Lübeck. The morning was almost clear, just a few high thin clouds, and it was almost warm enough to go without a jacket; the best weather we've had in a couple of weeks.
Like Hamburg, Lübeck is an old port, opening onto the Baltic (the Ostsee on German maps). Hamburg connects via the Elbe river to the North Sea (Nordsee). Here's a Google map to help sort this out.
Back in the day, i.e. around 1590, Lübeck was the premier city of the Hanseatic League, a trade association of Lübeck, Hamburg, and a dozen other "free" (self-governing) cities. Money and goods flowed through and people got rich and built stuff, some of which is still there.
One thing still there is the Holsten Tor, a gateway tower meant to let visitors know that they'd arrived in the big apple for sure.
Picture has been straightened appropriately; towers lean.
Next door are warehouses of some salt merchants. Salt was called "white gold" for the value of trade in it.
Right one is labelled "1694".
Next we went up into the tower of St. Peter's, a decomissioned very large old church.
From the top, how about that, there's the Holsten Tor and the salt warehouses.
Turning the other way, there is the market platz and the Rathaus.
Click through on this for lots of detail.
The Rathaus was built to a high standard to reflect the pride of the head city of the League. There are three parts to it. On the left, the brick part with the tall green candle-snuffers is the original part. Note that the upper third is all facade! The round holes? To reduce wind resistance. Apparently they get some fierce winds here and the builders, probably wisely, thought that unsupported brick walls might blow over.
Pasted on the front of that is a bright white front porch added later. And then extending out at right angles is the "long hall," another addition. And its outer half—the part with 10, no 11 little candle-snuffers—again is half facade with wind holes in it.
We entered the Rathaus for a tour which was quite frustrating for us. Although it got us into some of the interior rooms, it was conducted entirely in German (well, duh). The frustrating part was that the guy giving it spoke well, clearly and with lots of expression, and was telling lots of interesting and funny things, to judge by the reactions of the other people. All wasted on us, of course. But the interior was interesting.
M. C. Escher, your staircase is finished.
This is the doorway to the room where the Hanseatic League held its trials. There are two doors, a tall one and a short one. Supposedly after a verdict, the innocent or acquitted person left, head high, via the tall door. A convicted person slunk out the short door.
Tall door for the innocent.
The courtroom is lined with ten portraits symbolizing the virtues of good government.
We couldn't figure out what the ten virtues were supposed to be, but they had good figures.
St. Mary's church was the first church built in the Gothic style (i.e. with pointed arches and flying buttresses) from brick, and it set a style copied all over northern Europe.
The inside, having been restored from bomb damage, is fairly plain.
At one end, bells fell from the burning tower and smashed on the floor. They've been left in place as a memorial.
We took a boat ride around the perimeter of the city but it didn't show us anything much new. We may be getting a bit burned out. (Yah think?) And so home to blog.
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