Lübeck, Germany
With a bit of luck and savvy navigation by our ship’s officers, we were able to beat the ferry traffic this morning and sneak into the port of Travemünde, Germany. Here we tied up along the river Trave for a visit to the final destination of our Baltic voyage - the historic, Hanseatic hub city of Lübeck, Germany.
For centuries, Lübeck was one of the capital port cities of the Hanseatic League, thriving as a center of maritime commerce and trade with both European and Scandinavian countries. As we’ve been learning about the Hanseatic League throughout this voyage, visiting the Hanseatic capital of Lübeck was a perfect way to wrap up the tour.
Before we entered the city, however, we started the day with a visit to the ship by the former Polish President Lech Walesa. President Walesa started out as a humble electrician in the shipyards of Gdansk during the 1960’s and 70’s. After losing work in the late 1970’s, he became instrumental in working to form Poland’s first large labor union. His leadership in the Solidarity movement against the communist government earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and ultimately led to his role as the first Polish president during the dawn of Poland’s democracy. It was a real treat to hear this man speak about Poland and his experiences as his country gained freedom from a half-century of communist rule.
After bidding farewell to our guest speaker, we jumped onto the buses to explore the city of Lübeck. We arrived in the city center and hopped aboard a few canal boats that took us for a water tour of the city. From here we could see the many homes built from the traditional, old warehouses used by the traders of the Hanseatic League.
We emerged from the boats for guided walks on the cobblestone streets of this gothic town with highlights including a tour of the St. Marien Basilica, a taste of the famous marzipan chocolates, and a finish at the Holsten bridge gate.
Having crisp, sunny fall weather was also a perfect bonus to the day’s ventures. This was especially true when we could celebrate with pretzels and beer on the back deck as we set out for a final evening of sailing in the Baltic Sea.
