Lübeck, Germany
Lübeck, Queen of the Hanse
One of Germany’s most charming and cultured cities with an impressive heritage, Lübeck was founded by Slavs around the year 700 AD. The original name, Liubice, in fact means the beautiful one, and this appellation applies still today. Emperor Barbarossa gave the city a ruling council dominated by merchants in the 12th century, which caused Lübeck’s politics to be determined by trade interests for centuries. In 1375, Emperor Charles IV named Lübeck one of the five “Glories of the Empire,” a title shared by Venice, Rome, Pisa and Florence.
Situated on the river Trave, Lübeck is the largest port on the Baltic Sea, an advantage which made the city “Queen of the Hanseatic League” in the 14th century. As the most powerful member of this trade confederation, a precursor of the European Common Market, Lübeck dominated the Hanse until its demise in the early 16th century. At its height, the League expanded to some 180 primary and associated cities, including places as disparate as London, Novgorod, Bilbao and Venice. As the city of Lübeck controlled the salt trade, its merchants became enormously rich. This wealth enabled them to become the new civic leaders, replacing the nobles and the clerus as the arbiters of power.
These merchants have left us a legacy in brick constructions of various sorts, which we admired on our morning tours. The elegant merchant houses and their warehouses with step gables adorn the city, as do seven impressive brick churches. Our first introduction to the city was from the water. As we made our way down the canals on enclosed boats, our guides pointed out the sites and recounted Lübeck’s long and distinguished history. Later on foot we passed the Holsten Gate from 1477 and the elegant City Hall, made of brick and covered with a slate roof. The Holy Ghost Hospital, a Hospice, was impressive even from the outside. It served as a home for the aged, a hospital and a place for pilgrims to spend the night. This institution, generally supported by the church, was in Lübeck an initiative of the merchants.
We visited St. Mary’s Cathedral, a Romanesque church with Gothic additions, where the noted organist and composer Dietrich Buxtehude worked for 39 years. Buxtehude also instigated public concerts called Abendmusiken (Evening Music), which were visited by the young J. S. Bach. Lübeck claims three Nobel Prize winners: Willy Brandt, the former German Chancellor, Thomas Mann, whose family and home are described in his famous book Buddenbrooks, and the contemporary writer Gunter Grass.
The afternoon provided us with ample free time for various undertakings, including tasting the marzipan specialities for which Lübeck is rightfully famous. While roaming the town, many of us made the inevitable comparisons with two of Lübeck’s sister cities of the Hanse which we visited on this expedition – Klaipeda and Visby – and noted many similarities.
In the evening we departed from lovely Lübeck, passing the town of Travemunde just before our Captain’s cocktail party and Farewell Dinner on the way toward our final destination Copenhagen. After much reminiscing about our Baltic adventures and wonderful camaraderie, we bade our farewells and said Aufwiedersehen, with hopes of meeting each other and the Baltics again.
