It was a dreary day when I visited Lübeck, there was a light drizzle of rain at times and heavily clouded. But despite the weather I had a good time in Lübeck, although some sunshine would have been more than welcome! :-)
Lübeck is a Hanseatic city that was added to the Unesco World cultural heritage site in 1987. The city was bombed in 1942 and in the medieval town centre there were nearly 1000 houses destroyed and five of the seven church towers. In total about a fifth of the city was destroyed. But luckely Lübeck has since that day restored the valuable old buildings, making it an attractive old town again. You can still sense that the city has been partly destroyed. There are areas of newer buildings mixed with the old ones. This to me didn't make the city feel 'cosy', as I would expect from a historic city. But it was great to discover the old historic building inbetween the new. On this page I want to give you an impression of my visit to Lübeck. I hope you will enjoy reading it!
Different types of gables
Lübeck, old houses at 'An der Obertrave
I started off the day really early; I left home around 4 in the morning to catch my plane from Stockholm to Lübeck at 7 o'clock. That was great though, as that meant I would arrive in Lübeck really early and I had a full to stroll around and enjoy the sights.
This picture was taken early morning (around 9) and it wasn't that light outside yet; partly because of the dreary weather and partly because of the time of the day. I visited Lübeck in the middle of December, so the days are rather short and dark, hahaha, although it's not as bad as in Sweden.
I walked from the city centre towards the Holstentor and I was right away taken by seeing all the different gables on the houses. Of course I started taking some pictures right away. These houses are at the 'An der Obertrave' street and you can see several shapes of gables on the houses. I've seen more beautiful houses after that, but the bad weather didn't make me that enthusiastic to keep on clicking my camera. But this gives you a bit of an impression what Lübeck looks like.
Salzspeicher (Salt storehouses)
Salzspeicher (Salt storehouses)
I really loved seeing these houses, they are the Salzspeicher or in English : the Salt storehouses. While walking along the canal at the 'An der Obertrave' street, I could see the Salzspeicher on the other side of the water. They really looked great from here and I would say you have the best view on them from this side. The salt storehouses are located next to the Holsten Gate (see later tip) and that makes them really easy to find.
Salzspeicher (Salt storehouses
The Salzspeicher (salt storehouses) are from the 16th to 18th century. They were used to store the salt, or also called "white gold", that was brought to Lübeck from Lüneburg. From the salt storehouses it was transported on to Scandinavia. The salt was important as it was used to preserve food. These days the Salzspeicher have a totally different function; they are now in use as a fashion store.
Salzspeicher (Salt storehouses
Holstentor (Holsten Gate)
Holstentor (Holsten Gate)
The Holstentor is probably the most well-known building in Lübeck as it is used as a symbol for the city. It also used to be on the 50 DM bills before the Euro came.
This fortified gate is from the 15th century, with up to 3.50 meters thick walls. Once it was a bridgehead before the city. It used to have 30 cannons, although there was never fired a shot from them.
The gate is located a bit weird nowadays as a busy road goes on either side of the gate. But it is still worth while taking a look at. When I walked around the gate it amazed me how crooked it is. The whole gate leans down on one side, and it sank over half a meter into the ground since it was build. This is caused by the fact that the gate was built on moor land and peat and with those thick walls the gate is obviously a very heavy structure.
Holstentor (Holsten Gate)
When you walk to the backside of the Holstentor, you will have a view not only over the gate but also over the rest of the old city centre. You can see the many pointy towers of the Holstentor and the churches of Lübeck.
Inside the Holstentor is a museum. I didn't go here, so I can't tell you much about it, but this website might help you out a bit if you plan on going here : http://www.luebeck.de/kultur_bildung/museen/holstentor/. The Museum shows exhibits on Lübeck's early history, urban development and shipping industry.
Opening hours :
April until September: 10:00 to 17:00 o'clock
October until March: 10:00 - 16:00 o'clock
(closed on Mondays)
Ice World in Lübeck
Ice World in Lübeck
During my visit to Lübeck I was in luck that the event 'Ice World' was being held. I had seen ice- and snow sculptures on pictures before, and I always wanted to go to a thing like this for myself. So this was a great opportunity for me to go and take a look at Ice World.
The great thing about it is that you can see ice AND snow sculptures, or in this case even a sculpture that combines the two. I was amazed by how much detail there was in the sculptures and the great effect by using the combination of ice and snow. All the sculptures at Ice World were in a theme "The Bible - Stories from the Old and the New Testament".
Ice World in Lübeck
Ice World in Lübeck
Ice World in Lübeck
Taking pictures at Ice World is allowed, but it isn't all that easy as it looks. It was great to try some things out though.... hahaha, until my hands started to freeze! It was at least about -10 Celsius inside and after a while you really start to notice that; especially as I wasn't dressed for such cold weather. Outside it was dreary weather and +5 Celsius, and the cold is quite a shock when you get inside the tent.
Besides freezing fingers the bright spotlights might create a problem. Sometimes it was too dark to take a picture and sometimes you get the spotlight right in your camera which makes taking pictures impossible as well. The different colours of lights can have some cool effects though as you can see in this photo.
