Lübeck beckons

The first time I heard of Luebeck was when I was hurriedly booking a flight ticket from Germany to Portugal. Low-cost airlines occasionally take off from unheard of places, some of them extremely hard to get to. I was taught a lesson last year, when I booked the cheapest ticket from France to Porto. The St. Etienne airport turned out to be so far away from civilisation, we spent more money getting there, than on our flight tickets! Since then, I quickly look up the airport in question, to see if it’s easily accessible. This was when I came across a post about the ‘Hanseatic city of Lübeck’ being declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. I bought the ticket without further ado. I’d worry about getting to the airport later. There’s something about world heritage sites that thoroughly excites me.

Luebeck is about 60 kilometres from Hamburg, in the north of Germany. The river Trave surrounds the old town of the city, creating a moated island locked in medieval charm. The town’s biggest attraction is the Holstentor, the most significant of the four town gates into the island. While the front view (from inside the city) of the Holstentor is a continuous, richly decorated facade, the view from the outside presents three separate structures, two columns and a central block. The gate is now home to the museum of municipal history.

Holstentor, from the outside, along with the towers of St.Peter's and St.Martin's churches

Once inside the city, I headed towards the tallest of the churches. St. Peter’s provides a panorama of the entire city from its 50 metre high viewing platform. Though it didn’t occur to me as intensely breathtaking, the view gives you a gist of the city’s appearance. Apart from the six other towers that dominate the Luebeck skyline, what drew my attention was that the entire town is built in brick. I learned later that this sort of architecture, called brick-Gothic style, is a trait of regions around the Baltic Sea. This lent the city a very ancient, yet authentic feel.  

I walked into the oldest part of the city, the Marktplatz, where flea markets are in progress during the day. The town hall, called Rathaus, lies on one side of the Marktplatz, and is a magnificent structure. I’ve not seen anything quite like it before. An ornate facade rests atop an arched walkway. With a number of little spires and seemingly unnecessary holes in the structure, the Rathaus exuded a bewitching charm. The darkness of the brick added to its appeal.

Rathaus

Luebeck also has a reputation for its marzipan, a sweet made from almond and sugar. Right outside the Marktplatz lies a store of the most famous of marzipan brands, called Niederegger. I was advised to try some. Being a sweet toothed person, that turned out to be sage advice; the marzipan was delicious!

I spent the rest of the day walking along the narrow streets of the little town, always fully aware of the amount of brick around me. I was also struck by the sheer size of the churches. Compacted in tiny lanes, the towering structures gave me a crick in the neck, and made for distorted photographs. But I have no complaints. The more I absorbed the brick ambience of pretty Luebeck, the more it appealed to me, and the longer I wanted to linger.

View while crossing one of the bridges into Luebeck

Fortunately, getting to the airport was a ten minute bus journey from the Marktplatz! I couldn't have asked for more.