Lübeck photos
I believe I mentioned that I went to Lübeck recently, so of course a photo post is necessary! Well, it was not quite that recently, so I forgot some names of churches, but it’s not like there are architects or historians here, who will be offended at that XDDD
Wikipedia time! Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. Situated on the river Trave, it was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League ("Queen of the Hanse") and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In 2005 it had a population of 213,983.
The old town is on an island here, so everything is very compact. But still, you can spend all day walking there because everything is beautiful and looks very historical and you spend lots of time taking photos. Strangely enough, there were not too many tourists. And there were not too many places to get cheap food and not too many toilets either, which got a bit problematic at some point during the day XDD But still, the architecture and the friendly people made it worth going to Lübeck - well-meanining old ladies offered us to give directions twice without any prompting from our side, when we looked kind of lost and couldn't find the way on the map.
That’s the railway station, even that looks beautiful!
You can get to the old town over a bridge with sculptures. Sorry, here is a naked butt of one of the sculpture dudes XDD
As in pretty much any medieval city, Lübeck had a wall around it. The wall was demolished, of course, but two gates of the all still remained. This is the more famous one of the two - Holstentor. It is actually one of the most well-known German landmarks because its picture used to be on German money before the Euro was introduced.
Since it is a harbour, here are some medieval warehouses. Currently a shopping centre. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought it still smelt like herring XD
The streets looked really picturesque:
This is a puppet theatre, although judging from the posters with rather gloomy-looking puppets, it might have shows for adult audiences rather than children. Note the cute dragon:
Here is a view from the tower of St.Peter's church. The entry price was quite affordable, and you didn't have to use the stairs!
Not sure what church this one is, might be a Catholic one...
And that's the Dom cathedral, one of the largest churches in north Germany.
There are lots of cool-looking crypts in the church. Feels rather weird and creepy to have these huge ornamented coffins right there in the church... Apparently there is a funeral chapel of the grandfather of the Russian Empress Catherine II.
And there is a 17m long wooden cross, made in medieval times, too, by the artisan Bernt Notke.
More pretty houses:
The inner yards of the old houses have a particularly interesting atmosphere. These places look like museums, but there are actual people living in these houses:
This is the second remaining gate of the old city walls - Burgtor:
There is also a small museum harbour for historical ships. The first ship in the picture was a part of Nansen's expeditions in polar icewaters!
More interesting streets:
Local population XD
St.Cathrine's church:
Parts of the town hall. I couldn't get a picture of the whole building, because there was a market in town hall square, and all those sausage and fruit sellers' booths blocked all the view:
The city is famous for its marzipan, so of course I had to buy some XD
Marzipan fruits and veggies look very realistic!
I have eaten everything but the tomato now XDD
Wikipedia time! Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. Situated on the river Trave, it was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League ("Queen of the Hanse") and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In 2005 it had a population of 213,983.
The old town is on an island here, so everything is very compact. But still, you can spend all day walking there because everything is beautiful and looks very historical and you spend lots of time taking photos. Strangely enough, there were not too many tourists. And there were not too many places to get cheap food and not too many toilets either, which got a bit problematic at some point during the day XDD But still, the architecture and the friendly people made it worth going to Lübeck - well-meanining old ladies offered us to give directions twice without any prompting from our side, when we looked kind of lost and couldn't find the way on the map.
That’s the railway station, even that looks beautiful!
You can get to the old town over a bridge with sculptures. Sorry, here is a naked butt of one of the sculpture dudes XDD
As in pretty much any medieval city, Lübeck had a wall around it. The wall was demolished, of course, but two gates of the all still remained. This is the more famous one of the two - Holstentor. It is actually one of the most well-known German landmarks because its picture used to be on German money before the Euro was introduced.
Since it is a harbour, here are some medieval warehouses. Currently a shopping centre. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought it still smelt like herring XD
The streets looked really picturesque:
This is a puppet theatre, although judging from the posters with rather gloomy-looking puppets, it might have shows for adult audiences rather than children. Note the cute dragon:
Here is a view from the tower of St.Peter's church. The entry price was quite affordable, and you didn't have to use the stairs!
Not sure what church this one is, might be a Catholic one...
And that's the Dom cathedral, one of the largest churches in north Germany.
There are lots of cool-looking crypts in the church. Feels rather weird and creepy to have these huge ornamented coffins right there in the church... Apparently there is a funeral chapel of the grandfather of the Russian Empress Catherine II.
And there is a 17m long wooden cross, made in medieval times, too, by the artisan Bernt Notke.
More pretty houses:
The inner yards of the old houses have a particularly interesting atmosphere. These places look like museums, but there are actual people living in these houses:
This is the second remaining gate of the old city walls - Burgtor:
There is also a small museum harbour for historical ships. The first ship in the picture was a part of Nansen's expeditions in polar icewaters!
More interesting streets:
Local population XD
St.Cathrine's church:
Parts of the town hall. I couldn't get a picture of the whole building, because there was a market in town hall square, and all those sausage and fruit sellers' booths blocked all the view:
The city is famous for its marzipan, so of course I had to buy some XD
Marzipan fruits and veggies look very realistic!
I have eaten everything but the tomato now XDD