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Lübeck (;
Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...
also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in
Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
coast and in the state of
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
, after its capital of
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...
, and is the 35th-largest city in Germany. The city lies in
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...
, northeast of
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
, on the mouth of the River
Trave The Trave () is a river in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is approximately long, running from its source near the village of Gießelrade in Ostholstein to Travemünde, where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It passes through Bad Segeberg, Bad Old ...
, which flows into the
Bay of Lübeck The Bay of Lübeck (, ) is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. It forms the southwestern part of the Bay of Mecklenburg. The main port is Travemünde, a bor ...
in the borough of
Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes s ...
, and on the Trave's tributary
Wakenitz The Wakenitz is a river in southeastern Schleswig-Holstein and at the border to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Wakenitz's source is the Ratzeburger See in Ratzeburg. It is about long and drains into the Trave in Lübeck. The majority of its east ...
. The city is part of the
Hamburg Metropolitan Region The Hamburg Metropolitan Region (German: Metropolregion Hamburg) is a metropolitan area centred around the city of Hamburg in northern Germany, consisting of eight districts (''Landkreise'') in the federal state of Lower Saxony, six districts (''K ...
, and is the southwesternmost city on the Baltic, as well as the closest point of access to the Baltic from Hamburg. The port of Lübeck is the second-largest German Baltic port after the
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...
of
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
. The city lies in the
Northern Low Saxon Northern Low Saxon (in High German: ', in Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West Low German-speaking areas of northern Germany, with the exception of the border regio ...
dialect area of
Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...
. Lübeck is famous for having been the cradle and the ''de facto'' capital of the Hanseatic League. Its city centre is Germany's most extensive
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
. While the city's symbol is the
Holsten Gate The Holsten Gate (Low German and German: ''Holstentor'') is a city gate marking off the western boundary of the old center of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. Built in 1464, the Brick Gothic construction is one of the relics of Lübeck's medieval ...
, Lübeck's skyline is dominated by the seven towers of its five main churches St Mary's,
Lübeck Cathedral Lübeck Cathedral (german: Dom zu Lübeck, or colloquially ''Lübecker Dom'') is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck World Heritage Site. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral f ...
, St Jacob's (), St Peter's (), and St Giles'. The cathedral, finished around 1230, was the first large
brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by ...
church in the
Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...
. St Mary's, finished in 1351, served as model for the other
Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have reso ...
churches around the Baltic. It has the second-tallest two-steeples
façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means 'frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...
after
Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...
, which only surpassed it in 1880, the tallest brick
vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...
, and is the second-tallest brickwork structure after St Martin's in Landshut. Travemünde is a famous
seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...
, and its ''Maritim'' high-rise serves as the second-tallest lighthouse in the world at high. Lübeck is also known for Lübeck Marzipan.


History

Humans settled in the area around what today is Lübeck after the last Ice Age ended about 9700 BCE. Several
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were so ...
s can be found in the area. Around 700 AD,
Slavic people Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic language, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout ...
s started moving into the eastern parts of
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...
, an area previously settled by Germanic inhabitants who had moved on in the
Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roma ...
.
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...
, whose efforts to Christianise the area were opposed by the Germanic
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...
, expelled many of the Saxons and brought in
Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germ ...
allies.
Liubice Liubice, also known by the German name Alt-Lübeck ("Old Lübeck"), was a medieval West Slavic settlement near the site of modern Lübeck, Germany. Liubice was located at the confluence of the Schwartau with the Trave across from Teerhof Island, ...
(the place-name means "lovely") was founded on the banks of the River Trave about north of the present-day city-center of Lübeck. In the 10th century, it became the most important settlement of the Obotrite confederacy and a castle was built. In 1128, the pagan
Rani ''Rani'' in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, sometimes spelled ''Ranee'', is a Hindu/Sanskrit feminine given name. The term is the female form of the term for princely rulers in South and Southeast Asia and applies equally to the wife of ...
from
Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, w ...
razed Liubice. In 1143, Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founded the modern town as a German settlement on the river island of
Bucu Bucu or Buku is a hill island surrounded by the Trave and Wakenitz Rivers in Lübeck, Germany. It is also the name of a medieval Slavic castle, now ruined, on the island. Count Adolf II of Holstein founded Lübeck on the island in 1143. The ''Bur ...
. He built a new castle, first mentioned by the chronicler
Helmold Helmold of Bosau (ca. 1120 – after 1177) was a Saxon historian of the 12th century and a priest at Bosau near Plön. He was a friend of the two bishops of Oldenburg in Holstein, Vicelinus (died 1154) and Gerold (died 1163), who did much to ...
as existing in 1147. Adolf had to cede the castle to the Duke of Saxony,
Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German pr ...
, in 1158. After Henry's fall from power in 1181, the town became an
Imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
for eight years. Emperor
Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Uni ...
(reigned 1152–1190) ordained that the city should have a ruling council of 20 members. With the council dominated by merchants, pragmatic trade interests shaped Lübeck's politics for centuries. The council survived into the 19th century. The town and castle changed ownership for a period afterwards and formed part of the
Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settlement geography, settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and in ...
until 1192, of the County of
Holstein Holstein (; nds, label= Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germ ...
until 1217, and of the kingdom of Denmark until the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227.


Hanseatic city

Around 1200, the port became the main point of departure for colonists leaving for the Baltic territories conquered by the
Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after t ...
, and later, by the
Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. In 1226, Emperor Frederick II elevated the town to the status of an Imperial free city, by which it became the
Free City of Lübeck The Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck) was a city-state from 1226 to 1937, in what is now the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. History Imperial Free City and the Hanseatic L ...
. In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the Hanseatic League", being by far the largest and most powerful member of that medieval trade organization. In 1375, Emperor Charles IV named Lübeck one of the five "Glories of the Empire", a title shared with
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
,
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...
, and
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
. Several conflicts about trading privileges resulted in fighting between Lübeck (with the Hanseatic League) and Denmark and Norway – with varying outcome. While Lübeck and the Hanseatic League prevailed in conflicts in 1435 and 1512, Lübeck lost when it became involved in the
Count's Feud The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of religi ...
, a civil war that raged in Denmark from 1534 to 1536. Lübeck also joined the pro-Lutheran
Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...
of the mid-16th century.


Decline

After its defeat in the
Count's Feud The Count's Feud ( da, Grevens Fejde), also called the Count's War, was a war of succession that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark. In the international context, it was part of the European wars of religi ...
, Lübeck's power slowly declined. The city remained neutral in the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...
of 1618–1648, but the combination of the devastation from the decades-long war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade caused the Hanseatic League – and thus Lübeck with it – to decline in importance. However, even after the ''de facto'' disbanding of the Hanseatic League in 1669, Lübeck still remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea.


Napoleonic wars and aftermath

In the course of the war of the
Fourth Coalition The Fourth Coalition fought against Napoleon's French Empire and were defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, ...
against Napoleon, troops under Marshal
Jean Baptiste Bernadotte sv, Karl Johan Baptist Julius , spouse = , issue = Oscar I of Sweden , house = Bernadotte , father = Henri Bernadotte , mother = Jeanne de Saint-Jean , birth_date = , birth_place = Pau, ...
(who would later become King of Sweden) occupied Lübeck after a battle against Prussian General Gebhard Blücher on 6 November 1806 due to the latter's illegal use of the city as a fortress, in violation of Lübeck's neutrality, following the French pursuit of his corps after the
Battle of Jena-Auerstadt A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
. Under the
Continental System The Continental Blockade (), or Continental System, was a large-scale embargo against British trade by Napoleon Bonaparte against the British Empire from 21 November 1806 until 11 April 1814, during the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon issued the Berli ...
, the State bank went into bankruptcy. In 1811, the French Empire formally annexed Lübeck as part of France; the anti-Napoleonic allies liberated the area in 1813, and the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
of 1815 recognised Lübeck as an independent free city. The city became a member of the
German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire ...
(1815–1866) the
North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
(1866–1871) the German ''Reich'' (1871–1918) and the
Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...
(1919–1933). During the Franco-Prussian War, the battalion de Fusilier of Lübeck was part of the "2nd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 76". On the day of the
Battle of Loigny A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
the commander of the 17th Division, Hugo von Kottwitz, of the morning advanced in front of the Fusilier battalion of the regiment, urging them to "commemorate the bravery of the Hanseatic League". his attack in the north while the other battalions turned towards Loigny. This shock surprised the French so much that they were invaded by their flank. They fled to the Fougeu place and were kicked out of this. The battle was to become the founding myth of the last Lübeck regiment, 3rd Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 162, which was founded in 1897. When the battalion commander returned to Lübeck with his battalion, he was appointed regimental commander.


20th century

Under the Third Reich (1933–1945) the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
s passed the
Greater Hamburg Act The Greater Hamburg Act (german: Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), in full the Law Regarding Greater Hamburg and Other Territorial Readjustments (german: Gesetz über Groß-Hamburg und andere Gebietsbereinigungen), was passed by the government of Nazi Germa ...
, which incorporated the city of Lübeck into the Schleswig-Holstein province of Prussia, effective April 1, 1937. It thereby lost its status as an independent constituent state. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
(1939–1945), Lübeck became the first German city to suffer substantial
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
(RAF) bombing. The attack of 28 March 1942 created a
firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been us ...
that caused severe damage to the historic centre. This raid destroyed three of the main churches and large parts of the built-up area; the bells of St Marienkircke plunged to the stone floor. Nearly 1,500 houses were completely destroyed, 2,200 heavily damaged and 9,000 slightly damaged. More than 320 people lost their lives. The industrial area of Lübeck was bombed on 25 August 1944 and 110 people were killed. In total, nearly 20% of the city centre was entirely destroyed, with particular damage in the Gründungsviertel neighborhood, where the rich merchants from the Hanseatic League had once lived. Germany operated a
prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military priso ...
for officers, Oflag X-C, near the city from 1940 until April 1945. The British Second Army entered Lübeck on 2 May 1945 and occupied it without resistance. On 3 May 1945, one of the biggest disasters in naval history occurred in the
Bay of Lübeck The Bay of Lübeck (, ) is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. It forms the southwestern part of the Bay of Mecklenburg. The main port is Travemünde, a bor ...
when RAF bombers sank three ships: the SS ''Cap Arcona'', the SS ''Deutschland'', and the SS ''Thielbek'' – which, unknown to them, were packed with concentration-camp inmates. About 7,000 people died. Lübeck's population grew considerably, from about 150,000 in 1939 to more than 220,000 after the war, owing to an influx of ethnic German refugees expelled from the former eastern provinces of Germany in the
Communist Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. Lübeck remained part of Schleswig-Holstein after World War II (and consequently lay within
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
). It stood directly on what became the
inner German border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the West Germany, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not ...
during the division of Germany into two states in the Cold War period. South of the city, the border followed the path of the river
Wakenitz The Wakenitz is a river in southeastern Schleswig-Holstein and at the border to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Wakenitz's source is the Ratzeburger See in Ratzeburg. It is about long and drains into the Trave in Lübeck. The majority of its east ...
, which separated the Germanys by less than in many parts. The northernmost border crossing was in Lübeck's district of Schlutup. Lübeck spent decades restoring its historic city centre. In 1987,
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
designated this area a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
. On the night of 18 January 1996, a fire broke out in a home for foreign refugees, killing 10 people and severely injuring more than 30 others, mostly children. Most of the shelter's inhabitants thought it was a
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
attack, as they stated that they had encountered other overt hostility in the city. The police and the local court were criticized at the time for ruling out racism as a possible motive before even beginning preliminary investigations. But by 2002, the courts found all the Germans involved not guilty; the perpetrators have not been caught. In April 2015, Lübeck hosted the G7 conference.


Demographics

In 2020, the city had a population of 219,645. The largest ethnic minority groups are
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
,
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...
ans ( Poles), Southern Europeans (mostly
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in Italy, ...
and
Italians , flag = , flag_caption = Flag of Italy, The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , ...
), Eastern Europeans (e.g.
Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...
),
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, and several smaller groups. Population development since 1350: Population structure:


Politics

The current mayor of Lübeck is Jan Lindenau of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD). The most recent mayoral election was held in 2017. The Lübeck city council governs the city alongside the mayor.


Culture


Tourism

In 2019, Lübeck reached 2 million overnight stays. Lübeck is famous for its medieval city centre with its churches, Holstentor, and small alleys. Lübeck has been called "Die Stadt der 7 Türme" (the city of seven towers) because of its seven prominent church towers. Like many other places in Germany, Lübeck has a long tradition of a Christmas market in December, which includes the famous handicrafts market inside the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital (Hospital of the Holy Spirit), located at the northern end of Königstrasse.


Buildings

Much of the old town has preserved its Middle Ages, medieval appearance, with historic buildings and narrow streets. At one time, the town could only be entered by any of four City gate, town gates, two of which remain today, the well-known Holstentor (1478) and the Burgtor (1444). The old town centre is dominated by seven church steeples. The oldest are
Lübeck Cathedral Lübeck Cathedral (german: Dom zu Lübeck, or colloquially ''Lübecker Dom'') is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck World Heritage Site. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral f ...
and the Marienkirche, Lübeck, Marienkirche (Saint Mary's), both dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Built in 1286, the Hospital of the Holy Spirit at Koberg is one of the oldest existing social institutions in the world and one of the most important buildings in the city. The Hospital functions both as a retirement and a nursing home. Some historical parts have been made available for public viewing. Other sights include: *The City Hall *St. Catherine's Church, Lübeck, St. Catherine's Church, a church that belonged to a former monastery, now the Katharineum, a Latin school *Thomas Mann's house *Günter Grass's house *Church of St Peter *Church of St Lawrence, located on the site of a cemetery for people who died during the 16th-century plague *Church of St Jacob, 1334 *Sacred Heart Church, Lübeck, Church of the Sacred Heart *Aegidienkirche (Lübeck), Church of St Aegidien *the Salzspeicher, historic warehouses where salt delivered from Lüneburg awaited shipment to Baltic ports *The City of
Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes s ...
on the Coast of the Baltic Sea.


Music, literature and the arts

The composer Franz Tunder was principal organist in the Marienkirche, Lübeck, when he initiated the tradition of weekly ''Abendmusik, Abendmusiken''. In 1668, his daughter Anna Margarethe married the Danish-German composer Dieterich Buxtehude, who became the new organist at the Marienkirche. Some of the rising composers of the day travelled to Lübeck to witness his performances, notably Georg Frideric Handel, Handel and Johann Mattheson, Mattheson in 1703, and Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach in 1705. Writer and Nobel laureate Thomas Mann was a member of the Mann family of Lübeck merchants. His well-known 1901 novel ''Buddenbrooks'' made readers in Germany (and later worldwide, through numerous translations) familiar with the manner of life and mores of the 19th-century Lübeck ''bourgeoisie''. Lübeck became the scene of a notable art scandal in the 1950s. Lothar Malskat was hired to restore medieval frescoes of the Marienkirche, which were unearthed as a result of severe bomb damage during World War II. Instead, he painted new works, which he passed off as restorations, fooling many experts. Malskat later revealed the deception himself. Writer and Nobel laureate Günter Grass featured this incident in his 1986 novel ''The Rat (novel), The Rat''; from 1995 he lived close to Lübeck in Behlendorf, where he was buried in 2015.


Museums

Lübeck has many small museums, such as the St. Anne's Museum Quarter, Lübeck, the Behnhaus, the European Hansemuseum, and the Holstentor. Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets is a privately run museum. Waterside attractions are a lightvessel that served Fehmarnbelt and the Lisa von Lübeck, a reconstruction of a Hanseatic 15th century caravel. The marzipan museum in the second floor of Café Niederegger in Breite Strasse explains the history of marzipan, and shows historical wood molds for the production of marzipan blocks and a group of historical figures made of marzipan.


Food and drink

Lübeck is famous for its marzipan industry. According to local legend, marzipan was first made in Lübeck, possibly in response either to a military siege of the city or a famine year. The story, perhaps apocryphal, is that the city ran out of all food except stored almonds and sugar, which were used to make loaves of marzipan "bread". Others believe that marzipan was actually invented in Iran, Persia a few hundred years before Lübeck claims to have invented it. The best known producer is Niederegger, which tourists often visit while in Lübeck, especially at Christmas time. The Lübeck wine trade dates back to Hanseatic League, Hanseatic times. One Lübeck specialty is Rotspon (), wine made from grapes processed and fermented in France and transported in wooden barrels to Lübeck, where it is stored, aged and bottled. Like other coastal Northern Germany, North German communities, Fischbrötchen and Brathering are popular takeaway foods, given the abundance of fish varieties.


Education

Lübeck has three universities, the University of Lübeck, the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck, and the Lübeck Academy of Music. Th
Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences
is a central faculty of the University and was founded by th
German Excellence Initiative
The International School of New Media is an affiliated institute of the university.


Districts

The city of Lübeck is divided into 10 zones. These again are arranged into altogether 35 urban districts. The 10 zones with their official numbers, their associated urban districts and the numbers of inhabitants of the quarters: *01 City centre (~ 12,000 inhabitants) The ''Innenstadt'' is the main tourist attraction and consists of the old town as well as the former ramparts. It is the oldest and smallest part of Lübeck. *02 St. Jürgen (~ 40,000 inhabitants) ** Hüxtertor / Mühlentor / Gärtnergasse, Strecknitz / Rothebek, Blankensee, Wulfsdorf, Beidendorf, Krummesse, Kronsforde, Niederbüssau, Vorrade, Schiereichenkoppel, Oberbüssau ''Sankt Jürgen'' is one of three historic suburbs of Lübeck (alongside ''St. Lorenz'' and ''St. Gertrud''). It is located south of the city centre and the biggest of all city parts. *03 Moisling (~ 10,000 inhabitants) ** Niendorf / Moorgarten, Reecke, Old-Moisling / Genin ''Moisling'' is situated in the far south-west. Its history dates back to the 17th century. *04 Buntekuh (~ 10,000 inhabitants) ''Buntekuh'' lies in the west of Lübeck. A big part consists of commercial zones such as the ''Citti-Park'', Lübeck's biggest mall. *05 St. Lorenz-South (~ 12,000 inhabitants) ''Sankt Lorenz-Süd'' is located right in the south-west of the city centre and has the highest population density. The main train and bus station lie in its northern part. *06 St. Lorenz-North (~ 40,000 inhabitants) ** Holstentor-North, Falkenfeld / Vorwerk / Teerhof, Großsteinrade / Schönböcken, Dornbreite / Krempelsdorf ''Sankt Lorenz-Nord'' is situated in the north-west of Lübeck. It is split from its southern part by the railways. *07 St. Gertrud (~ 40,000 inhabitants) ** Burgtor / Stadtpark, Marli / Brandenbaum, Eichholz, Karlshof / Israelsdorf / Gothmund ''Sankt Gertrud'' is located in the east of the city centre. This part is mainly characterized by its nature. Many parks, the rivers ''Wakenitz'' and ''Trave'' and the forest ''Lauerholz'' make up a big part of its area. *08 Schlutup (~ 6,000 inhabitants) ''Schlutup'' lies in the far east of Lübeck. Due to forest ''Lauerholz'' in its west and river ''Trave'' in the north, Schlutup is relatively isolated from the other city parts. *09 Kücknitz (~ 20,000 inhabitants) ** Dänischburg / Siems / Rangenberg / Wallberg, Lübeck-Herrenwyk, Herrenwyk, Alt-Kücknitz / Dummersdorf / Roter Hahn, Poeppendorf North of river Trave lies ''Kücknitz''. It is the old main industrial area of Lübeck. *10 Travemünde (~ 15,000 inhabitants) ** Ivendorf, Alt-Travemünde / Rönnau, Priwall, Teutendorf, Brodten ''Travemünde'' is located in far northeastern Lübeck at the Baltic Sea. With its long beach and coast line, Travemünde is the second biggest tourist destination.


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Lübeck is Sister city, twinned with: * Kotka, Finland (1969) * La Rochelle, France (1988) * Wismar, Germany (1987) * Klaipėda, Lithuania (1990) * Gotland Municipality, Gotland, Sweden (1999)


Friendly cities

Lübeck also has friendly relations with: *
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, Italy (1979) * Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki, Japan (1992) * Shaoxing, China (2003)


Transport

Lübeck is connected to three Main Motorways (Autobahnen). The A1 Motorway is heading north to the Island of Fehmarn and Copenhagen (Denmark) and south to
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
, Bremen and Cologne. The A20 Motorway heads east towards Wismar,
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
and Szczecin (Poland) and west to Bad Segeberg and to the North Sea. The A226 Motorway starts in central Lübeck and is heading to the north-east and the Seaport-City of
Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes s ...
. Lübeck is served by multiple train stations. The principal one is Lübeck Hauptbahnhof, with about 31,000 passengers per day, is the busiest station in Schleswig-Holstein. The station is mostly served by regional rail services to Hamburg, Lüneburg,
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...
, the Island of Fehmarn and Szczecin (Poland). There are some long-distance trains to Munich, Frankfurt-am-Main and Cologne. During the summer holidays, there are many extra rail services. Until the end of 2019, Lübeck was a stop on the "Vogelfluglinie" train line from Hamburg to Copenhagen (Denmark). Public transport by bus is organized by the Lübeck City-Traffic-Company (Lübecker Stadtverkehr). There are 40 bus lines serving the city and the area around Lübeck, in addition to regional bus services. The district of
Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes s ...
is on the Baltic Sea and has the city's main port. The Scandinavienkai (the quay of Scandinavia) is the departure point for ferry routes to Malmö and Trelleborg (Sweden); Liepāja (Latvia); Helsinki (Finland) and Saint Petersburg (Russia). It is the second-biggest German port on the Baltic Sea. Lübeck Airport is located in the south of Lübeck in the town of Blankensee. It provides regional flights to Munich and Stuttgart and some charter flights to Italy and Croatia.


Notable people


Religion

* Laurentius Surius (1522–1578), Carthusian monk and Hagiography, hagiographer * August Hermann Francke (1663–1727), pedagogue, theologian, founded the Francke Foundations * Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693–1755), Lutheran church historian * Ephraim Carlebach (1879–1936), rabbi and founder of the Higher Israelite School in Leipzig * Joseph Carlebach (1883–1942), rabbi, victim of the Holocaust * Felix Carlebach (1911–2008), rabbi


Politics

* Johann Wittenborg (1321–1363), Mayor of Lübeck, lost the Battle of Helsingborg (1362), Battle of Helsingborg * Jürgen Wullenwever (c.1492–1537), burgomaster of Lübeck from 1533 to 1535 * George Wulweber, 16th-century Protestant who was tortured on the rack * Friedrich Krüger (diplomat), Friedrich Krüger (1819–1896), diplomat for the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen * John Rugee (1827–1894), politician in Wisconsin, USA * Gustav Radbruch (1878–1949), legal scholar and politician * Hermann Lüdemann (1880–1959), Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU politician * Otto-Heinrich Drechsler (1895–1945), Mayor of Lübeck 1933 to 1937, set up the Riga ghetto * Haim Cohn (1911–2002), Israeli jurist and politician * Willy Brandt (1913–1992), Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD politician, Chancellor of Germany, German chancellor * Björn Engholm (born 1939), SPD politician * Robert Habeck (born 1969), writer and politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens * Birgitt Ory (born 1964), diplomat * Beatrix von Storch (born 1971), Alternative for Germany, AfD politician, former Member of the European Parliament, MEP


Art

* Benjamin Block (1631–1690), German-Hungarian Baroque painter * Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), court painter of several British monarchs * Catharina Elisabeth Heinecken (1683–1757), artist and alchemist * Carl Heinrich von Heineken (1707–1791), art historian * Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869), painter and head of the Nazarene movement, Nazarenes * Johann Wilhelm Cordes (1824–1869), landscape painter * Gotthardt Kuehl (1850–1915), painter * Maria Slavona (1865–1931), impressionist painter, sister of Cornelia Schorer * Erich Ponto (1884–1957), actor * Walter D. Asmus (born 1941), theatre director * Justus von Dohnányi (born 1960), actor * Jonas Nay (born 1990), actor


Music

* Franz Tunder (1614–1667), organist and composer * Thomas Baltzar (c. 1631–1663), violinist and composer. * Dieterich Buxtehude (c.1637–1707), composer and organist * Andreas Kneller (1649–1724), composer and organist * Friedrich Ludwig Æmilius Kunzen (1761–1817), composer * Anja Thauer (1945–1973), cellist


Science

* Joachim Jungius (1587–1657), mathematician, physicist, and philosopher * Heinrich Meibom (doctor), Heinrich Meibom (1638–1700), medical expert, discovered the Meibomian gland * Hermann von Fehling (1811–1885), chemist * Robert Christian Avé-Lallemant (1812–1884), physician and research traveler * Ernst Curtius (1814–1896), classical archaeologist and historian * Georg Curtius (1820–1885), philologist * Friedrich Matthias Claudius (1822–1869), anatomist * James Behrens (1824–1898), entomologist * Friedrich Matz (1843–1874), archaeologist * Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn (1853–1927), invented the taximeter * Cornelia Schorer (1863–1939), one of Germany's first female physicians * Heinrich Lüders (1869–1943), orientalist and indologist * Justus Mühlenpfordt (1911–2000), nuclear physicist * Wolfgang Luthe (1922–1985), physician, psychotherapist and autogenic training pioneer


Writing

* Erasmus Finx (1627–1694), polyhistorian, author and church writer * Christian Adolph Overbeck (1755–1821), mayor and poet * Johann Bernhard Vermehren (1777–1803), romanticist and lecturer * Emanuel Geibel (1815–1884), poet * Gustav Falke (1853–1916), author * Heinrich Mann (1871–1950), novelist * Thomas Mann (1875–1955), novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 * Friedrich Ranke (1882–1950), a German medievalist, philologist, folklorist and writer * Jörg Wontorra (born 1948), sport journalist * Nicolai Riedel (born 1952), philologist, author and an editor


Sport

* Sandra Völker (born 1974), swimmer, won three medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics * Marie-Louise Dräger (born 1981), five-time world champion lightweight sculler * Tobias Kamke (born 1986), professional tennis player * Maximilian Munski (born 1988), rower, silver medallist at the 2016 Summer Olympics


Other

* Adam Brand (explorer), Adam Brand (c. 1692–1746), merchant and researcher * Christian Friedrich Heinecken (1721–1725), "the infant scholar of Lübeck", a child prodigy * Kurd von Schlözer (1822–1894), diplomat and historian * Hermann von der Hude (1830–1908), architect * Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), shipbuilder and company founder * Hermann Pister (1885–1948), Nazi SS commandant of Buchenwald Concentration Camp * Walter Ewers (1892–1918), flying ace of WWI * Hans Blumenberg (1920–1996), philosopher * Jörg Ziercke (born 1947), chief commissioner of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany), Federal Criminal Police Office 2004–2014


See also

* Bombing of Lübeck in World War II * Cap Arcona * Lübeck Airport * Lübeck Hauptbahnhof * Lübeck law * Lübeck Nordic Film Days * ''Lübecker Nachrichten''—Lübeck's only newspaper * Oberschule zum Dom * Ports of the Baltic Sea * Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival * VfB Lübeck, football and sports club


References


Citations


General and cited references

* * *


External links

*
Official tourism site
* ''The Jewish Encyclopedia''
"Lübeck"
by Gotthard Deutsch (1906).
Hanseatic City of Lübeck: UNESCO Official Website



Lovebridge Lübeck
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lubeck Lübeck, 1140s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1143 establishments in Europe Cities in Schleswig-Holstein Hanseatic Cities Landmarks in Germany Members of the Hanseatic League Populated coastal places in Germany (Baltic Sea) Port cities and towns in Germany Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea World Heritage Sites in Germany