Lübeck

Lübeck was the leading city of the Hanseatic League, a group of towns who banded together for trade advantages during the 13th to 16th centuries. About an hour’s drive finds you beside the canal skirting the town’s medieval fortifications. Follow the walls to the north and enter the town through the Burgtor, a gate built in 1444, into Grosse Burgstrasse, whose tall, red-brick buildings have impressive façades. On the left the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital, three red-brick gables each separated by slim, pointed turrets, now serves as a home for the elderly. Turn right opposite the hospital, and on Breite Strasse you find the seamen’s tavern, now a restaurant, Haus der Scheffergesellcraft with its long wooden tables set beneath brass lanterns hanging from ancient beams. Farther down Breite Strasse you see the tall, slender, twin steeples of the Marienkirche, St. Mary’s church, rise above the town. In the nearby Marktplatz you find tourist information and the Rathaus, Lübeck’s impressive town hall, covering two sides of the square. Holenstrasse leads from the market square to the imposing Holstentor Gate , a squat fortress crowned by twin towers shaped like enormous witches’ hats. The gate houses the town history museum, which displays a model of the city in the 17th century, weapons, model ships, and instruments of torture. (10 am–4 pm, closed Mondays.)