Lübeck

Only a short trip by train from Hamburg and you are in the beautiful Hanseatic city of Lübeck. A relatively uninteresting walk from the Hauptbahnhof is soon rewarded when you reach the magnificent Holstentor, the old gate to the city built as part of the fortifications to keep the Danes at bay. The locals are very proud of this monument and that it was featured on the old 50 DM banknote before the introduction of the euro.

Like Hamburg, Lubeck is notable for its wonderful use of red bricks - many buildings feature the gothic brick architectural style. My walk around the city stopped off at many interesting points: the old Salt Warehouses by the river, St Peter's Spire and the Dom (cathedral) tucked away in a quiet corner of the city nearby a peaceful lake.  

The Salt Warehouses (Salzspeicher) by the river 

Heading back into a town there are many bars, cafes and restaurants along Hüxstraße. At one stage I was waylaid by a shortish middle-aged woman, a shopkeeper. She spoke a couple of sentences in German and once it became clear that I did not understand I suddenly found I was in possession of a 3m long steel pole. It then became clear that my task was to wind down the awning to shield her shop from the warm afternoon sun. It only took a couple of minutes and as I motioned to leave she thrust a generous portion of lollies into my hand. Somehow I think she keeps those lollies handy as they form an important part of a daily routine!

I had a good light meal of carrot soup at the nearby Löffelbar and a great coffee just down the street at Miera before continuing along Glockengießerstraße which features several 17th century Charity houses and the Günter Grasse-House where works of art by the multi-talented son of the city can be seen. 

The beautiful cloister at the Dom

The lake by the cathedral

Willy-Brandt Museum

But the highlight for me was 21 Königstraße, home to the Willy-Brandt-House. This contains some wonderful exhibits commemorating the life and considerable achievements of Germany's most successful socialist politician of the post WWII era. It traces his beginnings as the young radical, Herbert Frahm getting involved in left wing politics in the 1920s, his exile to Norway in 1933 to escape the Nazis and his eventual return to Germany to become the mayor of Berlin during the testing period of the early 1960s when Berlin became divided by the wall erected by the Russian sponsored government of East Germany (DDR). Later he became Chancellor of Germany and presided over some substantial reforms to German society: greater say for workers at workplaces, marriage law reforms and equal rights for women. Many things which now we take for granted as normal legitimate personal freedoms.

Throughout he had to manage the difficult relationship with the DDR and never lost sight of his ultimate vision that Germany be reunited, a dream that was achieved shortly before his death in 1992. 

This is supported by interesting documents such as his Nobel Peace Prize and the letter by the Nazi government in 1938 formally stripping him of his German citizenship. There are also lots of newsreels from the era, including a couple which show the contrast between how events such as the June 1953 uprising in East Berlin against the communist government were reported by the media in both countries.  

The letter revoking Herbert Frahm's German citizenship

Never seen one of these before

My final brief stop was at the magnificent Marienkirche which features the tallest brickstone vault in the world, and is Germany's third largest church. There was poignant reminder of  the horrors of WWII in  one of the chapels - the old bells left as they had fallen after a bombing raid in 1942.

I told you it was big!

The devil sitting on his stone

The fallen bells - may this never happen again

And outside Marienkirche there is a cute little fellow sitting on a fallen stone. When the building of the church began the devil believed they were building a wine bar. One day he learned the true purpose of the construction and in a rage he picked up a stone with a which to smash the walls.

His anger was only quelled when a brave citizen intervened and promised that they would build him a wine bar close by. So he dropped the stone beside the wall where it remains to this day.  And over the road is the wine cellar of the Town Hall!