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Queen of the Hanseatic League |
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Lübeck was founded in 1143 as the first German city on the Baltic Sea. The site was extremely promising - surrounded by the protective waters of the Wakenitz and Trave rivers, sailors were free to put off to the Baltic sea from its shore. The city's ruler sent his men to recruit merchants from Westphalia, from the Rhine, from Friesland and Saxony in order to help the newly-founded town blossom and flourish. But the town's growth remained stunted in the wake of attacks, fires and conflicts between the city's founder, Adolphus of Schauenburg and his lord, Henry the Lion. It was not until Henry the Lion refounded the city in 1159 that the project bore its first fruits.
Off to new shores! The merchants in Lübeck set sail for the herring markets in Schoonen, reaching as far as Gotland in the 12th century and penetrating further into the Baltics, all the way to Novgorod: the path to Eastern Europe was finally forged. Further towns sprouted up near and around Lübeck: Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin, Danzig, Elbing, Königsberg, Riga, Reval and Dorpat, all subject to Lübeck law. Thus Lübeck rose to head the Hanseatic League as the leader of the economic power in mediaeval times. The Hanseatic League had no navy of its own, no soldiers; it lacked an executive body and a separate budget. Nevertheless, merchants from the "dudeschen hense" were respected - and sometimes even feared - throughout the known world. Lübeck's merchants maintained contacts reaching from the Orient to Venice all the way to Russia. The League set up branches in the most important cities - Peterhof in Novgorod, Stalhof in London, Deutsche Brücke in Bergen and Haus der Osterlinge in Brügge. In the Middle Ages, the citizens of Lübeck were cosmopolites who, though intertwined in the hearts to their city, were at home all over.
The cog was their preferred mode of transportation. Merchants climbed aboard these large trading vessels, braving wind, waves and pirates to bring their goods to their destination. Because the Baltic Sea was Lübeck's lifeline, it is no surprise that the people of Lübeck, huddled safely as they are in the interior, still secured themselves a clear seaway - by purchasing Travemünde in 1329! When they acquired the hamlet for a mere 1,060 Lübeck marks, they had no inkling that it would one day become a large ferry port and a seaside resort with one of the richest traditions on the Baltic Sea.
Find out more about the Association of Hanseatic cities at
www.hanse.org
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1000 years of Lübeck history |
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Around 1000 At the point where the Schwartau and Trave rivers meet, the Wends found "Liubice" as a principality, a settlement of artisans and a marketplace
1138 The Slavs destroy Liubice
1143 Count Adolphus II of Schauenburg founds a mercantile settlement on the Trave
1157 The settlement is burned to the ground
1159 Lübeck is refounded by Henry the Lion
1170-1180 Construction is begun on the largest church buildings: Cathedral - St. Mary's - St. Peter's
1226 Kaiser Frederick II grants Lübeck the status of a Free City of the Empire
Around 1300 Lübeck becomes the leader of the Hanseatic League of cities (1358 first Hanseatic Day in Lübeck), an organisation of merchants created for the purpose of self-protection
1370 Peace of Stralsund after two wars waged with Denmark - peak of Lübeck's glory
1669 Nine cities of the German Hanseatic League meet for the last time in Lübeck. Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen carry on the legacy of the Hanseatic League as Free and Hanse Cities into the 21st century
1806-1813 Lübeck occupied by the French
1866 Lübeck joins the North German Confederation
1871 Lübeck becomes an independent state in the German Empire
Since 1900 Lübeck begins development of its own industry, gradually becoming a city of commerce and manufacture
1937 The Greater Hamburg Law terminates Lübeck's status as a Free City of the Empire. The city becomes part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein
1942 In the evening before the 29th of March (Palm Sunday), one fifth of the historic part of the town is destroyed
Since 1949 The restoration of Lübeck and the successful efforts to bring the historic part of town to its former glory draw international attention to the city as a prime example of monument protection and restoration
1987 Parts of Lübeck's Old Town are declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
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Welcome to Lübeck |
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Our Basic-Package with two nights in a double room, a ticket for public transport, Niederegger marzipan hearts and more
€ 95,- per person |
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Discover Luebeck 
