Heiligenhafen and our Day Trip to Lübeck, Germany

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The town of Heiligenhafen is very close to the marina and is an old fishing town that has remade itself into a tourist destination. We arrived on the weekend and found the marina to be very active. Our short walk into town took us to the center of town where there was an open town square with a recently used Maypole and several restaurants with tables and umbrellas outside. We had dinner in one and once again Janice’s German proved to be very useful. We have noticed that there are few English speakers in Germany which surprised us when in tourist areas. We took a walk after dinner and found the town to be very pleasant with several older buildings which obviously had been carefully renovated. Several of the streets had open shops with large amounts of goods on the sidewalk. There were also several upscale shops and a few small markets.

The next day we got up and went into town to find the Information Bureau (always Janice’s first stop in any town). We also found the bus stop where we would catch the bus to Lübeck on Monday. On the return back to the boat we passed through a part of town which was where the commercial harbor was located. It reminded us of those fishing towns in New England that had been converted to tourist traps with all the shops, fish restaurants and ice cream stalls. There was one small fishing boat tied up to the quay selling fresh flounder which seemed to be going fast. The three people who manned the boat looked like they had been doing this for a long time. The boat was amazingly small considering what it did, it looked like a regular fishing boat with a pilot-house and forward deck space but it had to be no more than 30 foot long.

The marina was very well laid out and the docks were surprisingly high. Getting off our bow was made much easier because of this. Adjacent to the marina was a development which was in the process of building a number of summer homes. These are obviously high-end structures because they were all getting thatch roofs. As we walked through the construction area we passed what looked like a real estate office advertising the new development which will definitely change the looks of the area. As we continued to walk we discovered a long pier which appeared to be quite new and easily several hundred yards long. We got there just about at the right time and were able to watch the sunset over the Baltic.

One of the main reasons we sailed to Heiligenhafen was to catch the train from here to visit the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Germany. It is one of the major ports in Germany located on the River Trave and had been the “capital” of the Hanseatic League for several centuries. Being a merchant back in the Middle Ages was not easy. Those that traveled peddling their wares were easy marks for local lords demanding heavy tolls for movement between the various provinces. Those that decided to travel by sea between ports were subject to attack by pirates. The answer was the formation of an alliance between the cities surrounding the Baltic. Before this League was formalized Lübeck which had access to both the Baltic and the North Sea fishing grounds joined in 1241 with Hamburg which at that time controlled the salt trade from Luneburg. With this alliance both cities now had most of the control of the salt-fish trade. International trading in the Baltic region was difficult at best until the development of the Hanseatic League in 1356. The League involved 170 cities as far reaching as London, Venice, throughout Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Russia.

The Hanseatic League wielded both economic and military might. They built lighthouses and led expeditions against pirates and even raised an armed force that defeated the Danish military. The League was not able to withstand the rise of new nation-states of the 15^th century and the shift of trade to the Atlantic ports after the discovery of the New World. Its last formal meeting as a League was in 1669 and its membership dwindled to the core cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck when it was finally disintegrated in 1863.

We first took a short bus trip to a nearby town to catch the 1 ¼ hour train to of Lübeck. It was a pleasant way to travel allowing us time to relax before our full day of walking around town. The weather was perfect for a day of exploring, sunny but not too warm. One of the things you notice immediately when you walk through towns in this part of the Baltic, all the old buildings are made of red brick. The official name for this style of architecture is Brick Gothic. It was common in northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the areas around the Baltic because they have no natural stone for building material. As we could see by the coastline that we sailed by this is a very sandy area. Red brick has been used as a building material here since the 12^th century. This style lacks figural architectural sculptures which are common in Gothic architecture which we had been seeing up to now. Now the various colors of the brick and patterns used when laying the brick make up the striking design elements. Hopefully some of this will show in the photos. Grand buildings constructed during this period were intended to rival the great stone cathedrals of central and southern Europe.

We stopped first at the Visitor Centre where we rented an audiotape guide so we could walk around at our own pace. The first stop right across the street was one of the most photographed sights in town, the Holsten Gate. The need for protection kept increasing and the original 3 city gates of Lübeck were fortified over time with a complex system of an inner, middle and outer gate. The Holsten Gate dates from 1478.

It took us the full day to make it to the 22 stops on the tour. One of the stops was at Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church) which took from 1250 to 1350 to construct. It is Germany’s third-largest church and it is the tallest building in the historic part of the city. The high-rising Gothic style that had been used in France was adapted to the German brick and it has the highest brick vault in the world at 125 feet. Unfortunately in 1942 in a Royal Air Force bombing raid the church was almost completely destroyed along with about one-fifth of the city center. The bells of the church fell during the fire and created a hole in the floor where they still remain to this day as a stark reminder of the destruction that occurred. Reconstruction of the church began in 1947 and 12 years later it was completed. When you see the photos of the damage that was done it is amazing to imagine how they were able to complete it within this time frame especially with all that had to be re-built.

Another point of interest on the tour were the “alleys” called gangs. Typically houses lined the streets and backed up to a central courtyard. With the success of the trades and the growth of the city housing was in great shortage. The merchants that owned the house on the street cut “alleyways” into the central courtyards allowing access to the inner courtyard. Small homes were built in the central courtyards for the laborers to live in. The rich merchants saw this as an opportunity and built as many small homes as they could in these courtyards. The result was that some of these homes are two-story and each story contains only one small room. Today some of these one room places have been combined and continue to provide residences for many in a very attractive setting. Once you know they are here we were able to find a number of “gangs” (alleys) that we were able to meander through. Some of the entrances are not only narrow, but they are also low and you actually had to bend down to enter. We learned that the only regulation was that they had to be wide enough to be able to carry a coffin through. Now with people having to move furniture in, we wondered if this is where Ikea got its start!

In 1230 the construction of the Town Hall was started and not completed until 1308 which explains the various architectural styles used in the one building. In fact it is three buildings that have been linked together. It is an impressive backdrop to the central market square of the city. Later a much more ornate external staircase was added.

The Brotherhood of Captains founded in 1401 owned a home that was built in 1535 and still exist today. The banquet tables and benches are the original ones and are still in use. From the outside you can easily see its connection to the sea with its weather vane in the shape of a ship and the design over the doorway. It has been used as a restaurant since 1868 and is still functioning that way today.

Fortunately the last stop was Café Niederegger which specializes in anything made from marzipan. It has been in business since 1806 and is quite a popular tourist spot today. Of course we could not leave without sampling some of their wares and we definitely understand the attraction.

These were only a few of the interesting stops on the walking tour – hopefully the photos will give you a glimpse of this magnificent City.

Heiligenhafen has been a nice stop but on Tuesday it was time to move on to another town further east in Germany.

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Photos

The Importance of the Sea & Its Sailing Vessels
is shown on this mural in the town of Heiligenhafen, Germany

Decorative Details Created All With Brick
One one seen in Heiligenhafen, Germany -never realized how much can be done with brick

One of Many of the More Traditional Sailing Vessels
we saw while in Heiligenhafen, Germany

Agricultural Fields Seen
while on the train to Lubeck

Plenty of Wind Turbines
seen while on the train to Lubeck

The Most Familiar of the Gates in Lubeck
is this one called the Holstein Gate built between 1464-1478 which was one of 4 middle gates in the town.

Saltware Houses Built in the 16-18th Centuries
to hold the salt that was brought here from Luneburg and used for drying fish and as a trade commodity

When In Germany
Bob figured he "must" sample one of the "wurst"

Views of the City
from one of the church towers

Looking Down on the Town Hall
and the Market Square

The Various Colors of the Brick
and the way the bricks are laid make intricate patterns in the overall design

The Town Hall
is actually made up of 3 buildings connected together - this is one of them

Some of the Details
on one of the three buildings that make up the Town Hall

This External Staircase Was Added in 1952
to the Town Hall

View of St. Mary's Church
with its 125 ft brick vault being the tallest in the world

A Photo Showing the Destruction from the Bombing
during WWII of St. Mary's Church