Explorations of a well preserved city financed by salt.
Lüneberg is located in northern Germany, a bit south if Hamburg. It’s a small city with some really adorable buildings in its historic center. No need to reconstruct anything. The bombs of WWII were mainly focused on the train station and factories on the edge of town. However, Lüneberg was in still in rough shape. Thankfully, the locals fought back against the plan to level the historic center and rebuild it with modern buildings. The city has been in active restoration since the 1970s.
Like many other cities in the area, Lüneberg was a member of the Hanseatic League, a medieval commercial and defensive network that dominated trade of the Baltic Sea. Hanseatic cities tended to be on the coast or with direct river access. Lüneberg, however, is located up a tributary that eventually meets the Elbe River, which runs through Hamburg into the North Sea. But Lüneberg had something everyone needed at the time, salt. Fishing was a big business in the medieval era and the only way to preserve the fish so it makes it to market is salt. Salt mine continued until 1980, but the salt trade waned in the 16th century. Less fish due to over fishing equals less need for salt. This left the historic center of Lüneberg with few renovations after 1600. Unfortunately, salt mining underneath the town has left issues with subsistence where the ground above is sinking.
Jana Irving The Ratsmühle, a former mill built in 1597. The water tower (brick tower on the right) was built about two decades earlier.
Jana Irving That building might be a bit wonky.
Jana Irving Very cute.
Jana Irving Kalandhaus, which was restored around 1900.
Jana Irving Heading towards Lüneberg biggest sight.
Jana Irving The Abtsmühle, a former warehouse or something near the river front. Judging by the name, an abbey used to have a mill here.
Jana Irving A tower and gate going over one of the bridges of the harbor. I can’t find anything specifically on this tower.
Jana Irving All I could make out from the white part on the previous picture is that it is possibly 17th century (even though that seems late for the style). Definitely restored in 1903-4.
Jana Irving The harbor of Lüneberg.
Jana Irving It’s full of restaurants and bars today.
Jana Irving And quite a few adorable buildings.
Jana Irving There’s that tower again.
Jana Irving Very cute.
Jana Irving The fish market used to be right here next to the river.
Jana Irving Too much cute.
Jana Irving There even is this crane thing.
Jana Irving Building from 1593. The rounded windows with the rippled brick seem to be a local style.
Jana Irving Narrow streets.
Jana Irving The top floors would have been used for storage.
Jana Irving A very cute house on a very narrow road.
Jana Irving The medieval town hall which a Baroque update. There aren’t many Baroque facades in town.
Jana Irving A series of awesome buildings behind the town hall.
Jana Irving Gorgeous building.
Jana Irving Das Schwangere Haus (the Pregnant House). I guess it’s a fitting name. I love that this is marked on Google Maps.
Jana Irving Heading into a mainly residential area.
Jana Irving Just so freaking adorable.
Jana Irving I wasn’t the only one fawning over these two houses.
Jana Irving This style is very similar to Neo-Gothic that was big in England in the 19th century. Although, not this house. It’s from 1516 (I love it when people put dates on their houses.)
Jana Irving So much cute.
Jana Irving Another over the top half-timbered house.
Jana Irving Found a church, St.-Michaelis-Kirche, once part of a monastery turned school.
Jana Irving Johann Sebastian Bach graduated from the St. Michael’s School.
Jana Irving The crypt. I love it.
Jana Irving This town is too much cute.
Jana Irving Shopping streets tend to have a mixture of very old, old and modern buildings. It’s amazing how many buildings survived.
Jana Irving Am Sande, the main town square.
Jana Irving Ooooo, I like this one.
Jana Irving The top portion of this building is from 1553.
Jana Irving Soooo many gables.
Jana Irving Die Alte Raths-Apotheke, still an active pharmacy.
Lüneberg absolutely surprised me. It looked like a cute city to check out while I was in nearby Hamburg. I never expected it to be so well preserved. It’s a rarity in Germany to have a city of this size that wasn’t carpet bombed to oblivion. Not seen here is the Salt Museum, which is closed on Mondays, the day I visited.
Check out my next update where I explore Hamburg!
or
Start at the beginning of this European adventure!
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