Holstentor, the symbol of Lübeck, a red-brick city gate that defended the river-bounded Altstadt (old town).

Lübeck is a northern German city distinguished by Brick Gothic architecture that dates back to its time as the medieval capital of the Hanseatic League, a powerful trading confederation.

Lübeck is the largest Baltic harbour of Germany, and the port is a major employer in the city. Paper and wood products, fruit, grain, automobiles, salt, and fertilizer are among the cargoes handled, and there is a significant amount of ferry traffic. Other industries include shipbuilding, metalworking, and food processing; services related to finance, communications, and the tourist trade have become increasingly important. The city is also renowned for its confectionery delights. Since the 19th century, it has professed to be the “capital of marzipan,” thanks largely to the efforts of Johann Georg Niederegger, who developed a process to speed production of the almond-based concoction.

The Lübeck wine trade dates back to Hanseatic times. One Lübeck specialty is Rotspon, wine made from grapes processed and fermented in France and transported in wooden barrels to Lübeck, where it is stored, aged and bottled.

Lübeck’s seal, 1280

An earlier settlement in the area was named Liubice. Located at the confluence of the Schwartau and Trave rivers, 4 miles (6 km) downstream from the present city center, it was the seat of a Slavic principality and had a castle and harbor. The German city was founded by Count Adolf II of Holstein in 1143. This settlement was destroyed by fire in 1157, but a new city was built there by Henry III, duke of Saxony, in 1159. It developed rapidly as the main trading point between the raw-material-producing countries of northern and eastern Europe and the manufacturing centers in the west.

For a short time (1201–26) Lübeck belonged to Denmark, but in 1226 it was made a free imperial city by Frederick II. During this time Lübeck developed a form of self-government with its own laws and constitution. The “laws of Lübeck” were later granted to more than 100 cities in the Baltic area, and the example of Lübeck greatly influenced the economy and appearance of those cities. In 1358 the Hanseatic League made Lübeck its administrative headquarters. This event took place a mere eight years after the city’s population had been devastated by the Black Death. Subsequent decades brought increasing wealth to the city, but there were also periods of civil unrest (1380–84 and 1408–16) in which the artisans’ and craftsmen’s guilds actively opposed the city council, which was controlled by the merchants. The opening of the Stecknitz Canal in 1398 greatly facilitated the shipping of salt from Lüneburg. By the early 15th century, Lübeck was the second largest city (after Cologne) in northern Germany, with some 22,000 inhabitants.

Lübeck in 1493

Elbe-Lübeck Canal bridge
Photo by Arnold Paul

From 1866 Lübeck belonged to the North German Confederation and from 1871 to the German Empire. The city’s economy was restored with the construction of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal in 1900. Its status as a separate, self-governing entity, dating from 1226, ended in 1937 when the Nazi regime made it part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. In World War II a large part of the historic inner city was destroyed by a British bombing raid (March 28, 1942), but the area was restored during postwar reconstruction. At the end of the war, the city’s population swelled tremendously with the arrival of 100,000 German refugees who had fled the Soviet advance in the east.

The Marienkirche (13th–14th century) towering above the rooftops of Lübeck, Germany.
© Roman Sigaev/Shutterstock.com

The inner city of Lübeck was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. It retains a distinctive medieval character in its narrow cobblestone streets and its faithfully restored houses and shops, along with its ecclesiastical and municipal structures.

Among Lübeck’s outstanding monuments are the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church, a 13th–14th-century brick structure in the Gothic style), the Romanesque cathedral (begun in 1173 under Henry III), and the magnificent Rathaus (city hall), built in a combination of Gothic and Renaissance styles. Waterways and parklands outline the inner city, where the moat and ramparts once shielded it from attack. Two towered gates are remnants of the medieval fortifications: the Burgtor (1444), which received a new roof in 1685, and the famous Holstentor (1478), which has housed the municipal museum since 1950. Upon the archway of the Holstentor is the benediction “Concordia domi foris pax” (“Concord at home, peace outside”).

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The Pilgrimage Church of Wies

The Wieskirche, or Wies Church, is one of the most important places of pilgrimage in southern Germany.

It is situated between Steingaden and Wildsteig on the Romantic Road – or, to be more accurate, slightly off the road on a country lane to the small hamlet of Wies.

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life.

The Wieskirche is also one of the most famous works from the Rococo period of art and architecture and its position close to the Romantic Road, the religious attraction of Oberammergau and the Passion Play and the historic buildings of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau ensure that it is popular with many coach tours and day-trips from surrounding villages and towns.

Scourged Saviour, Wieskirche

Like many pilgrimage churches in the area, the prominence of the Wieskirche came about through a religious “wonder”.

In this case, it was a fairly prosaic statue of the “Scourged Saviour” which had been taken from the inn of the monastery in Steingaden by a farmer’s wife in Wies. In 1738 they claimed that they had seen tears in the eyes of the statue at their evening prayers.

Eventually more and more visitors came to see the statue and to pray and a new building was needed to accommodate them (and, of course, to promote the religious wonder and the economic benefits to the area).

In the mid-18th century the current church was built by the Zimmermann brothers, who were local artists and architects whose work in this period can be found all over Europe. The style is the elaborate gilt, stucco and art mixed in with white that was the feature of this Rococo epoch and which can be found in other Bavarian and Tyrolean churches and historic buildings.

The church was renovated in the 1980s to safeguard the original decoration and to bring the design more in line with the concepts of the artists at the time. It is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage protected buildings.

The church is of course used for normal purposes – visitors should note that sightseeing is not permitted during church services – but the principal Pilgrimage festival, the Feast of Christ’s Tears, is held on the first Sunday after June 14.

Cathedral of St. Peter and the Church of our Lady in Trier

The High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier (German: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter zu Trier), or Cathedral of Trier (German: Trierer Dom), is a Roman Catholic church in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest cathedral in the country.

The edifice is notable for its extremely long life span under multiple different eras each contributing some elements to its design, including the center of the main chapel being made of Roman brick laid under the direction of Saint Helen, resulting in a cathedral added onto gradually rather than rebuilt in different eras.

Its dimensions, 112.5 m length by 41 m width, make it the largest church structure in Trier. In 1986 it was listed as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The structure is raised upon the foundations of Roman buildings of Augusta Treverorum. Following the conversion of the Emperor Constantine the Bishop Maximin of Trier (329-346) coordinated the construction of the grandest ensemble of ecclesiastical structures in the West outside Rome: on a groundplan four times the area of the present cathedral no less than four basilicas, a baptistery and outbuildings were constructed; the four piers of the crossing formed the nucleus of the present structure.

View of the Cathedral at night. Photo by Helge Klaus Rieder

The fourth-century structure was left in ruins by the Franks and rebuilt. Normans destroyed the structure again in 882. Under Archbishop Egbert (d. 993) it was restored once more.

Today’s Cathedral still contains a Roman central section with the original walls rising up to a height of 26 m (86 ft). The huge fragment of a granite column next to the entrance to the Cathedral is another indication of the Roman origin of the building. After the destructions in the 5th and 9th centuries, the remaining nucleus was enlarged by Romanesque additions – today, the Cathedral, with its three crypts, its cloister, Cathedral Treasury, and Holy Robe Chapel, displays architecture and artwork from more than 1650 years.

Baroque stucco-work in the vault of the west-end choir

The West front in five symmetrical sections remains typical of Romanesque architecture under the Salian emperors. The West end choir, with its apsidal semi-cylinder expressed on the exterior façade, was completed in 1196. The interior is of three Romanesque naves with Gothic vaulting, and a Baroque chapel for the relic of the Seamless robe of Jesus, recovered from the interior of the high altar in 1512, complete the interior.

The Latin inscription above the clock on the tower reads “NESCITIS QVA HORA DOMINVS VENIET” (“You do not know what time the Lord is coming”).

The Seamless Robe of Jesus, the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during or shortly before his crucifixion, is the most well-known relic in the cathedral treasure. It is kept in an annex and shown to the public only infrequently, most recently in 2012. Beyond that, the Cathedral also has one of the Holy Nails from the Cross.

The skull of St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, is displayed in the cathedral. Decorated portable altar and sandal of St. Andrew is also an important relic of the cathedral.

Image credit

Maulbronn Monastery (Kloster Maulbronn) is one of Europe’s most complete and bestpreserved Medieval monastery complexes. It combines a multitude of architectural styles, from Romanesque to late Gothic, in one place – creating a unique atmosphere.

Construction of the former Cistercian abbey, cradled in the rolling hills of the Stromberg region, commenced in 1147. It was here that Gothic design was first implemented in the German-speaking world. In 1993, the monastery was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Maulbronn’s many buildings are enclosed by Medieval walls and towers. Architectural highlights include the Romanesque monastery church, the Gothic cloister, and the fountain house.

The monastery church’s entrance hall, the Paradies, takes its name from the custom of painting church vestibules’ walls with scenes from the Fall of Man. In Maulbronn, the last painting was completed in 1522. However, little of this work of art remains visible. The Paradies, the cloister’s south wing, and the monks’ refectory were constructed in the late Romanesque, transitional early Gothic style. These structures played a vital role in spreading the Gothic architectural style throughout German-speaking Europe.

Romanesque arcades, Gothic roof: the monastery church illustrates the transition between different architectural styles. Image credit

The Cistercians have traditionally worked the land. This is why their cultural and architectural influences extended well beyond the walls of the monastery. The surrounding countryside was formerly dotted with their farms, called granges. The Maulbronn monastery complex has been preserved remarkably well, and is an impressive representation of the region’s history and the Cistercians’ way of life.

After the Reformation, Duke Christoph of Württemberg, converted the complex into a Protestant boarding school. Its pupils included prominent scientists and writers including Johannes Kepler, Friedrich Hölderlin and Hermann Hesse. The school still exists, but is called today Evangelical theological seminary.

After being named a UNESCO World Heritage site, the monastery complex has become a world-famous landmark, attracting tourists from around the globe. It also serves as a concert venue, giving visitors the opportunity to appreciate the buildings’ out-of-the-ordinary acoustics.

The Island of Reichenau is located in southern Germany. It lies almost due west of the city of Konstanz, between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance. With a total land surface of 4.3 sq. km and a circumference of 11 km, the island is 4.5 km long and 1.5 km wide at its greatest extent. The highest point, the Hochwart, stands some 43 m above the lake surface and 438.7 m above mean sea level.

The island was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000 because of its monastery, the Abbey of Reichenau. The abbey’s Münster (minster church) is dedicated to the Virgin and Saint Mark. Two further churches were built on the island consecrated to Saint George and to Saints Peter and Paul. The famous artworks of Reichenau include (in the church of St George) the Ottonian murals of miracles of Christ, unique survivals from the 10th century. The abbey’s bailiff was housed in a two-storey stone building to which two more storeys of timber framing were added in the 14th century, one of the oldest timber-frame buildings in south Germany.

Reichenau is connected to the mainland by a causeway, completed in 1838, which is intersected between the ruins of Schopflen Castle and the eastern end of Reichenau Island by a 10-m wide and 95-m long waterway, the Bruckgraben. A low road bridge allows the passage of ordinary boats but not of sailing-boats.

The Benedictine Abbey of Reichenau was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charles Martel, and, more locally, Count Berthold of the Ahalolfinger and the Alemannian Duke Santfrid I (Nebi). Pirmin’s conflict with Santfrid resulted in his leaving Reichenau in 727. Under his successor Haito the monastery began to flourish. It gained influence in the Carolingian dynasty, under Abbot Waldo of Reichenau (740–814), by educating the clerks who staffed Imperial and ducal chanceries. Abbot Reginbert of Reichenau (-846) built up the important book collection. Abbot Walahfrid Strabo (842–849), who was educated at Reichenau, was renowned as a poet and Latin scholar.

The Abbey stood along a main north–south highway between Germany and Italy, where the lake passage eased the arduous route. The Abbey of Reichenau housed a school, and a scriptorium and artists’ workshop, that has a claim to having been the largest and artistically most influential centre for producing lavishly illuminated manuscripts in Europe during the late 10th and early 11th centuries, often known as the Reichenau School. An example of the scriptorium’s production is the Pericopes of Henry II, made for the Emperor, now in Munich. Reichenau has preserved its precious relics, which include the pitcher from the wedding at Cana.

The Fuggerei is the world’s oldest social housing complex still in use. It is a walled enclave within the city of Augsburg, Bavaria. It takes its name from the Fugger family and was founded in 1516 by Jakob Fugger the Younger (known as “Jakob Fugger the Rich”) as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed.

By 1523, 52 houses had been built, and in the coming years the area expanded with various streets, small squares and a church. The gates were locked at night, so the Fuggerei was, in its own right, very similar to a small independent medieval town. It is still inhabited today, affording it the status of being the oldest social housing project in the world.

Jakob Fugger Monument, Fuggerei

Some of the same rules have been applied for almost 500 years. Only needy Catholic Augsburgers are accepted as residents. Ancestry, age and family status are not deciding factors. Alongside the prayer requirements, the residents are asked to perform small services for the common welfare, such as serving as night watchman, sexton or gardener. The gates of the Fuggerei are open until 10 pm, afterwards residents must pay the night watchman a sum of 50 cents to be admitted, or one euro if it is after midnight.

The requirements for the Fuggerei as a residential and living environment were always changing, and the structure was correspondingly adapted. In the mid-17th century, for instance, a school was established for a time in order to educate children in Catholic dogma. There were buildings for other foundations and charitable projects, and there was even a priest. In more recent times as well, the infrastructure of the Fuggerei was adapted to the conditions at hand – for instance, with the construction of its own bunker during the Second World War, which today serves as a bunker museum by housing exhibits. After the war, two widow’s buildings for wives who had been left behind were built, one between Neue Gasse and Gartengasse and the other on Markusplätzle. To accommodate increasing tourism, a shop and a beer garden were built.

The rent was and is still one Rheinischer Gulden per year (equivalent to 0.88 euros), as well as three daily prayers for the current owners of the Fuggerei — the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, and the Nicene Creed. The conditions to live there remain the same as they were 480 years ago: one must have lived at least two years in Augsburg, be of the Catholic faith and have become indigent without debt. The five gates are still locked every day at 10 PM.

Housing units in the area consist of 45 to 65 square meters (500–700 square feet) apartments, but because each unit has its own street entrance, it simulates living in a house. There is no shared accommodation; each family has its own apartment, which includes a kitchen, a parlor, a bedroom and a tiny spare room, altogether totaling about 60 square meters. Ground-floor apartments all have a small garden and garden shed, while upper-floor apartments have an attic. All apartments have modern conveniences such as television and running water. One ground-floor apartment is uninhabited, serving as a museum open to the public. The doorbells have elaborate shapes, each being unique, dating back to before the installation of streetlights when residents could identify their door by feeling the handle in the dark.

The Fuggerei is supported by a charitable trust established in 1520 which Jakob Fugger funded with an initial deposit of 10,000 guilders. According to the Wall Street Journal, the trust has been carefully managed with most of its income coming from forestry holdings, which the Fugger family favored since the 17th century after losing money on higher yielding investments. The annual return on the trust has ranged from an after-inflation rate of 0.5% to 2%. The Fugger family foundation is presently headed by countess Maria-Elisabeth von Thun und Hohenstein, née countess Fugger von Kirchberg, who lives at Kirchberg Castle. Currently the trust is administered by Wolf-Dietrich Graf von Hundt.

As of 2011, the fee for a tour into the Fuggerei is 4 euro, over four times the annual rent.

Brandenburg gate is one of the most iconic scenes of recent German history. Hundreds of thousands of people celebrated in front of the Brandenburg Gate as the Berlin Wall fell on November 9th, 1989.

Esslingen am Neckar is a city in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest city in the district.

It is located on the Neckar River, about 14 km southeast of Stuttgart city center. The regions surrounding the city of Esslingen are also mostly developed.

Esslingen was a free imperial city for several centuries until it was annexed by Württemberg in 1802.

There is archaeological evidence that what is now the city of Esslingen was settled since the Neolithic. Traces of human settlement found at the site of the city church date back to around 1000 B.C.

Esslingen was first mentioned in 777 as Ezelinga in the last will of Abbot Fulrad from Saint-Denis (near Paris), the chaplain of Pippin and Charlemagne. He bequeathed the church sixth cell upon the river Neckar to his monastery, Saint-Denis. He also brought the bones of Saint Vitalis to Esslingen, which made it a destination for pilgrims and led to its growth.

The beginning of 19th century was characterized by industrialization. Glove manufacturing, food processing, textiles, and metal working were early industries in Esslingen. On 20 November 1845 the first train ran from Cannstatt to Esslingen station.

Esslingen was occupied by U.S. soldiers in April 1945, towards the end of World War II. During the war the city suffered very little damage, thus the medieval character of its city center has been mostly preserved.

After the Second World War about 47,000 people moved to Esslingen, mostly refugees and displaced persons from East Germany. Housing developments in Oberesslingen and Zollberg were created to overcome the shortage of housing.

In 1973 Nürtingen district was merged with Esslingen am Neckar, making Esslingen the seat of a much enlarged district.

The English Garden (Englischer Garten) stretches all the way from Munich’s city center to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by the British physicist Sir Benjamin Thompson. Sir Benjamin was primarily a physicist but also worked as a government administrator. He spent 11 years in Munich organizing the Bavarian army. This garden (with an area of 3.7 km2) is considered to be one of the world’s largest urban public parks, larger than New York’s Central Park but smaller than London’s Richmond Park.

Highlights of the English Garden, which is even bigger than Central Park in New York, include:

Chinese Tower and its huge beer garden, which seats 7000 people
The Chinesischer Turm (“Chinese Tower”) is a 25 meter high wooden structure, first constructed in 1789 to 1790, from a design by the Mannheimer military architect Joseph Frey. It was modeled on the “Great Pagoda” in the Royal Botanic Gardens in London. Often a brass band will play live from the first floor of the tower.

A children’s carousel was put up near the tower in 1823, similar in design to the current one. By 1912 a replacement was needed, which is still in use. Alongside the usual horses, the carousel has less expected creatures to ride, such as ibex, stork and flamingo.

Japanese Teahouse, where you can take part in a traditional tea ceremony on the weekend.
It was created on a small island at the south end of the Englischer Garten to celebrate the Summer Olympics of that year in1972. Its designers were Soshitsu Sen and Mitsuo Nomura.

Monopteros, a Greek style temple, which offers great views of Munich’s cityscape. This small (16 m high), round, Greek style temple was designed by Leo von Klenze. Hill and temple were completed in 1836. Ten Ionic columns support a shallow copper covered dome. A particular feature of the Monopteros is the use of polychrome stone painting, an interest of Klenze at the time, who intended the building to serve as a model for its use.

Kleinhesseloher See, where you can rent a paddle boat, and its idyllic beer garden
It was created under Werneck’s direction around 1800. Kleinhesselohe had been the original northern limit of the park, with a watch house and a gate to the northern Hirschau. Three islands can be found within the lake’s 86,410 square meters: Königsinsel (“King’s Island”) Kurfürsteninsel (“Elector’s Island”) and Regenteninsel (“Regent’s Island”).

Seehaus
In 1882 to 1883 Gabriel von Seidel built a boathouse with food service. This was replaced with a new building by Rudolf Esterer in 1935; with a terrace overlooking the lake, this was very popular until 1970, when it was demolished. For fifteen years service was from temporary buildings, until in 1985 the current Seehaus was built to a design by Ernst Hürlimann and Ludwig Wiedemann. Today, the lake and the Seehaus are well-loved leisure destinations; pedal boats are also leased here to those who want to splash around.

Schönfeldwiese, the lawn situated between the Monopteros and the Japanisches Teehaus where nude sunbathing is allowed since the 1960’s. It caused quite a sensation at the time and also made the English Gardens well-known, even outside Munich.

At the mouth of the artificial stream that runs through the Englischer Garten, there is a standing wave that is produced by the water pumping mechanism. Surfers attempt to surf on this wave for as long as they can, in spite of the signs stating the unenforced law that surfing is forbidden.

Open air theatre
The northern part of the garden also contains a small amphitheatre, built in 1985 and called the new amphitheatre. It is used for open air performances in summer. A carnival party “Kocherlball” (the Cooks’ Ball) in the English Garden takes place annually third Sunday in July.