Dubbed the 'Queen of the Hanseatic League' and by Charles IV as one of the five glories of the Holy Roman Empire (alongside Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice no less), Lübeck grew fat and rich on trade. It is a treasury of 'Brick Gothic', the grand church towers and the crow stepped gables of its many merchant's houses constucted of glazed and red bricks. It stands readily defensible, surrounded by water and its gates protected by the bulky round towers of The Holstentor and Burgtor.
Amongst it's famous sons was one Dieterich Buxtehude an early master of the baroque organ. As was traditional, he married his predecessor's eldest daughter before taking up his post as organmaster of the Marienkirche. So famous was this composer, that a young Johannes Sebastian Bach walked 250 miles to visit, stayed 3 months, to hear him play and "to comprehend one thing and another about his art".
But as time passed, so did the glory days. The wrong alliances were chosen, the advent of transatlantic trade weakened the Hanseatic League and Lübeck commenced the long decline to the sleepy backwater it is today.
Amongst it's famous sons was one Dieterich Buxtehude an early master of the baroque organ. As was traditional, he married his predecessor's eldest daughter before taking up his post as organmaster of the Marienkirche. So famous was this composer, that a young Johannes Sebastian Bach walked 250 miles to visit, stayed 3 months, to hear him play and "to comprehend one thing and another about his art".
But as time passed, so did the glory days. The wrong alliances were chosen, the advent of transatlantic trade weakened the Hanseatic League and Lübeck commenced the long decline to the sleepy backwater it is today.