Discoveries on the Way to Meck-Pomm: Lübeck

The first time that I saw Lübeck was returning from a trip to Copenhagen in 1991 (the year that I worked in Germany). I remember seeing the Holstentor (the main gate to Lübeck) from the train. It was impressive, but not impressive enough to make me go back to visit. Boy was I wrong. Walking through the streets of Lübeck is a delight. Perhaps my favorite city in Germany. Certainly on any short list of favorites.

The Lúbeck Altstadt (old town) sits on an island in Trave. It was the capital of the Hanseatic League, the cartel of German and Dutch cities that controlled north-south trade routes in the 13th to 17th centuries. It has maintained much of the medieval character as befitting an important harbor town during this period. The preferred building material was brick, red or glazed black (stone quarries don't exist in the low lands near the ocean), giving the city a feel of architectural unity.

The Hostentor on the west side of the city, was build between 1469 and 1479. It was the second gate of the main entry through the city's perimeter walls (it actually predate the building of the walls). Now it stands in the middle of a small park at the end of the main bridge into the city. Like many of the medieval brick buildings in Lübeck, the Hostentor has quite a lean to it today. Still it is among the most famous buildings in Germany, and so use to be on the 50 deutschmark bill.

The Rathaus (city hall) dating from 1250 sits between the Markplatz and Breite Straße, the main pedestrian shoping street in Lübeck. On Breite Straße across from the Rathaus is Cafe Niederegger, a Mecca for lovers of marzipan (like me).

Marienkirche is the largest, and oldest brick Gothic churches in Germany. It was started in 1250 and was used as a model for 40 some brick Gothic churches in North Germany. The church was bombed in 1942, starting a fire that burned the supports for the bells. This caused the bells to soften by the heat of the fire and to fall from the bell tower.The partially melted bells remain today where they fell in 1942 at the base of the south tower, a reminder to the horror of war.

Next to the church is the Buddenbrookhaus. This house was owned by the grandfather of Heinrich and Thomas Mann. The brothers were frequent guests in the house in their youth. Thomas Mann used the house in his famous book Buddedbrooks about the rise and fall of a patrician family in Lübeck.

Henry the Lion laid the corner stone of the Romanesque Cathedral in 1173. The cathedral was finished in 1230. Henry the Lion was the Duke of Saxony from 1140 to 1180 and Duke of Bavaria from 1156 to 1180. In addition to founding Lübeck, he is credited with the founding of Munich, Lüneburg and Braunschweig. The 'Paraise', the Gothic entrance way to the north trancept was added in 1260. In the interior of the church is a large Gothic Crucifix made between 1470 and 1477. The south tower has a noticeably southern lean to it. Two large steel beams connecting the north and south towers have been added to prevent further leaning. I haven't found anything that explains to the reason for this lean. My speculation would be that it is connected with the bombing of 1942 that damaged east and north sections of the church. Reconstruction was delayed several years because priority was given to Marienkirche. It was finished in 1982.

Two other churches worth noting are the Katharinenkirche and Petrikirche. The 14th centruy facade of Katharinenkirche contain rows of niches that hold statues. The first three left of the lowest row of niches hold statues made by Ernst Barlach, a late 19th to early 20th century expressionist sculptor, printmaker and writer. Petrikirche has an elevator that takes the visitor to an observation tower in the top of the tower, offering fantastic views of the city.

But this list of sights does not do justice to the feeling one gets just meandering the small winding streets of this ancient city with their brick row houses. Or setting at a table in an outdoor cafe along the Trave, watching the boaters while the city towers are reflected off the still waters of the river. It is a truly beautiful city.

Frannie's favorite thing was the park that had been created where one of the city wall use to stand. The city invites people to let their dogs run off leash in this park, a rarity in Germany.

Interestingly, shortly after we returned from our vacation, the New York Times Travel Section had an article about Lübeck. Click here to take a look at their advice.

Discoveries on the Way to Meck-Pomm: Bremen

A little over a week after returning from Switzerland, we took a second trip during Magda's school summer break. Friends of ours have a vacation apartment in a "castle" in Meck-Pomm. Meck-Pomm is short for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of the former East German Bundeslands (sort of the German equivalent to a State in the USA) that were incorporated into German Republic after the collapse of East Germany.

It was about an 8 or 9 hour drive to the castle. For a couple of reasons, I have grown to prefer making such longer drives on a Sunday. The biggest reason is that there are very few trucks on the autobahn on Sunday. On the other days of the week, there are so many trucks on the autobahn that the right lane is often unusable by regular autos. As Sunday is a national day of rest in Germany, most workers (including truck drivers) are not allowed to work. The second and related reason is that because the businesses in a city are also closed, it becomes easy to slip into a city to walk around for a few hours and see the sights (restaurants, museums, and other tourist related businesses are allowed to remain open).

So looking for a way to break up our drive, we noticed that Breman and Lübeck, two cities that I had never visited  were on our route. Lübeck is one of the 3 star cities according to Michelin Green Guide (Michelin's highest rating for a town or attraction). It and Bremen (two stars) are two of German's Hanseatic League cities. The Hanseatic League was a alliance of cities along the North Sea and Baltic Sea that controlled north-south trade routes from the 13th to 17th centuries. The drive to Bremen would take about 5 hours and Lúbeck would take an additional hour, a pretty good chunk of the anticipated 8-9 hour drive to the castle. The idea was to visit Breman on the way to Lübeck, staying two nights in Lübeck before heading on to Meck-Promm.

After a pleasant 5 hour drive one Sunday morning in late July, we arrived in the Bremen Markplatz. Bremen is a relatively large city, the 10th largest city in German with approximately 550,000 inhabitants, on the banks of the Weser river. It is Germany's oldest maritime city with market rights from 965. Trade with the USA started in 1783. If you have German ancestors that immigrated to the USA in the 18th or early 19th century, they most likely came on a boat from Bremen.  In 1358 it joined the Hanseatic League. You can see the early importance of the city in the large Markplatz surrounded by historical buildings. The Rathaus (i.e. City Hall, "Rat" is the German word for "advice", not a reference to the animal), that was originally a Gothic brick building built between 1405 and 1410, dominates the north side of the square. However,the facade with many decorative gables in the Weser Renaissance style was added in the 17th century.  In front of the Rathaus is the 10 meter high statue of Roland holding the sword of justice. On the west side of the Rathaus is statue of the Bremen Town Musicians made famous in Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Next to the City Hall in one corner of the square is the Cathedral St. Petri. Construction on the Cathedral started in the 11th century in the Romanesque style. In the 13th century, additions to the Cathedral in early and late Gothic were built.

On the south side of the Markplatz is the Schütting, an elegant 16 century building with a Flemish inspired facade that use to house Bremen's Guild of Merchants. East and west are pubs (serving Becks beer, of course), cafes and restaurants.

Off the south side of the Markplatz is the Böttcherstraße was transformed in 1923–1931 by the coffee magnate Ludwig Roselius. He commissioned local artists form the near by artist community of Worpswede  to convert the narrow street into a mixture of Gothic and Jungendstil (i.e. the German equivalent to the French Art Nouveau). It was considered degenerate art by the Nazis. Today, the street is one of Bremen's most popular attractions.

Not far from the Marktplatz is the the Schnoor. This is a small, well-preserved area of crooked lanes that in the 17th and 18th centuries was occupied by fishermen and shippers. It is now occupied by cafés, artisan shops and art galleries. Reminded a lot of German Village in my hometown of Columbus.

After spending a couple of hours in Bremen, we headed to the village of Worpswede, 20 km north. In the late 18th century, this village began attracting artists, many of which made important contributions to the Jungendstil movement in the early 19th century. Still a center for artists, we happened to arrive on the week-end of the annual open house where artists open there workshops to visitors. The most interesting artist for me was an man in his 70s who worked in wood inlay in the way that "his father and grandfather taught him". Using different types of woods and stains, this gentleman recreated photos and drawings in unbelievable detail. One that I could not take my eyes off of was the recreation of black and white photo of a tree. My eyes kept moving back and forth between the photo of the tree and the wood inlay next to it. It was hard to believe the detail of the photo that he was able to capture  in the inlay.

We would have liked to stay longer among the thatch-roofed houses of Worpswede, but we needed to get to Lübeck, the subject of the next blog.

Real Switzerland, Experiencing Heidi Moments

Peg, one of our friends from Columbus, visited us in late June. Peg has wanted to see Switzerland for sometime and wondered if it was possible to combine the visit to Koblenz with a trip to Switzerland. Magda and I said sure, but what is it that you want to see or do in Switzerland. "I'd be happy sitting at a cafe with a view of some mountains while having a cup of coffee" was her response. This became known as our search for a "Heidi Moment."

To be honest, driving 6 hours to reach the Swiss mountains for cup of coffee and then driving back seemed a little extreme. Then there is the "vignette" or the toll for use of the Swiss autobahn that would increase the cost of that cup of coffee. And in point of fact, everything is Switzerland is pretty expensive.

Figuring that we were in for a penny in for a pound, we started looking for something more that a Heidi Moment, more of a "Heidi Experience". We came upon a offer from Ameropa for a 4 day trip that included train from Koblenz to Davos, 2 nights in Davos in a 4 star hotel, free use of public transportation in Davos, first class reservations on the Glacier Express to Zermatt including a 3 course meal for lunch, one night in Zermatt also in a 4 star hotel, and the train back to Koblenz.

While Davos it self is not the prettiest town, its setting near a small lake in a high valley surrounded by mountain peaks is hard to beat. The breakfast room at our hotel with its floor to ceiling windows looking over a small park to a near by peak and snow-capped range of mountains took full advantage of this setting. Enjoying this view over breakfast realized a Heidi Moment for Peg.

Davos has a Museum containing a collection of works by the German expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Magda and I became interested in Kirchner after attending a exhibition of his works in Frankfurt. However, as I was not feeling well that morning, Peg and Magda went to the museum while I rested for hiking in the afternoon. Magda was very impressed by the collection and still mentions this as a high point of the trip.

The free use of public transportation in Davos included the use of "Bergbahnen". These are the cog wheel trains or cable cars that go up and down the mountain. In the afternoon we took the cog wheel train to Schatzalp on the north side of the valley, returning by foot on a short trail through lupines, mountain orchids, and other wild flower, past a waterfall, and that was guarded by carved wooded figures. Later we took a cable car up the south side of the valley to Jakobshorn. From here we had a fantastic 360 degree view of the peaks and mountains. Really did not want to come down from here. Talk about a ultimate Heidi Moment.

The next day, after another breakfast with view (or view with breakfast), we boarded the Glacier Express for Zematt. The Glacier Express bills itself a the world slowest express train as it travels 7 hours between St. Moritz or Davos and Zermatt through untouched mountain landscapes, delightful valleys, 91 tunnels, and across 291 bridges. While the Glacier Express uses the same tracks as the regular Swiss trains, it offers panorama wagons with large glass windows that allow a more complete view of the landscape. While great for viewing, these windows cause reflections in any photos taken along the way.

While the whole train ride was beautiful, my favorite part was the first part from Davos to Chur. During this part the train travels through forests, crossing several deep gorges using stone bridges. In Chur, the train changes engines to one with a cog wheel to climb and descend the Oberalppass (2033m), the highest point on the journey. Descending to 650m at Visp, the Glacier Express then climbs approximately 1000m to Zermatt (1604m). Really stunning scenery the whole way. But to be honest, it is hard to concentrate on the scenery for that long. Which is to to say that we didn't enjoy the trip, and we were certainly able to add several more Heidi Moments along the way.

What can you say about Zermatt? I suppose it is a place that people will either love it or hate it. Once again a wonderful setting  in a high valley surrounding by high mountain peaks. A walk to the end of town to see the Matterhorn made the stay worthwhile for me. What a mountain. Like Davos, I only wish we could have had more time to do some serious hiking in the area.

The town itself is another story. While Zermatt has banned automobiles on its streets (autos are parked in about 5 km away and then people take a train into the town), it is hard not to call it a tourist trap. Almost every storefront is a restaurant or shop catering toward the tourist. Even the grocery store is stocked more for the tourist than an inhabitant. But some people love rummaging around shops like these. Even for me, the collection of outdoor shops was interesting to see.

Our hotel in Zermatt was the Hotel Alex. A wonderfully run hotel, with a great breakfast (although without the kind of view we had in Davos), but with the most eclectic decor I have ever seen. Peg thought it was the most interesting and beautiful hotel that she had ever stayed in. Magda had a more negative impression or the decor. Once again, love it or hate it.

Around noon on the fourth day of our trip we boarded the first of our trains to Koblenz. The second leg of our journey was interesting because it was in one of the new Swiss high speed trains. These really nicely designed trains. The third leg was on a German ICE, so we could make a direct comparison with the Swiss. The ICE is showing its age in the comparison. Of course it didn't help that the ICE broke down just before Mannheim causing use to miss our connection. The DB (the German train company) did give us 12 euros to help with a dinner while we waited 3.5 hours for the next connection. And later, they refunded 10 euros each. Of course, the extra 3.5 hours did mean we got back pretty late, and needed to get Peg to the airport early the next day.