Sights in Lübeck
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Holstentor City Gate & City Museum
Lübeck's small Holstentor city gate really is quite stunning. It captivated Andy Warhol (his print of it is in the St Annen Museum) and it's a sight where people sit and stare. Its twin, pointy-roofed circular towers, tilting together across a stepped gable, have made it a true German icon, which has graced postcards, paintings, posters, marzipan souvenirs and even the old DM50 note, as you'll discover in the engaging City History Museum inside.
Built in 1464, the gate been under renovation recently, but should be out of its trompe l'oeil wraps by now, so that its famous Latin inscriptions are visible: 'Concordia Domi Foris Pax' (roughly translated as 'Harmony within, pe…
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Buddenbrookhaus
The winner of the 1929 Nobel Prize for Literature, Thomas Mann, was born in Lü- beck in 1875 and his family's former home is now the Buddenbrookhaus. Named after Mann's novel of a wealthy Lübeck family in decline, The Buddenbrooks (1901), this award-winning museum is a monument not only to the author of such classics as Der Tod in Venedig (Death in Venice) and Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain) , but also to his brother Heinrich, who wrote the story that became the Marlene Dietrich film Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel). There's a rundown of the rather tragic family history, too.
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Trave River
Just behind the Salzspeicher lies the Trave River, which forms a moat around the old town; and if you arrive between April and September one of the first things to do is to take a boat tour. Sure, you start off viewing an industrial harbour, but the trips soon start passing beautiful leafy surrounds. Boats are scheduled to leave every half-hour, although many wait until they're half-full.
Maak-Linie (www.maak-linie.de) runs good one-hour tours, leaving from the north of the Holstentorbrücke. Quandt-Linie (www.quandt-linie.de) leaves from just south of the bridge.
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Rathaus
Sometimes described as a 'fairy tale in stone', Lübeck's 13th- to 15th-century Rathaus is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in Germany. Unfortunately, the impact of its facade is diminished by new buildings around the marketplace, which block previously open views. Inside, a highlight is the Audienzsaal (audience hall), a light-flooded hall decked out in festive rococo.
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Dom
The Dom was founded in 1173 by Heinrich der Löwe when he took over Lübeck. Locals like to joke that if you approach the Dom from the northeast, you have to go through Hölle (hell) and Fegefeuer (purgatory) - the actual names of streets - to see Paradies, the lavish vestibule to the Dom. Otherwise, the building is quite spartan.
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Günter Grass-Haus
he Günter Grass-Haus is filled with the author's leitmotifs - flounders, rats, snails and eels - brought to life in bronze and charcoal, as well as in prose. You can view a copy of the first typewritten page of Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum; 1959), while the man himself occasionally appears for readings.
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Salzspeicher
Just behind the Holstentor (to the east) stand six gabled brick buildings. These are the Salzspeicher, once used to store salt transported from Lüneburg, which was then bartered for furs from Scandinavia and used to preserve the herrings that formed a substantial chunk of Lübeck's Hanseatic trade.
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Theaterfigurenmuseum
If you're travelling with children, or have a particular interest in marionettes, don't miss the TheaterFigurenMuseum, a wondrous private collection of some 1200 puppets, props, posters and more from Europe, Asia and Africa; and try to catch a performance at its theatre.
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Malerwinkel
If you head south along An der Obertrave, you pass the idyllic Malerwinkel, where people sit on garden benches among blooming flowers in summer, looking out at the houses and white picket fences across the water. This is one of Lübeck's most lovely corners, and shouldn't be missed.
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Glandorps Gang
Almost 90 such Gänge (walkways) and Höfe (courtyards) still exist, among them charitable housing estates built for the poor, the Stiftsgänge and Stiftshöfe. The most famous of the latter is the beautiful Glandorps Gang.
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St Annen Museum
The St Annen Museum houses a browsable mishmash of ecclesiastical art (including Hans Memling's 1491 Passion Altar), historical knick-knacks and contemporary art in its modern Kunsthalle wing. The latter houses the Andy Warhol print of Lübeck's Holstentor.
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Füchtingshof
Almost 90 such Gänge (walkways) and Höfe (courtyards) still exist, among them charitable housing estates built for the poor, the Stiftsgänge and Stiftshöfe. The most famous of the latter is the beautiful Füchtingshof.
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Marienkirche
Near the Markt rise the 125m twin spires of Germany's third-largest church, the Marienkirche. It's most famous for its shattered bells, which have been left where they fell after a WWII bombing raid, as a peace memorial.
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Museum für Puppentheater
If you're travelling with children - or have a particular interest in marionettes - don't miss the Museum für Puppentheater. It's a private collection of some 1200 puppets, props, posters and more, from Europe, Asia and Africa.
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Katharinenkirche
Art lovers will enjoy the towerless Katharinenkirche for its sculptures by Ernst Barlach and Gerhard Marcks, plus The Resurrection of Lazarus by Tintoretto.
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Petrikirche
Panoramic views over the city unfold from the Petrikirche, which has a tower lift to the 7th floor.
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