March 2022: this is a trip I’d been meaning to do for some time as I am interested in the Hanseatic League (www.hanse.org). It turns out that the route I’ve (sort of) followed is also known as the European Route of Brick Gothic Churches (see: https://www.eurob.org/). The churches photographed date, variously, from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. I had always assumed that brick building appeared in the 16th century but it transpires that the oldest brick building in Britain is probably Coggeshall Abbey, which was built around 1190. Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire, dates from around 1382 and North Bar, in Beverley, around 1409 (see: http://www.isurv.com). So there are early examples of brick buildings in Britain: I just wasn’t aware of them.
I used Hamburg as a base for 6 nights, from where I visited: Stade, Buxtehude, Kiel, Schleswig, Lüneburg, Uelzen and Lübeck. Followed by Rostock for 4 nights, from where I visited: Wismar, Schwerin, Greifswald, Stralsund and Bad Doberan
It was an easy itinerary to put together as I was able to go everywhere by train. It was made easier by buying a Deutsche Bahn rail pass – http://www.bahn.com/en/offers/passes – albeit that it isn’t digital. The pass needs to be printed onto A4 paper and you are required to show your passport to demonstrate that the pass is yours. Most of the time the ticket inspectors weren’t bothered about seeing my passport. They also seemed a bit baffled by the pass itself. All very 20th century…
Hamburg
Hamburg is Germany’s second largest city and its biggest port. The great fire of 1842 destroyed around a third of the city but recovered enough to join the unification of Germany in 1871 (see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zqp3b9q/revision/7). These photos are just a snapshot of things to see – you could easily spend 2 or 3 days exploring the city…
The Hauptbahnhoff:
Hamburg Hauptbahnhoff opened in 1906. It is Hamburg’s main station and an easy walk from the city centre…
Museums and Galleries:
The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (arts & crafts) opened in 1876It’s one of those kaleidoscopic museums where galleries lead into each other without any clear sense of order or direction, which drives me up the wall. But it is a great museum to explore. For some reason I like my museums to have a sense of order with clearly defined routes to follow. This could well be a subconscious thing having been told off dozens of times in central Asian and former Eastern European museums where following a defined route is mandatory. Very often there aren’t signs to follow, which gives museum guides the perfect opportunity to shout at hapless visitors like me…
Churches:
The Holy Trinity Church, also known as St Georg, dates from 1747. The original Baroque building was destroyed in 1943 and rebuilt in 1957The hauptkirche of St PetriSt JakobiSt Nicholas’ dates from around 1195 but in 1844 it was redesigned by none other than George Gilbert Scott in a neo-gothic style – unfortunately it was then virtually destroyed in WW2 and only the tower remains standingSt Katherine’sThe Lutheran church of St Michael
Speicherstadt:
The Speicherstadt warehouse district is now a UNESCO World Heritage site
City Centre:
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus, founded in 1900, is one of the largest theatres in Germany with 1,200 seats. Construction of the Rathaus began in 1886 and it opened in 1897The Goosemarket (Gänsemarkt)…
The Waterfront:
Stade
This small Hanseatic town was a more important port than Hamburg in the 12th and 13th centuries. From 1645 to 1712 it came under Swedish rule. Stade even has an open air museum, which I missed – but then my Lonely Planet guide to Germany doesn’t even mention Stade at all, which is bizarre. Stade and Buxtehude are on the S3 line from Hamburg with frequent trains – so they are easy to get to.
The church of St Cosmae and St Damiani dates from the 17th centuryThe lady at the front desk was keen for me to photograph the organ…St Wilhadi dates from the 14th century but was closed…
Buxtehude
A small Hanseatic town on the Este, a tributary of the Elbe. The Brothers Grimm set their story of “The Hare and the Hedgehog” here – not a story I’d heard of before…
The early 14th century church St Peter’sThis is an Irish themed pub called the Rebel’s Choice – the building dates from 1553…The Este RiverThe Rathaus dates from 1911
Kiel
Kiel was a member of the Hanseatic League. In 1773 it became part of Denmark and then Prussia in 1866. Kiel was virtually destroyed during WW2 bombing raids. It is now an important ferry terminal.
The Church of St Nikolai:
The early 13th century cathedral of St Nikolai was restored after 1945
The City:
Kiel was largely destroyed during WW2 – so very little of the old city remainsThe Kiellinie is a 3.5km walk along the coast from the city and links with a longer coastal route…
Schleswig
Schleswig seems to have been founded by Vikings in 804 and remained part of Denmark until 1864, when it was annexed by Prussia. The town is at the end of the Baltic Sea’s longest fjord – something I hadn’t realised until I looked at Google maps. It is a small, pretty town with an astonishingly big church: the Cathedral of St Peter, which dates from the mid 13th century. Even at the end of this trip I was amazed by the sheer size and scale of these brick Gothic churches. You go to places like Saffron Walden or Thaxted and think: “gosh, that’s a big church” but they’re nowhere near as big. However, what our East Anglian medieval masterpieces lack in size they more than make up for in intricacy, decoration and detail. Anyway, I digress…
State flagsThe town is about 3km from the station
The Cathedral:
The cathedral of St Petri – the current church was built in stages from around 1200-1500 and the tower extended in the late 19th century
The Altstadt:
The Rathaus building dates back to around 1050 and was a Danish noble’s residence before becoming a Franciscan monastery in the 1230’s. Following the Reformation in the 1530’s it became a poor house and then, in 1794, the town hallThe Altstadt is pretty and charming with a mix of old and new housesSchloss Gottorf – an 18th century palace belonging to the Dukes of Gottorf. Today it is home to three museumsSchleswig Stadtmuseum
Lüneburg
Lüneburg dates back more than 1,000 years and is one of the prettiest towns in northern Germany. Having survived World War II unscathed, it has retained its charming Medieval character. It rose to importance in the Hanseatic League through its salt production.
The Altstadt:
This fine house is undergoing restoration – hence the portaloo… The Rathaus – the baroque façade was added in 1720 and decorated with coats of arms and three tiers of statues. The 41 Meissen china bells in the steeple were installed in 1956 to celebrate the city’s 1000th anniversary…
Churches:
St Michael’s Church dates from the 14th century and was part of a Benedictine AbbeySt Nicholas’ Church was part of a 13th century Cistercian Abbey. It was rebuilt after a fire in the 1890’s
Waterside:
Uelzen
The Hanseatic town of Uelzen: there’s not much left of the old town but there are some nice old buildings and St Mary’s church looks fine but it was closed, unfortunately…
St Mary’s ChurchThe old post office dates from 1896The railway station is strangely decorated with the underpass styled as a grotto – weird. It was built in 1887, but after many modifications and renovations, had lost its original style. In 1995, the government of Lower Saxony approached the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser to conceptualise a makeover for the building. Several years later, the station was redesigned into a bright, interesting station which attracts tourists and locals alike. Like I say, it’s weird…
Lübeck
Lübeck – the former capital of the Hanseatic League – was founded in the 12th century and prospered until the 16th century as the major trading centre for northern Europe. It has remained a centre for maritime commerce to this day, particularly with the Nordic countries. Despite the damage it suffered during the Second World War, the basic structure of the old city, consisting mainly of 15th- and 16th-century residences, public monuments, churches and salt storehouses, remains unaltered. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Looking out over Lubeck from the tower of St Peter’s Church. The current church dates from the 13th century and was badly damaged in a bombing raid on Palm Sunday, 1942. Restoration began in the 1960’s and was completed in 1987… Overlooking St Mary’s ChurchLooking down on the square behind the RathausSt Mary’s ChurchThe construction of St Mary’s Church began around 1250 and completed around 1350. It was badly damaged during the Palm Sunday, 1942 bombing raid with reconstruction beginning in 1947…It was badly damaged in 1942St Catherine’s Church was built between 1300-70 and was part of a Franciscan Monastery St JacobiSt Jacobi Church was built in the 1330’s and, unusually, didn’t suffer any material damage during WW2St Aegidian’s church – St Ägid seems to be a German saint from the early 13th centuryLübeck Cathedral dates from 1173 and consecrated in 1247. It was badly damaged in 1942 and restoration completed in 1970
The Rathaus:
The Rathaus dates from around 1230-40; modified between 1340-50 and then again between 1887-91
The Altstadt:
This apothecary dates from 1230 – it was flattened in 1942 and later rebuilt Glandorp’s almshouses date from 1609The Burgtor: the information board states that it was a former Customs House, dating from 1571 although the gate itself dates from 1444, making it slightly older than the HolstentorThe former Seaman’s Guildhall dates from 1535
The Hospital Of The Holy Spirit:
The intriguing Hospital of the Holy Spirit dates from the 1260’s Inside the Hospital of the Holy SpiritInside the Hospital of the Holy SpiritInside the Hospital of the Holy Spirit
The St Anne’s Church Museum:
The Museum is in what was St Anne’s Church that was part of a monastery built around 1515, only to close around 30 years later during the Reformation. It became a poor house and then a penitentiary before becoming a museum in 1915. It is famous for its collection of 15th and 16th century Dutch & German masters – not that I’ve shown any. I was more intrigued by the religious artefacts…
Street Scenes:
Rostock
The Hanseatic city of Rostock was badly damaged in bombing raids from 1940-43, destroying much of the old town (Altstadt). However, there has been a lot of restoration since the end of WW2 and so there is much more of interest here than in Kiel, for example. Ironically, the last major destruction came in 1971 when the communist authorities decided to destroy the Catholic Christ Church on Schröderplatz, adjacent to the hotel I stayed at. The plan was to develop that part of the city but it didn’t happen and the vacated space became, by default, a carpark…
City Walls and Gates:
Two of the old city gates remain and a small section of the old city wallsThe Kröpeliner Tor dates from around 1400 and is 54m highMore of the old city walls – nicely restoredPart of the old city walls
Churches:
St. Mary’s is Rostock’s largest and was first documented in 1232, although it isn’t known when it was actually built. The church has the oldest astronomical clock in northern Germany, dating from 1472, and a bronze baptismal fountain dating from 1290…St Mary’s miraculously survived the war undamagedThe clock was made in 1472 and is the only clock of its kind still working with original mechanismsThe Church of the Holy Cross from the city wallsThe Church of the Holy CrossSt Nicholas’ Church – closed to visitors but it had an office open collecting donations for Ukrainian refugeesSt Peter’s ChurchLooking over Rostock from the tower of St Peter’s ChurchLooking over Rostock from the tower of St Peter’s Church
Marketplace and Fairground:
The City:
The Rathaus dates from the 13th century although this façade was added in 1727…Part of the old university
Wismar
Wismar joined the Hanseatic League in the 13th century. It was annexed by Sweden and during the 17th and 18th centuries was a major naval base. It is still an important port city. The Alstadt is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the market square is claimed to be the biggest in northern Germany. I didn’t allow enough time to see the area around the old harbour…
Churches:
St Nicholas’ church evolved from around 1380 to 1508 and is currently undergoing extensive renovationAll that’s left of St Mary’s church after a bombing raid on Wismar in April 1945…St George’s, another enormous church, dates from the 13th century, rebuilt in the 14th century and added to and extended until the 16th centuryThe Hospital Church of the Holy Ghost
The Altstadt:
The Museum is very good with lots of interesting exhibits including a gallery covering the period when Wismar was part of the Swedish empire
Schwerin
The Hanseatic city of Schwerin is the state capital of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania
Churches:
St Paul’s churchThe cathedral of St Mary & St John dates from around 1248 although the steeple was only added in 1892St Nicholas’ church dates from around 1711 and seems to be used as a concert hall now
The Altstadt:
Most of the old buildings in Schwerin have been restored to the point where they look new – unlike this building which has been left to decay…The former town palace was built between 1735-47The Mecklenburg technical and railway museum only opens on Saturdays – I’m sure it is better than it looks…
Greifswald
Greifswald – lies on the Way of St James; the pilgrimage from Kretinga, Lithuania to Santiago de Compostela, as defined by the St James’ Way Federation (see: https://saintjamesway.eu/). The city was ceded to Sweden in 1648 until 1815…
Churches:
University buildings with St Nicholas in the backgroundSt Nicholas’ church dates from around 1360 with additions in the 16th and 17th centuriesSome of the surviving 14th and 15th wall paintingsSome of the surviving 14th and 15th wall paintingsSt James – the smallest of the parish churches dates back to 1280 with further changes from around 1390St Mary’s Church
The Altstadt:
The excellent Landesmuseum Pomerania
Stralsund
Stralsund was once the second-most important member of the Hanseatic League after Lübeck. The Altstadt is a UNESCO World Heritage site and contains many fine examples of classic redbrick Gothic architecture…
Intriguing murals in the station hallIntriguing murals in the station hall
Churches:
The 14th century St Mary’s is vast – the second biggest brick built church in the Baltic region – and difficult to photograph as the sun was in the wrong position to get a decent side-on pictureThe organ is 17th centurySt Nicholas’ Church dates from 1270 and modelled on St Mary’s in Lubeck St James’ church – closed to visitors
The Altstadt:
The Rathaus, dating from 1370, with St Nicholas’ church behind itIn the centre is Wulflamhaus, a 15th century town house named after a former mayor. The stepped gable imitates the Rathaus…
Bad Doberan
Bad Doberan has an hourly train service from Rostock and the journey takes around 20 minutes. Although a small town, and not a Hanseatic one, it has two things of interest: what is regarded as the finest medieval brick church in the Baltic region and a heritage railway. The Minster, begun in 1280 and consecrated in 1368, was part of a Cistercian Abbey until 1552 when the Abbey closed during the Reformation. Bad Doberan also has a heritage railway line. I took a video of the steam train running through the town but have no idea how to upload it onto WordPress…
The Minster:
The Kornhaus was built between 1270-80
The Museum:
The museum. You can buy a combined ticket to visit both the museum & the church This room looked the most interesting in the museum and yet was closed-off
