Lübeck
Lübeck still prides itself on its ancient title, "Queen of the Hanseatic League." The Hanse were mediaeval merchants from what was then the geographical area of "Germany" who established a trading network that reached from London in the west and Novogorod in the east, Bergen in the north and Amsterdam in the south. We shall see several Hanseatic towns on this voyage including Danzig (now Gdansk), Visby, Riga and Tallinn. The hub of the network, however, was here in Lübeck, a city with a remarkable location, defended by a moat, the scenic parts of which we navigated today both by motor launch and in our own Zodiacs.
The trade continues. Timber from the north – today used for Hamburg's publishing houses – salt and preserved fish exported in exchange for such exotic produce as the Mediterranean almonds that for generations have been turned into delicious marzipan confectionery by the Niederegger family. In addition to trade there was a religious element to Hanseatic culture. The Teutonic Knights brought Christianity to northern Europe even as orthodox missionaries arrived in Russia. The "seven towers of Lübeck" embody that Christianity architecturally in churches lovingly restored after the ravages of World War II. The power of the church was kept subsidiary to trade: the bishop resided beyond the confines of the city and his writ did not run large there. Even those lofty church towers were constructed as much as a practical aid to navigation as to the glory of God. The cultural achievement was nevertheless splendid: the triumphal Crucifix in Lübeck Cathedral carved in wood by Bernt Notke in 1477, that some of us visited in the afternoon, a miraculous survival from mediaeval times. The Holsten Gate (photo) that guards the southern entrance to the city bears the words Concordia Domi, Foris Pax (Harmony at home, peace beyond). The words summarize the philosophy of the Hanseatic League that endured from the twelfth to the sixteenth century but transfer well to today's newly enlarged European Union, an organization also started out as an economic union but for which peaceful coexistence after a troubled century was also a paramount objective.
Lübeck still prides itself on its ancient title, "Queen of the Hanseatic League." The Hanse were mediaeval merchants from what was then the geographical area of "Germany" who established a trading network that reached from London in the west and Novogorod in the east, Bergen in the north and Amsterdam in the south. We shall see several Hanseatic towns on this voyage including Danzig (now Gdansk), Visby, Riga and Tallinn. The hub of the network, however, was here in Lübeck, a city with a remarkable location, defended by a moat, the scenic parts of which we navigated today both by motor launch and in our own Zodiacs.
The trade continues. Timber from the north – today used for Hamburg's publishing houses – salt and preserved fish exported in exchange for such exotic produce as the Mediterranean almonds that for generations have been turned into delicious marzipan confectionery by the Niederegger family. In addition to trade there was a religious element to Hanseatic culture. The Teutonic Knights brought Christianity to northern Europe even as orthodox missionaries arrived in Russia. The "seven towers of Lübeck" embody that Christianity architecturally in churches lovingly restored after the ravages of World War II. The power of the church was kept subsidiary to trade: the bishop resided beyond the confines of the city and his writ did not run large there. Even those lofty church towers were constructed as much as a practical aid to navigation as to the glory of God. The cultural achievement was nevertheless splendid: the triumphal Crucifix in Lübeck Cathedral carved in wood by Bernt Notke in 1477, that some of us visited in the afternoon, a miraculous survival from mediaeval times. The Holsten Gate (photo) that guards the southern entrance to the city bears the words Concordia Domi, Foris Pax (Harmony at home, peace beyond). The words summarize the philosophy of the Hanseatic League that endured from the twelfth to the sixteenth century but transfer well to today's newly enlarged European Union, an organization also started out as an economic union but for which peaceful coexistence after a troubled century was also a paramount objective.
