Tom`s travels: Lübeck & Wismar (05/06/2017)

After the visit to Lüneburg, I was planning to do another trip soon, so just a few days after we were heading to the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. After getting off the train at the city's main train station we headed into town encountering the impressive Holstentor, built in 1464, in brick Gothic and marking the western entrance to the town. From the city gate, we headed on and reached a small footbridge from where we had an impressive view of the old town, located on an island surrounded by the Trave river. From the footbridge, as we entered the old town, we headed to the southern end of the island where the Cathedral is located. Built during the 12th century in Gothic brick style, it was damaged, as many other structures of the city during WWII and had to be partially rebuilt. A mass was taking place inside so we had to visit it discretely without being able to take many pictures. After the visit to the church, we headed further into town reaching the St. Anne's Museum which is set in what was once St Anne's Priory. After paying the entrance fee we visited the museum's interior finding mostly sacred art, including several important medieval altars, and paintings dating from various centuries. From there we then headed out once more and walked towards the direction of the center of the old town, stopping by to give a look at the Church of St Peter, originally built during the 12th century but completely destroyed during the WWII air raids. Thus being completely rebuilt, its interior was completely plain and white but still impressive. Around the church, all the buildings had a modern look to them as they were also built on top of the destructions caused by the war. Not far on we reached the city's main square, where the beautiful town hall is located. Mostly built in the Gothic style it features some exquisite renaissance style additions. After admiring the main square and impressive town hall, we headed inside the nearby St Mary's Church, built in the Gothic style during the 13th century and situated at the highest point of the island containing the old town. It features the highest brick vault in the world but like other buildings, had to be rebuilt after being completely destroyed during WWII. Right outside the southern entrance, lays a slab of stone on which a small statue of a devil sits on. Legend says that when the devil visited the construction site back in the 13th century, the workers, scared to tell him there were building a church, told instead a wine bar was to be built there. Thus the devil, pleased with such a building decided to help in the construction, and right before the building was completed realized the true intent and grabbed a slab of stone to destroy it. Some workers managed to stop him by promising to build a wine bar in the same area, and thus the devil dropped the stone slab right next to the church pleased with the outcome. This is where the slab and the statue of the devil which was then cast by a local artist at the end of the 20th century now sit. Walking along the street cutting the island north to south we then reached and visited the Church of St Jacob, built during the 14th century in a Gothic style. Being spared by the bombings, the interior is well preserved and features intact art pieces and decorations unlike other churches in town. Not much further on we finally reached the northern end of town, closed by one of the only two city gates remaining, the 15th-century Burgtor. From there we walked back into town strolling around admiring the mix of old medieval burgher houses and the more modern constructions which were erected where the war had left devastations. After that, we headed back to the main station where we took a train headed to Wismar. After a brief stop and change in the small town of Bad Kleinen, we reached the Hanseatic town of Wismar. We started out by visiting the Church of St Nicholas built between the 14th and 15th centuries in the Gothic style. Its brick vault is the second highest right after the one of St. Mary's in Lubeck. As we exited the church we walked along the small canal running westward and lined by interesting old burgher houses. Walking on we then reached the town's main square, the Am Markt. All around are buildings dating from various centuries, some with gothic, renaissance or baroque features. At the southern side of the square stands the Wasserkunst, or waterworks fountain, built at the beginning of the 17th century in the Dutch Renaissance style. Just a few steps from the square are the remains of the Church of St Mary, heavily damaged during WWII and then destroyed by the East German Communist government. Only the 80m tower remains as an example of the past grandeur of the building. Right in front of the tower stands the Renaissance Fürstenhof, a princely residence dating to the 16th century. Beside it stands yet another church, the Church of St George. Also badly damaged during the war, it was partially rebuilt and now can be visited though featuring a mostly empty interior. Walking back through the town streets we quickly stopped to peek inside the Church of the Holy Ghost built in Gothic style during the 13th century and featuring an interesting wooden painted ceiling in its interior. We then ended the visit to the town by strolling around the small port where the Wassertor, the northwestern medieval gate is located. Once there we finally headed to the train station where we took our ride back to Hamburg.