An easy day trip from Hamburg is to the medieval town of Lübeck, Germany – a real gem of a town. Lübeck’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built on an island surrounded by the Trave River. It was known as the Queen of the Hanseatic League, a network of ports which dominated trade across the Baltic Sea from the 12th century.
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What was the Hanseatic League?
The Hanseatic League was an ancient trading alliance of the Baltic states created by the pooling of resources and leading to the development of several rich and successful trading ports. In turn, these towns then attracted businessmen and artisans from all over Europe and the Hanseatic League went from strength to strength, growing to 200 members at its height.
Lübeck was the founding member of the Hanseatic League and regarded as the capital city, in name rather than through any formal political arrangement. As the city became richer, elaborate buildings were erected using designs based on the latest Gothic fashions. As there was no stone for building available in Northern Germany then the architectural designs used were made using brick designs with stepped gables and patterned brickwork.
By the 16th century, other countries such as England and Holland began to interfere and take trade away from the Hanseatic League, which eventually was unable to compete and effectively saw its successes ebbing away.
More recently, in 1980, the Hanseatic League was resurrected as the HANSA to encourage the spirit of cooperation through voluntary associations of several towns and cities in Northern Europe. If you want to know more about Hansa and the Hanseatic League, you can visit the Hansa Museum in Lübeck.
How to get to Lübeck on a day trip from Hamburg, Germany?
You can catch a train from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) to Lubeck with Deutsche Bahn. There are a couple of trains a day (check the timetables for your preferred day of travel) and the journey takes around 40 minutes on a smart double decker train.
Note – It took us longer than expected to purchase our tickets from the train station in Hamburg due to the complicated ticketing system. The process involved taking a numbered ticket to wait for an appointment to see a Sales Assistant and buy train tickets, which took around 30 minutes in total. The salesperson was very helpful when we finally got to the counter, but we nearly ran out of time. Just make sure to leave enough time for buying tickets in your schedule, or even better, buy them on-line in advance!
What to see in Lübeck, Germany?
Walk through the Holsten Gate (Holsentor)
The walk from the train station on your day trip from Hamburg towards the Old Town of Lübeck will bring you to the Holsten Gate, built in the 1470s as part of the city’s defence system – there were originally four medieval gates. Two remain, but Holsentor is the most notable.
The Holsten Gate marks the entrance to the Old Town and is an impressive, rounded, red brick gothic structure with twin towers, although it is leaning quite a bit today. Having survived WWII bombings it is the architectural icon of the city. There’s a museum inside the towers.
Note the Salt Warehouses (Salzpeicher)
Just beyond the Holsten Gate, on the banks of the River Trave, is a row of six gabled but wonky old salt warehouses built between the 1500s and 1700s. Salt, known as ‘white gold’ back in the day, was in high demand before refrigeration when it was used for food preservation. The salt stored in Lübeck came from Lüneberg before being traded elsewhere.
Explore the Old Town of Lübeck
From the salt warehouses, you can wander through the tightly packed streets and alleyways of the Old Town. There are around 90 alleys and small hidden courtyards in the Old Town of Lübeck to explore particularly around Engelswisch, Engelsgruber and Glockengiesserstrasse in the north part, and around the Cathedral.
Make sure to admire the ornate architecture of the 13th century Town Hall (Rathaus) built around two sides of the market square. It has clever brickwork and circular details at the top.
Discover the home of Marzipan
Lübeck is the home to marzipan and so make sure to stop for coffee and marzipan cake at Café Niederegger which has been serving for over 200 years. Whilst the history of marzipan is shrouded in mystery, (this almond treat originates from Persia and may have come to Lübeck from Moorish Spain?) you can learn more at the Marzipan Museum on first floor of Café Niederegger. Our sponge gateau with marzipan topping was definitely worth making the day trip from Hamburg for!
St Mary’s Church (Marienkirche)
St Mary’s Church is a large structure built in Gothic style but with bricks and not stone blocks. The building of the church started in 1250 and took 100 years to complete. Sadly, a WWII bomb destroyed the roof in 1942 and caused two of the church bells to fall to the floor where they were left as a reminder of the war.
Look out for the small statue of the Devil outside St Mary’s Church. Legend has it that the Devil thought a tavern was going to be built instead of a church, so he is waiting to capture the souls of those leaving the tavern opposite.
A traditional lunch at Schiffergesellsclafe
If you want a substantial traditional lunch, then book in at Schiffergesellsclafe which is 500 years old and was a social meeting place for the sailors trading in the city. In fact, it was the House of the Seamen’s Guild built in 1525. The interior is wood panelled with brass fittings, and rustic furniture in keeping with the seaman’s tavern.
Take a boat trip around the Old City Island
Whilst you digest your lunch, consider taking a one-hour boat trip around the Old City Island to admire the dreamy spires of the old town from the water. In fact, there is a famous view of Lübeck from the water where you can see the 7 spires of the city which form a ‘Gothic coronet’ on the skyline.
Note – make sure that you pick a boat with English commentary if available. We only had German commentary on our boat, although there was a transcript of the commentary in English presented in a folder with photos; we just had to try and keep up matching the photos with what we were passing on the boat.
The boat trip was very relaxing and as well as looking at the buildings along the side of the river, we enjoyed watching residents making the location – boating, canoeing, and paddleboarding on the river, or sunbathing, reading, or cycling on the riverbanks. The boat passed cute white cottages by the river with hollyhocks and roses around the doors – lovely!
Lübeck’s Noble Prize Winners
Back on terra firma, if you have more time, you could explore the museums and homes of the town’s 3 Nobel Prize Winners – Thomas Mann (Literary), Günter Grass (Literary), and Willy Brandt (Politics). You can visit the Buddenbrooks House once owned by the Mann family where Thomas spent several summers, and also visit the Günter Grass House. Together, with its Hanseatic League status and Noble Prize Winners, we concluded that this lovely city was a heavy hitter for its size!
Final thoughts…
We very much enjoyed our day trip from Hamburg to Lübeck which was charming city, easily explored on foot in the time that we had. We decided to return to Hamburg for dinner but would equally have been happy to have stayed longer in Lübeck – I hear that Marzipan flavoured gin is on offer in some of the bars!
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