Lubeck

Lübeck 

a city in the Federal Republic of Germany, situated at the mouth of the Trave River, where it empties into Liibeck Bay of the Baltic Sea, in the Land of Schleswig-Holstein. Population, 236,000 (1974).

Lübeck is an important transportation junction; a railroad ferry connects it with the Swedish city of Trelleborg and the Elbe-Trave Canal starts southwest of the city. It is also a large port, which plays an important role in trade with the Scandinavian countries. The freight turnover, including 12 basins, was about 5 million tons in 1968. Industry is represented by ferrous metallurgy, machine building (including ship, tractor, and aircraft building), woodworking, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and the food-and-condiment industry (flour milling, fish canning). Liibeck has a conservatory and the Museum for Art and Cultural History; it is the birthplace of H. Mann and T. Mann.

Founded in 1143 near the Slavic settlement of Liubice, which was destroyed in 1138, Liibeck became a city in 1163 and was made a free imperial city in 1226. In the 13th century Lübeck was the starting point of German colonization of the Baltic coast. The “Laws of Lübeck,” which were introduced in the cities of the Baltic coast, created a privileged position for German merchants and artisans and were marked by some original features with respect to family and property law. Lübeck’s location on important land and sea trade routes and the privileges it obtained from north German princes who were interested in the development of trade promoted the city’s rapid growth. It assumed a leading position in north German and later in north European trade and became the leader of the Hanseatic League. The administration of the city was concentrated in the hands of the patriciate, whose arbitrary rule led to repeated but unsuccessful uprisings. The Reformation took place in Lübeck in 1530-31; in 1531 an antipatriciate burgher group led by J. Wullenwever assumed power and retained it until 1535. Lübeck played an important role in international relations from the 14th through the 16th centuries; but with the decline of the Hanseatic League Lübeck’s political importance also began to decline, and the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) dealt it the final blow. Lübeck was occupied by French troops in 1806. The Congress of Vienna (1814-15) gave Lübeck the status of a free city, which it retained until 1937. After World War II (1939-45) Lübeck was included in the British occupation zone of Germany (until 1949).

Among the city’s famous architectural monuments are a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, which was started in 1173, completed in the 13th century, and rebuilt between 1266 and 1341; its rich inner furnishings include B. Notke’s triumphal cross from the late 15th century. Gothic architecture (13th through 16th centuries) is represented by such churches as the Marienkirche and the Katharinenkirche, the Rathaus (city hall), the city gates of Burgtor and Holstentor, and the late Gothic Convent of St. Anne, which is now a museum containing the H. Memling altar among its collection. The center of the city, which was destroyed in 1942, has been rebuilt. Present-day construction includes the court building (1957-62).

REFERENCE

Enns, A. B. Lübeck …. Lüeck, 1965.