Lübeck

Anke and I in front of the Holsten Gate at Lübeck

Everything in this amazing city is built of brick.  I love the sturdiness of both the ancient and more recent buildings.  The Holsten Gate has an arch with those teeth overhead that were meant to come down and keep the enemy out.  Cool stuff!



View from the top of St. Petri



We also visited two churches.  The first was St. Petri, where we rode an elevator to the top and from there able to get a 360 degree view of the entire city from very high up.  There was one crescent of little red-roofed houses by a canal that were both mysterious and very cute.  It would be an odd experience, though, to live in one and know that all the people from so high up could peer down right into your garden.  This church was bombed in the war and, although the outer structure was rebuilt, the inside is now used for concerts and other programs.  The inside of what had been the church was very plain and painted white.  An interesting look.  With the soaring ceilings, I would love to hear a concert here some day.

The second church was St. Marien.  This church had also been bombed and badly damaged in the war, but, unlike the first church, had been restored as much as possible.  This church made me choke up with tears at the awful, dark majesty of it.

 

These are the broken bells that fell on the night that this church was bombed.  They have been left as a memorial, just as they originally lay, as a memorial to the effects of war.  How not to cry when witnessing such a sad thing?





After all of this inner emotion we went.....

                                                          ....and had.....



Bratwurst, Sauerkraut und Kartoffelmus



                                                         Lunch!  Ahh, life is wonderful!!!