Lübecks Historie

Lübeck History "Liubice" - the beauty - this was the name of the first colony which was settled at the crossing of the river Schwartau and Trave in 819 AD - only a few kilometers from the peninsula of the later Lübeck.

In 1143 the town of Lübeck was officially founded by the count Adolf von Schauenberg at the hilly peninsula which was enclosed by the rivers Wakenitz and Trave. After a serious conflict between the count of Schauenberg and the duke Heinrich der Löwe (Heinrich the lion) and after a devastating fire in town, Lübeck was resettled by the duke at the same place in 1157.

Henceforth the duke Heinrich der Löwe started to boost the trade in town to enlarge the gate to the Baltic Sea, to strengthen the trade routes and to make the Slavonic regions become German.

He entitled Lübeck to have the municipal right, which was also accepted by more than 100 town of the Baltic later. (It was called the "lübbsche Recht" - the right of Lübeck.)

After 25 years of occupancy by the Danish there was no one who were capable to stop the rise of Lübeck as the leader in trade at the Baltic Sea - up to the discovery of the American continent.

In 1226 the town of Lübeck was announced by Friedrich II. to be a free imperial town. For more then 700 years Lübeck had the opportunity to build up their own trade politics and to dispense their own justice, which was the already mentioned "right of Lübeck" accepted by many Baltic towns. But in 1937 - probably because the citizens of Lübeck refused to let him talk in Lübeck during his election campaign in 1932 - the town lost its right as a city state due to an order of Hitler.




In 1266 the Hanseatic League was founded and helped to enlarge the trade at the Baltic Sea for more than three centuries through strong and clever politics. In 1329 the permanent access to the Baltic Sea was ensured due to the purchase of the seaport Travemünde. Henceforth raw materials from North and East were exchanged for goods from South and West . In 1350 the Hanseatic League had strengthened their position of power due to the increase to more than 100 of participating towns. Together they even decided about peace and war since 1356 - during the so called Hanseatic days in the city hall of Lübeck. But when the American continent was discovered in 1492, the Hanseatic League lost a part of their impact. In 1630 was the last Hanseatic day with only three participants - Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. And there were no more meetings like this up to 1980 - when the Hanseatic days were reestablished.

The defeat of Blücher near Ratekau and the plundering of Napoleon and the compulsory levy from 1806 to 1813 meant a great harm for the trade of the Hanseatic town of Lübeck. Due to the congress of Vienna ("Wiener Kongress") Lübeck reappeared as a autonomous town in 1815.

But the initial position for the town were bad. America in the West were not the only concurrence which emerged. Also the East became a serious concurrence due to the support of Prussia.

As a result of the takeover of the NSDAP the terror also came to Lübeck. But the hardest situation was at Palm Sunday in 1942 (28.03.1942) where a bombing destroyed big parts of this lordly Hanseatic town.

After rebuilding most parts of Lübeck (a historical act), the town was announced as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.



The history of a town - 1000 years:

At 1000
At the estuary of the rivers Trave and Schwartau the folk of the "Wenden" build the settlement "Luibice" as the residence of a prince, for artisans and as a trading place.

1138
Destruction through the Slavish

1143
Duke Adolf II. Von Schauenburg settled a trader settlement at the river Trave

1157
The settlement was destroyed by a fire

1159
Lübeck was resettled by Heinrich dem Löwen

1170-1180
The citizens started to build the high churches: the cathedral (Dom), the St. Marien and the St. Petri church.

1226
he emperor Friedrich II. Announced Lübeck to be a free imperial town.

At 1300
Lübeck becomes the leader of the Hanseatic League (1358 first Hanseatic day in Lübeck), a self-protecting organization of the merchants.

1370
The peace of Stralsund after two wars with Denmark - the climax of Lübecks power.

1669
The last meeting of the Hanseatic League in Lübeck (with only a very small number of members). As free imperial and Hanseatic towns Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen remain as the heirs of the Hanseatic League up to the 20th century.

1806-1813
The French occupancy of Lübeck

1866
Lübeck enters the Northern German alliance

1871 Lübeck becomes an autonomous federal state

ab 1900
Lübeck starts to establish a own industry and develops into a trading and industrial town.

1937
The so called Hamburg's Law ("Gross- Hamburger- Gesetz") ends the empires liberty for Lübeck

1942
During the night of the march 29th (Palm Sunday), 1/5 of the historical town of Lübeck was destroyed.

ab 1949
Due to the reconstruction of Lübeck and the successful efforts to hold up the historical old town, the town was appointed as a international example of preservation of ancient monuments.

1987
Parts of Lübeck are part of the World Heritage Site of the UNESCO.


Hansestadt Lübeck
www.luebeck.de

Lübeck - Travemünde Tourismus
www.luebeck-tourismus.de

Lübecks Bewerbung zur Europäischen Kulturhauptstadt 2010
www.kulturhauptstadt-luebeck.de

Historical Highlights of Germany
www.hhog.de