Lübeck, Holsten Gate

Anyone who would like to see what experts can do with bricks, should visit Lübeck, Germany and see its reconstruction. Brick houses, brick cathedrals, brick towers, — we never expected to see such a variety of brick designs as we found in Lübeck. The old merchant houses on Meng-Strasse, and the Shippers Society building have detailed brick façades. Churches, salt warehouses, guild houses, all are designed with detail that is very different from others we have seen. The most photographed sight in old Lübeck is the huge twin-towered brick Das Holstentor (Holsten Gate), which was built in the 1470s, perhaps more as a sign of prestige than of defense.

March 29, 1942, the night before Palm Sunday, Lübeck became the first German city to be bombed, and about one-fifth of the old town was destroyed. We had an interesting conversation with a lady we met in a grocery store. Born and raised in Lübeck, she described the horror of that March night as her town was destroyed, and friends were killed. But to illustrate how love can conquer all, she later married a British soldier, lived in England for 35 years, and had only recently returned to live in Lübeck after her husband passed away.