Germany A-Z: Lübeck The Royal Air Force bombed the old Hanseatic capital of Lübeck the night before Palm Sunday, 1942. Given the intensity of the raid and subsequent fires, the reported toll of 300 dead and 800 injured seemed remarkably light. About 20% of the old town was destroyed in the bombing and 25,000 civilians were left homeless. The fires were too much for the mighty Marienkirche. The iconic church of the Baltic, the pattern for red-brick Gothic churches all over the region, for 40 years province of the Baroque organist and composer Dieterich Buxtehude, was almost destroyed. Distorted by heat, two mighty bells broke loose from the south tower belfries and crashed through the floor. They remain there, embedded in the smashed slabs as a reminder of that dreadful night. That was not all for the church. Destroyed was the prized 15th century Totentanz (‘dance of death’) canvas by the Lübeck artist Bernt Notke. The adjacent Rathaus fared a little better. Today its complex of buildings from various periods from the 13th to the 18th centuries still stands. But the interior of the so-called Kriegesstube – which was used for meetings of the Hanseatic League – and most of the Hansesaal hall were wrecked, along with the medieval pillory. The Renaissance steps were also ruined but have since been reconstructed and the pillory was recreated in the 1980s. The Marienkirche, and the nearby Petrikirche (in part), were eventually reconstructed, also in the 1980s. The Lübeck raid gave rise to controversy, due as much to the city’s prized heritage status as to the efforts of Nazi propagandists. The raid proved a watershed, not least because it signalled the determination of the British Government and RAF Bomber Command to take the war to Germany by whatever means. German bombers quickly replied with raids on historic UK cities and the pattern of night city bombing was set for the rest of World War II. For all its horror and loss of life, the Lübeck firestorm cannot be compared to that of Hamburg in 1943. Lübeck had been the hub of northern Europe for almost three centuries, extending its trading network, the Hanse, throughout the Baltic. The salt trade, for which it was the chief port, provided income that supported a brisk and lucrative traffic, enriching the city’s oligarchy. It also created the Baltic in its own image – red-brick ports with Gothic churches, legal codes and ways of doing businesses that mirrored those of Lübeck. German language also came to dominate the region and left lasting impacts on the Baltic countries. There was also a legacy in art – works by Notke survive today in Stockholm and Tallinn. Even while its commercial position was being heavily eroded by the ports of the Netherlands and its former Hanseatic partner Hamburg, Lübeck’s Lutheran bishopric maintained close links with the Lutheran countries of Scandinavia. The Hanseatic League, and with it Lübeck’s influence, declined through the 17th century and effectively vanished by 1670. But the traditions of bourgeois city government continued for many generations, a lifestyle represented today in the superb St-Annen-Museum. The residential architecture of the ruling class has in many parts of the city survived the bombing, along with the characteristic tiny arched laneways (Gänge). One of Lübeck’s great treasures, the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital, an early charitable infirmary and aged-care institution, preserves its 14th century facade, towers, cloisters and frescoed entrance porch. The cathedral, largely restored with its medieval vestibule, is another survivor of the bombing, as are most of the city’s Gothic church towers. Most of all, the Holstentor, symbol of Lübeck, still stands as the gate to the city, gate to the Baltic and guardian of the city’s trading past as a historical museum. The motto above the gate maintains its plea for peace and harmony within its walls, something never more violated than on that terrible night in March 1942. ravenguides
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 03:44:45 +0000
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