the baltic sea chronicles: day 5. lübeck.

lübeck is the second largest city of the state schleswig-holstein, but it's still small comparing too berlin or frankfurt. it only has roughly 214,000 inhabitants, that is even more less than wiesbaden has, the city i'm living in... when i hear facts like these and look back at what i've seen and felt while visiting this charming city,  i'm slowly coming to the conclusion that i really am drawn to medium-sized cities. frankfurt and cologne are too chaotic for me, of berlin i've only seen a snippet, it's mega-city that leaves you stranded amongst strangers. erfurt has a perfect size, you never feel strangely abandoned there. wiesbaden also is not too big, but i miss an old city heart here. weimar is also one of the towns i'm really attracted to, because of its rich history and the architecture.

when i entered the heart of lübeck ( situated on a small island ) i immediately felt home. i felt thrown into another world, dreamy, out of a different time. medieval architecture, small streets, back alleys, little gardens and hidden lakes where you can swim in for only 2 euros a day. 

hands down - i fell in love with this city.

view onto the old town of lübeck.

the old town island is enclosed by the trave - a river that flows into the baltic sea just a few kilometres from here in lübeck-travemünde.

the holsten gate.

historic salt ware houses.

first, we decided to make a boat trip around the old city island.

and when walking to our boat we've found a familiar name emblazoned on a house. our family name ( probably not related to us ).

the fronts of these houses are so charming.

a small bridge contained a lot of love locks.

lübeck is called the city of the seven towers. here you can see 3 of them.

before heading onto our boat. a bench picture.

there we were - swimming with the ducks.

the harbour was really charismatic. there were old ships everywhere and old ware houses on each side of the trave. here you can see the pivot bridge.

view onto the seven towers of lübeck. 

cute harbour houses.

the 'hubbrücke', a lift bridge.

bright graffitis everywhere.

there was a small canal running through an allotment garden district.

quite peaceful.

then we made a walk through the inner city.

imaginative gables.

church of st. peter. this church was out of its original use: it was used as a place for events and theatrical performances.

church st. mary.

i loved these door handles.

the clinker facade of the city hall. it was all black and shiny - i had the impression of staring at oil stones.

a little devil in front of st. mary's.

black clinker - pretty unusual in architecture.

see it's oily shine?

canopied walkways.

yes, i was really smitten with the black clinker facade.

more of the city hall.

still belongs to the city hall complex. so many different architecture styles!

the city hall in almost all its glory.

view onto the tower of  st. aegidien's.

insignias of freemasonry.

i felt like i discovered a secret, haha!

isn't it beautiful, pairing up roses with clinker design?

winding alleyways.

small idyllic gardens.

lübeck cathedral.

this cathedral was so bright and friendly. i felt kind of comforted when entering its inner premises.

another modern glass window! i loved the shattered motive.

the whitewashed walls made everything glow in such a special way. and the colour for me symbolizes a good death. death isn't scary anymore when you think of it in colours of white.

tombs all around.

good-bye, lübeck. i hope to see you again in the future.