Scoutix Tour of Lübeck

Since the weather in the morning was not very inviting for a walk, we first made our way to the museum: the Behnhaus Drägerhaus.

There is also currently an exhibition about the Buddenbrooks, as the Buddenbrook House is closed for renovation until 2023.

Multimedia stations with individual exhibits on the Buddenbrooks complement the permanent exhibition of the two historical houses.

In addition, we were able to visit the special exhibition 'Nordisch modern. 100 Jahre nordische Woche', which deals with a turning point in Thomas Mann's life.

After our museum visit, we were finally greeted outside by bright sunshine and we could start our city tour. We had already purchased the historical city tour of Lübeck from 'Scoutix' some time ago and now we wanted to explore the old town with it. During the tours, you are guided from place to place like a treasure hunt, receive information about the history, and have to solve small puzzles.

Our tour started at the Holstentor, through which we entered the old town island.

We continued past the salt storehouses right by the water, which were actually supposed to be demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. But then the film 'Nosferatu' was shot here, and the buildings were allowed to stay.

Our path led us along the water and then through the narrow streets of the old town.

At St. Marien, we took some more time to take a closer look at the church. With its forty-meter high nave, it is the third largest church in Germany and has the highest brick vault in the world.

During the night of Palm Sunday in 1942, St. Marien, the cathedral, and St. Petri were almost completely destroyed by air raids. The shattered bells in the church still serve as a reminder today.

In the church, we searched for the 'church mouse', which is hiding in the ambulatory. Because touching it is said to bring good luck, it has turned completely black.

Outside the church, we encountered a small bronze figure that is supposed to represent the devil. It sits on the 'Devil's Stone'. According to legend, when the residents of Lübeck were building the church, they told the devil that they were going to build a huge pub. Because he liked this idea, he helped with the construction of the church and only realized when it was finished that he had been lied to. So he took a big stone to destroy the building again when the residents assured him that they would build a large pub right next door. So the devil dropped the stone next to the church, and that's where it still lies today.

At least it is still very popular as a photo motif.

We then passed by the Buddenbrook House, which is currently closed due to renovation. It belonged to the grandparents of the writer Thomas Mann and now serves as a museum.

On our further way, we also discovered some of the small courtyards. When the population in Lübeck grew too large, there was no more space within the city walls. Therefore, houses were built in the courtyards, which previously housed livestock, and could be reached through narrow passages.

We looked at various of these passages. In one of them in Engelsgrube, lives the cat 'Bolle', who apparently always sits in the same spot.

At least there was a sign right next to her introducing her and referring to her Facebook page...

We also went inside the old building of the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital.

Until the 1970s, it was still used as a nursing home, although the chambers, the 'Kabäusterchen', seemed quite cramped to us.

After more narrow streets and beautiful buildings, we returned to the Breite Straße, where we treated ourselves to coffee and cake at the 'Wiener Café' near the town hall.

Afterwards, we took a closer look at the town hall.

However, the interior is only accessible with a guided tour, which we were already too late for.

So we continued through another shopping street, the 'Hüxstraße'.

From there, we reached the much quieter Aegidien quarter, in the center of which stands the church of the same name.

We had now arrived at the former city wall. The houses in the outer area became smaller and smaller, as the best location was already the most central one.

From here, it was not far to the cathedral, which was consecrated in 1247.

We walked back to the Holstentor along the Obertrave and enjoyed the view of the water and the old town once again.