Ausflug 39

We were coming up on our last weekend in Haffkrug, so we decided to test the connections of the coastal train line down to Luebeck. The train to Luebeck was important because we knew we could easily get a train from Luebeck back to Hamburg and to the hotel room we had reserved in Ohlsdorf for the night before we were to fly back home. I was also curious if we could transport our bicycles with us on the regional and intercity trains, and if so how much it would cost.

Besides, Luebeck is a pretty old Hanseatic City that we had visited briefly a few years back, so the thought of spending another day exploring it was quite attractive. Dealing with public transportation is always, however, a bit of a gamble, and our trip to Luebeck was no exception. We started off by missing a bus, not, as you might expect because we were late, but rather because we had not seen the teeny, tiny, telephone icon on the bus schedule that meant, "You have to call an hour ahead of time and arrange for this bus to stop and pick you up!" We were at the bus stop at the correct time, and even waved wildly at the bus driver as he charged along with his totally empty double-long bus, but he completely ignored us!

We did catch the next bus an hour later, but that bus got us to the Scharbeutz train station AFTER the morning train to Luebeck had left! So once again we had to cool our heels at the train station for another hour before catching the regional train to Luebeck. Once on board, however, the train covered the short distance to Luebeck in less than half an hour. I was also reassured that there was enough space on the train to take our bicycles with, and found out at the Luebeck train station that the extra charge for taking a bicycle on the trains was 4.50 Euro per trip, which seemed reasonable. The Luebeck train station also had nice big elevators for going up from the train platform to the concourse and back down onto other tracks, so we would not have to haul our bikes up and down any stairs.

After all those delays we began our walk around Luebeck at noon, so our first order of business was lunch. Just down the street from the train station past the statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, was an old Imbiss that advertised itself as the "Oldest Imbiss In Luebeck!" We decided to try it out; Monika had a bratwurst and I had the house special, which turned out to be a currrywurst. Both hot dogs came with potato salad, so it was a satisfying meal. Check the picture below; I was always astonished (offended?) that Monika's half liter of beer (roughly a pint or about 16oz) cost only 2.50 Euro while my small cup of Coca Cola (roughly 8oz) cost 2.20 Euro! No wonder all the Germans drink beer!

Crossing the Trave River, we reached the Old Town section of Luebeck, which was guarded by an ancient, ornately-styled tower gate, the Holstentor, built of red brick. The gate is the symbol of Luebeck, and much to my surprise it contained a small museum built into the three floors open to the public.

Well, that was too tempting to resist, so we payed and started winding our way up the staircases and across the hollow wall on top of the big gate where the exhibit rooms were located. The exhibits on the first two floors focused on the history, economy, and culture of Luebeck roughly from Hanseatic times down to the present. Luebeck had prospered in Hanseatic times by shipping salt from Northern German salt mines up to Scandinavia, where it was used to salt fish for preservation. The Scandinavians traded salted fish, furs, amber, and such like for both the salt and the iron products being manufactured in Germany like pots, pans, tankards, etc. as well as icons and other religious art. One room was an armory with various kinds of old weapons and a muzzle-loading canon positioned to show how the tower could be defended.

The trade was profitable and Luebeck prospered until it joined an alliance of Baltic states in a war against Sweden, which they lost, and Luebeck lost its naval might and never regained its dominance. But Luebeck was still a kind of trade crossroads, and so it endured through war and peace down to the present day, although rather diminished in importance.

Having a better feel for the history of the city, we continued walking in the Old Town section over to the big old cathedral. Although impressive in size, the cathedral did not attract us like some of the smaller old churches had, and we continued looping through the market square around the old section until we came back to the banks of the Trave River, which makes a complete loop around the inner city of Luebeck.

We followed the Trave back in the direction of the train station, and along the way saw a really nice assortment of rickety old wood-and-brick houses and storehouses from maybe the 1400s-1600s. Very picturesque. The river itself was also quite pretty, with an excursion boat stirring up the waves as it steamed slowly past us. So it was a really enjoyable walk back.

Once back at the train station, we were faced with yet another hour long wait for the next regional train North to all the beach towns, but at least this time we could curl up on a nice warm seat in a bakery and have coffee and sweet rolls. Now THAT is the way to wait for a train!

Disembarking at the train station on the North side of Haffkrug, we walked downhill to the little local grocery store where we had shopped before. There we bought some eggs, milk, bread, and other essentials before catching the next bus going South to our condo, where we settled back in for the night.